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MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside


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Is there anyone right now with a viable stadium awaiting a tenant? I don't think so.

Market wise, I think Portland is the only realistic one. One pro team (sorry MLS fans) in town that doesn't play in the summer. Maybe San Antonio for the same reason.

People keep throwing around North Jersey. I just don't see it as viable at all. Even though New York City is massive, those fans are already Yankees or Mets fans. It'd be like opening a mom-and-pop shop next to a Wal-Mart. A nice idea, but not viable.

What about Indianapolis? I'm not too familiar with the stadium landscape. They obviously can't use Lucas Oil, but is there a demand for ball there?

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Generic Google says LA to Anaheim is about 26 miles, while Tampa to Orlando is 83 miles.

It's not comparable. My brother lives near Orlando, and if I wanted to go to his neck of the woods, it would be something I plan somewhat out in advance; not just in the spur of the moment.

It's just one of those "outside-of-the-moon" questions; looking at a map perceives a close distance between Orlando and Tampa for me, for some reason.

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Lol, But they have to do that by 2015;) Portland has plans to build a big baseball stadium next to the rose garden or rose quarter ( Oh ya I'm flying around the boards tonight) the Beavers left because the Timbers moved into their stadium and they planned to build one and they are stll trying. Heck no i'm not settling for the Hillsboro Hops I want a MLB team in the city of Roses baby! Wahoo I'm on fire!!!! Ok I'll calm down don't freak out on me. :D

Eh....I think it could work. Can anyone tell me how good the Beavs were supported?

Yeah, when you get to Omaha it means you can pretty much stop reading there.

They have the stadium, and the College World Series, but that's all that is going for them.

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What about Indianapolis? I'm not too familiar with the stadium landscape. They obviously can't use Lucas Oil, but is there a demand for ball there?

Indy already has the Indians minor league team (AAA affiliate of the MLB Pirates, for what that's worth), and they're usually one of the better teams in their league. They play in a very nice stadium too, with a view open to downtown.

So in that vein, I don't see MLB ever coming up in here. That, added to Cincinnati being 100 miles east/southeast, Chicago about 160 miles north/northwest, St Louis 250 miles straight west--and transplants from all those places, and more, living up in here who I don't think would give up their preexisting allegiances to their hometown teams.

Then there'd be the issue of building a park for an MLB team, which is a discussion that ain't even worth having around here (if you live here, you know why).

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Tampa to Orlando is like 4 hours with traffic as I recall. It's not close.

No way. It takes me less time to get from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale than 4 hours. It's like an hour, hour and a half between Tampa and Orlando. Not next door, but not far either.

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So I just saw this thread after posting in the "teams who need new stadiums" thread. First off, I have only lived here 3 years but I have strong opinions on this.

The Tampa Bay market can certainly support a MLB franchise. The main problems you face here is:

1. Population demographics. This is 2 fold. On one side, you have old people. They don't want to attend games and they hold back the rest of the area with their retirement-minded politics (i.e. they don't want to spend money anymore for the better of others). The other side is there are TONS of Rays fans in this area, they just all seem to be mainly 35 years old and younger. Time will help.

2. Obviously, there are a hell of a lot of Yankees fans here. It is nearly a home game when the Yankees are in town. Near the same for Boston.

3. Stadium location. No brainer. Like pointed out, most of the area surrounding the stadium is water. Having the stadium in St. Pete really puts the games out of reach for the Orlando/Disney crowd, the Lakeland population, and north/eastern Hillsborough County. I think a lot of visitors to the Disney area would take a day/night to hit a Rays game if it was feasible.

4. Lack of mass transit. This goes back to the huge population of old people here, but look at the top attended MLB teams; they all have mass transit systems in place. Progress on this issue always falters because of the old population that move down here, feel they have "paid their due" in taxes in their former cities/states, and shoot the idea down. There are some awesome places in the Tampa Bay area that most people never get around to see because of transportation issues. Especially if you want to drink a beer and enjoy yourself.

Now to me, the stadium isn't so bad. Not bad enough to keep people from attending. You are closer to the action than most MLB stadiums for a cheaper price, you are in the air conditioning, and you can bring your own food inside. Come on. I bought season tickets after 2 years of living here.

Do I want a new retractable stadium in downtown Tampa? Heck yes. It would be closer to me, it would create jobs and business for my industry, and it would *hopefully* re-ignite the need for transportation systems in Tampa. I hope they build something small and practical...seat 30,000 day to day.

Also, it doesn't get very hot here. Humid, yes, because it rains hard a time or two a day. If people in Atlanta are attending games in that heat, then Tampa Bay folks have no excuse. Georgia and the Carolinas are HOT. It has never hit 100 degrees in Tampa. There is a false "OMG it's hot!" thing about Florida in general I think because folks from up North move here from one extreme to another. Try living in Atlanta or Columbia SC for the summer.

I don't want the Rays to move. I think the organization is awesome, Joe Maddon is awesome (although frustrating at times), the players seems to love being here, and I just think big time baseball makes sense in the Tampa Bay area. It will just take some time and a relocation.

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I really don't care if they stay in Tampa Bay or not. Hell, I'd prefer they move out of the AL East, since the Rays are always the thorn in the Jays side despite a fraction of the payroll. They're just annoyingly good.

But damn, just think of how cool this stadium could have been. It would have been the most unique looking stadium in the league:

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Indy can't support 3 major league teams. They barely support 2 honestly. The Pacers had some attendence problems until the last couple years. Part of that has to do with bad management and some PR disasters, but more if it has to do with the fan base here. They love hoops, but they mainly love HS and College Hoops.

For baseball, the Indians generally draw well, really well this year with the cooler summer weather. I think they've sold out a number of games they normally don't this year. But most times they only sell out 2 dates a year: Opening Day and July 4th. I think the Pirates affiliation hurts a little because there are so few Pirate fans in the area. Mostly Reds, then Cubs/Cardinals tie for the rest, so you're dealing with a division rival's prospects. If it was a Reds, or even AL affiliate you might get more fans to come out. I know if they were a Cardinals affiliate or even played Memphis I'd go out more but its still fun for sure. Kinda a perfect situation, they are supported enough to survive but not so much that people are hungry for more. There has been talk of a minor league team in the North Burbs (Westfield) but it'd be independent or A ball and I doubt it would take much away from the Indians.

Also like I said before, there are so many fans of the Reds/Cardinals and Cubs, 3 very strong fanbases, that I can't see too many people "switching" even if it was an AL team.

For Indy, keep it two Major teams, and then "minor league" teams like Indians and Eleven. No need nor desire for a 3rd major team in this city. The only thing I think they could MAYBE support is a higher hockey team (currently we have a junior hockey team) but even that I don't think would do much better than the current team if it was a true pro hockey even at a minor league level. They are redoing the Pepsi Colusium at the Fairgrounds but the capacity will still be around 8k. Again might draw in some support for a bigger team but I doubt it.

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3. Stadium location. No brainer. Like pointed out, most of the area surrounding the stadium is water. Having the stadium in St. Pete really puts the games out of reach for the Orlando/Disney crowd, the Lakeland population, and north/eastern Hillsborough County. I think a lot of visitors to the Disney area would take a day/night to hit a Rays game if it was feasible.

Put me in this category. The Orioles were in St. Pete when I was near Disney for spring break with the family this year. The drive to Tropicana Field was jussssst far enough to convince me not to make the trip. If the stadium was closer to Downtown Tampa, I probably would have gone to a game.

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