Stadium/Arena Saga Omnibus

[tBBP]

2 hours ago, dont care said:

Do any of those have college basketball powerhouses? Didn’t think so. You don’t see the NFL trying to start a team in Tuscaloosa either.

 

Well actually...if you push the radius out about 40 miles or so due south or northwest, one of those cities does--or at least at one time did--have a CBB power nearby: Indianapolis, thanks to IU being a little over 40 miles south in Bloomington.  (Though not a "power", per se, Purdue is about 40 miles the other way up in west Lafayette.)

[rams80]

Indiana is not a basketball power.

 

<------IU alum

[SFGiants58]

19 minutes ago, rams80 said:

Indiana is not a basketball power.

 

<------IU alum

Hasn’t really been since the ‘80s. The most notable moment in IU basketball since the ‘80s was this:

 

 

RIP Neil Reed

[tBBP]

I think y'all missed the part where I said "did".  That's past tense. 

[GDAWG]

 

[McCall]

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

[Gothamite]

On 10/9/2021 at 3:34 PM, BBTV said:

One thing I don't understand, is how the split-city plan calls for two small stadiums.  That doesn't make sense, unless they're conceding that very few people will come even if it's centrally located.  Playing half the games in one city doesn't mean that the stadium only has to support half the people.  I don't really understand the logic - if it's all financially based, wouldn't having more people in there increase revenue?  And if they don't think more people would come, why are they even considering this, rather than looking elsewhere (maybe there is no elsewhere?)

That is an excellent question. 

[Lights Out]

On 10/9/2021 at 3:40 PM, GDAWG said:

Tampa Bay Rays: "We are still going with the Dual cities/dual stadiums plan with full support of MLB"

Rob Manfred: "We support the Rays plan of playing in two cities and two stadiums"

MLBPA: "Yeah, we don't think so. "

The MLBPA didn't care (or at least couldn't do anything) when a bunch of Expos "home games" got moved to San Juan.

[BBTV]

38 minutes ago, Lights Out said:

The MLBPA didn't care (or at least couldn't do anything) when a bunch of Expos "home games" got moved to San Juan.

 

but at least in theory, this would give the players two state-of-the-art facilities to train and play in, whereas now, the players have to eat crap in the worst facility in MLB for 81 games.  Splitting time between two home cities (and countries!) isn't ideal, but maybe it's worth the trade off for the players if they get to have the same amenities that their peers enjoy on a daily basis.

[McCall]

2 hours ago, Lights Out said:

The MLBPA didn't care (or at least couldn't do anything) when a bunch of Expos "home games" got moved to San Juan.

22 games spread out into 3 different trips throughout the season, is not the same as 81 split in half. San Juan was almost more like 3 different  vacation trips to Puerto Rico. This would basically be moving to a different location during the season. Yeah the Blue Jays did 3 different ones this year, but it was a one-time instance due to unforeseen circumstances and they're not talking about making that a permanent situation going forward.

[Camden Crazy]

On 10/11/2021 at 11:50 PM, SFGiants58 said:

Hasn’t really been since the ‘80s. The most notable moment in IU basketball since the ‘80s was this:

 

 

RIP Neil Reed

Christian Wood prob disagrees but idk I just work here

[SFGiants58]

Thanks to the magic of the Wayback Machine, I rediscovered this clip!

 

 

That Dennis McDonnell guy is really on the money when describing The Trop. There's also that emphasis on baseball and the amazing St. Petersburg from the "Florida Suncoast Dome reveal" video, which time has proven an inaccurate assessment of the market.

[Olmec]

Just throwing my 2c in as a Tampa local who roots for local teams and left my former fandoms behind:

1. Getting to St. Pete sucks from where I live, so it doesn't make a difference to me whether it's the regular season or a playoff game. It takes very specific circumstances for me to venture out there. With that being said, I went to a single game this season...specific circumstances were actually exceeded.
2. All this talk about splitting time between Tampa and Montreal turns me off. I simply can't support that with my "hard-earned cash."
3. I treat sporting events as a way to socialize these days. I don't follow stats/standings like I used to when I was younger and had more time for random bs. Before the world went to :censored:, I was pretty much attending every weekday Lightning home game with friend/co-workers because the arena is 15 min from where I live and everyone in this group enjoys hockey. It's also easy to support a winning team. This same group doesn't care as much about spending their Sunday afternoons at a stadium and I'm perfectly okay with that so we don't go to Bucs games even when the tix are free.
4. If the Rays moved to the other side of the Bay, stopped talking all this Montreal nonsense, and kept the public contribution for a new stadium to a minimum, I would 100% become a season ticket holder simply because it would give me another thing to do during weekdays even if they started sucking again.

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

On 10/9/2021 at 6:30 PM, Digby said:

The obvious answer is that it was a huge mistake to colonize Florida from the jump.

The acquisition of Florida puts John Quincy Adams solidly in the bottom 5 presidents

[B-Rich]

On 10/18/2021 at 11:52 AM, SFGiants58 said:

Thanks to the magic of the Wayback Machine, I rediscovered this clip!

 

 

"If you build it, they will come"

 

Places this worked:

1. Milwaukee (Milwaukee County Stadium)

2. Minnesota (Metropolitan Stadium)

3. Indianapolis (Hoosier/RCA Dome)

4. Orlando (Orlando/Amway Arena)

5. St. Petersburg (Suncoast Dome/Tropicana Field)

6. St. Louis (TransWorld/ Edward Jones Dome)

7. Memphis (kinda/sorta, with spec-built Pyramid serving as a temporary home, but  they had to agree to build the FedEx Forum to actually get a team).

8. New Orleans (New Orleans Arena/Smoothie King Center)

9. Oklahoma City (Ford Center/Chesapeake Energy Arena)

10. Las Vegas (T-Mobile Arena)

 

Places this didn't work:

1.  San Antonio (Alamodome - never got an NFL franchise)

2.  Kansas City (Sprint/T-Mobile Center - hasn't got an NBA or NHL franchise yet)

3. Quebec City (Videotron Centre)

[SFGiants58]

9 minutes ago, B-Rich said:

 

"If you build it, they will come"

 

Places this worked:

1. Indianapolis (Hoosier/RCA Dome)

2. Orlando (Orlando/Amway Arena)

3. St. Petersburg (Suncoast Dome/Tropicana Field)

4. St. Louis (TransWorld/ Edward Jones Dome)

5. Memphis (kinda/sorta, with The Pyramid as a temporary home, but  they had to agree to build the FedEx Forum to actually get a team).

6. New Orleans (New Orleans Arena/Smoothie King Center)

7. Oklahoma City (Ford Center/Chesapeake Energy Arena)

 

Places this didn't work:

1. San Antonio (Alamodome - never got an NFL franchise)

2.  Kansas City (Sprint/T-Mobile Center - hasn't got an NBA or NHL franchise yet)

 

Don't forget Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota!

[Camden Crazy]

15 minutes ago, B-Rich said:

 

"If you build it, they will come"

 

Places this worked:

1. Indianapolis (Hoosier/RCA Dome)

2. Orlando (Orlando/Amway Arena)

3. St. Petersburg (Suncoast Dome/Tropicana Field)

4. St. Louis (TransWorld/ Edward Jones Dome)

5. Memphis (kinda/sorta, with The Pyramid as a temporary home, but  they had to agree to build the FedEx Forum to actually get a team).

6. New Orleans (New Orleans Arena/Smoothie King Center)

7. Oklahoma City (Ford Center/Chesapeake Energy Arena)

 

Places this didn't work:

1. San Antonio (Alamodome - never got an NFL franchise)

2.  Kansas City (Sprint/T-Mobile Center - hasn't got an NBA or NHL franchise yet)

Probably have to add Quebec City’s new arena to the list as well.

[LMU]

Lost in the double city plan...

 

Free agents who signed in Tampa probably factored in the lack of state income tax.  Good luck telling them that they're suddenly going to be handed a hefty bill from the Canadian Revenue Agency every year.

[DustDevil61]

On 10/9/2021 at 1:34 PM, BBTV said:

 

I watched the video, and the fan interviewed at the end did seem to confirm the inconvenient location issue that some here have been mentioning.  While I don't know if there's any evidence it would succeed in Ybor City, I'm certainly more willing to accept that it hasn't been given the fair chance I maybe thought it had been.  

 

One thing I don't understand, is how the split-city plan calls for two small stadiums.  That doesn't make sense, unless they're conceding that very few people will come even if it's centrally located.  Playing half the games in one city doesn't mean that the stadium only has to support half the people.  I don't really understand the logic - if it's all financially based, wouldn't having more people in there increase revenue?  And if they don't think more people would come, why are they even considering this, rather than looking elsewhere (maybe there is no elsewhere?)

If anything, going by the split-city schedule (and having the subsequent half-schedule in Tampa Bay and Montreal) suggests to me that, if anything, more Exporay fans would attend games in Tampa Bay and Montreal than they would if the team committed to one of the cities.

[dont care]

12 minutes ago, DustDevil61 said:

If anything, going by the split-city schedule (and having the subsequent half-schedule in Tampa Bay and Montreal) suggests to me that, if anything, more Exporay fans would attend games in Tampa Bay and Montreal than they would if the team committed to one of the cities.

How do you come to that conclusion when rays fans are up in arms about it?