MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside

[Cujo]

Oakland fans after the Warriors, Raiders and A's all dip out

 

[TBGKon]

After seeing highlights of the KBL, it makes me wonder if something like the NC Dinos stadium should be a model for the Rays to follow in Tampa Bay.  It seats 22k as is, but could be configured a little bit differently to allow for a few more, and allows for social gathering spaces.

 

 

[bosrs1]

3 hours ago, TBGKon said:

After seeing highlights of the KBL, it makes me wonder if something like the NC Dinos stadium should be a model for the Rays to follow in Tampa Bay.  It seats 22k as is, but could be configured a little bit differently to allow for a few more, and allows for social gathering spaces.

 

 

 

And it would need some form of roof I'd think being in Florida. 

[BBTV]

If a team needs to reduce their capacity to 22k just to fill it, that's an indication that there shouldn't be a team there.  I'm not advocating for the return of 50k-60k stadiums, but something like what the Pirates have should be the minimum (I think it's 35k).  It's just a minor-league look to have such a small stadium, and it really sucks for fans too, since if the team ever does get any support, the tiny capacity will just freeze too many people out.

[GDAWG]

If MLB comes back without any fans, it will basically be business as usual for the Rays.

[SFGiants58]

5 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

If MLB comes back without any fans, it will basically be business as usual for the Rays.

What an original joke. I’ve totally never seen it before.

[The_Admiral]

3 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

If a team needs to reduce their capacity to 22k just to fill it, that's an indication that there shouldn't be a team there.  I'm not advocating for the return of 50k-60k stadiums, but something like what the Pirates have should be the minimum (I think it's 35k).  It's just a minor-league look to have such a small stadium, and it really sucks for fans too, since if the team ever does get any support, the tiny capacity will just freeze too many people out.

 

Agreed, 35,000-50,000 seems to be the ideal range for baseball (and really, you shouldn't be going above 45,000 unless you're the Yankees or Dodgers, or maybe the Mets). Dip into the 20s, and you're charging major-league prices for a minor-league venue -- in fact, you might even try to get away with charging more for the "intimate experience," which would be highly stupid in Florida for obvious market-saturation reasons.

[BBTV]

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

 

Agreed, 35,000-50,000 seems to be the ideal range for baseball (and really, you shouldn't be going above 45,000 unless you're the Yankees or Dodgers, or maybe the Mets). Dip into the 20s, and you're charging major-league prices for a minor-league venue -- in fact, you might even try to get away with charging more for the "intimate experience," which would be highly stupid in Florida for obvious market-saturation reasons.

 

I'd err on the side of too big.  When the Phillies had a 5+ year sellout streak (I think CBP is 45k), it was nearly impossible for a parent to take their kids to a major league game without paying an unreasonable amount of money, and even then, it was probably SRO.  I'd rather for major league baseball (and sports in general) to be more accessible to people, and not be big business for scumbag resellers.

[Digby]

Yeah, I don’t miss the days of cavernous multiuse ballparks, but I don’t love the excuse of “more intimate” as a dog whistle for “more luxury seats”. Something tells me we’re gonna go the wrong way on that particular issue in the coming 1-3 years, though.

[infrared41]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

Yeah, I don’t miss the days of cavernous multiuse ballparks

 

You haven't lived until you watch a baseball game with 3500 other people in a stadium that seats 80,000. 

[Digby]

18 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

You haven't lived until you watch a baseball game with 3500 other people in a stadium that seats 80,000. 

digging deep on this one... I saw both Toronto and Atlanta (old stadium) but both, I believe, pre-97 so crowds weren’t swallowed up. 
 

been to like 20 Revolution MLS games through the years to get that idea, though.

 

EDIT: I should say old old stadium for Atlanta. Can’t keep up!

[DEAD!]

29 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

You haven't lived until you watch a baseball game with 3500 other people in a stadium that seats 80,000. 

 

Was this until Ricky Vaughn showed up? 

[infrared41]

1 hour ago, DEAD! said:

 

Was this until Ricky Vaughn showed up? 

 

Well after. 

[bosrs1]

3 hours ago, infrared41 said:

 

You haven't lived until you watch a baseball game with 3500 other people in a stadium that seats 80,000. 

 

It's one reason when the A's suck I always recommend people make a trip to the Oakland Coliseum. Won't be too much longer that you'll be able to have that experience. And you're right... there's nothing like it. Don't know if that's a good thing... but it's definitely a thing. 

[Digby]

I saw the Orlando Rays amongst a crowd of about 50 in however big thst stadium is, how does that scale?

[BBTV]

12 hours ago, infrared41 said:

 

You haven't lived until you watch a baseball game with 3500 other people in a stadium that seats 80,000. 

 

Fact: nobody spread coronavirus in 3/4-empty Veteran's stadium, Cleveland stadium, Riverfront, Three Rivers, etc.  Let's let that sink in for a minute.

[Gary]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31427293/oakland-athletics-start-looking-relocating-elsewhere-sources-say
 

Where to? Portland? San Jose? Nashville? But I don’t think San Jose would be viable as the Giants own the territory. I also think Las Vegas could be a possibility. But it would have to be a dome, as their weather gets to triple digits in the summertime. Probably do what the Diamondbacks do and build a dome in Phoenix.

[sky1324]

If they do move (which they shouldn't), Portland should be their first choice (it won't be), followed by San Jose (whoops, shouldn't have given up that territory), then pretty much anything else, then Vegas. But of course, Vegas will jump the line and somehow end up with an original AL team then muck up the brand. Fun times!

[FiddySicks]

Their last, like, three ownership groups were either completely broke, completely inept, or some combination of the two. They’ve had PLENTY of time to figure something out. At least the length of my entire lifetime, and I’m in my mid 30s. As far as I’m concerned, good riddance. Go be Vegas’ problem from now on.
 

The only thing I wish is that they would just shut up with the relocation/stadium talk and just do it already. Quit blabbing about what you’re gonna do and actually do something. They can :censored: off to the moon for all I care at this point. 

[BBTV]

There's a link to a story about the A's "exploring relocation" or getting a new stadium in every season-long mega thread since... well, since the forum started.  There's nowhere for them to move to.  There's not 26 MLB markets - let alone 27.