Evan Longoria and David Price voiced their displeasure at low home attendance, despite the Tampa Rays being on the verge of clinching another post season appearance.
While I do not question the intent of star players to motivate their fan base, the delivery may be a little strong. It comes off as cocky young millionaire athletes being out of touch and disrespectful to their fans, when they are simply saying, "we'd love for more fans to come out, support the team, and share in our success." I believe they are good intentioned.
Unfortunately, the real problem is Tampa Rays baseball is one of many franchises in professional sports that should not exist.
This list includes, but is not limited to: Tampa Rays, Florida Marlins, Washington Senators, Oakland A's, Kansas City Royals, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats, Orlando Magic, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers, Phoenix Coyotes, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Anaheim Ducks.
One team that should have never been ripped from it's home and should be restored ASAP is the Seattle Supersonics. That is a topic for another post.
Notice I am particularly biased against recent expansion and moves into new markets.
The basic reason for all of this, of course, is greed. Leagues and team owners see more short term money in expanding or moving teams and having venues built for them; "building the brand". They will expand overseas as soon as they can figure out how to make it ("cough") work. Same concept as the NFL moving to an 18 game schedule. It has little to do with the need for a preseason, and everything to do with preseason games not generating the same revenue. So, expanding the regular season is an untapped revenue stream. We will soon learn the impact because it's probably going to happen soon.
Let's get back to over-expansion in sports. Leagues hold cities hostage for new venues at taxpayer expense. Many markets do not have the business presence, individual wealth, population, or interest to fill overpriced seats and luxury suites (see hockey below the Mason-Dixon Line). Canadian teams were also at a disadvantage due to the exchange rate. Player unions don't mind because it means a greater job and salary pool. Yet talent is diluted, and competitive imbalance (which already exists due to operational incompetence) grows. The product suffers. The cycle completes itself when fans of bad teams stop showing up for games. Advances in cable and high-definition television make it preferable to just stay home (blackout or not).
In the case of the Rays, years of futility, on and off the field, finally contributed to the Rays becoming a team loaded with affordable young talent. They became good in spite of being utterly incompetent in every area except drafting. But drafting is made easier when you're among the worst teams every year. You get top draft picks, such as Longoria and Price. Eventually those picks improve the team (looking at you Pittsburgh Pirates). Signing Longoria to a long-term deal was a brilliant move by new management. Maybe this is an indication they will continue to move the team away from their legacy of losing. However, as with recent Florida Marlins and Cleveland Indians teams, there is talk that Tampa will not be able to keep their core intact after this season.
In other words, Rays fans should enjoy their success while it lasts. It will likely be short lived.
No comments:
Post a Comment