Tampa Bay Devil Rays Name Change?

[Cujo]

I like Sharks or Pilots.

Sharks is already taken by a hockey team in San Jose ... and Pilots should stay with the city of Seattle.

[pooter]

The best name is sports:

Tampa Bay Tiburons

Do you honestly think Tiburons is an upgrade form Devil Rays? You are just trading one bad "fish" nickname for another.

Well, it is better than Devil Rays.

[pooter]

The Tampa Bay Old Chain Smoking Retired People.(old people retire in Florida and they could have a name that beats Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem)

St. Petersburg is often called "God's Waiting Room".

[TruColor]

Why not just "Stingrays"? That way, they could still be called the "Rays" for short, and not have to change a whole lot.

Of course, stingrays are predominantly Gray, not Black, so that would probably change.

One other item: when Tampa-St. Pete got the franchise in 1995, they announced the nickname "Devil Rays". However, the owners did say that they would look into possibly changing the nickname. The other option was "Manta Rays" - which is the actual name of the fish.

Don't know why they just didn't go with Manta Rays to begin with.

[pooter]

it's only because the fact is inescapable that Tampa Bay has proven to be a lousy baseball market. 

Tampa/St. Pete is not a lousy baseball market. There are 3 single A teams in the market as well as the D-Rays.

Problems I see in the Tampa Bay baseball market:

1. The Dunedin Blue Jays, the Clearwater Phillies and Tampa Yankees all playing in the same area during the season.

2. The Phillies and Yankees have much better ballparks than The Trop is, and they are single-A clubs.

3. The Rays hold Spring Training in St. Pete, which is just like having another month of the season rather than generating the Spring Training hype then the regular season hype. And it does not spread out the fan base outside of the Bay area like the Marlins do when they have Spring Training in Jupiter, Florida.

4. With the Blue Jays, Phillies, Yankees, Reds, Pirates and Tigers holding Spring Training within a comfortable drive of the area, a lot of people go to all of the games, get their fill of baseball after the winter and then there is no need to go to The Trop except to see the Yankees or Red Sox.

[infrared41]

it's only because the fact is inescapable that Tampa Bay has proven to be a lousy baseball market. 

Tampa/St. Pete is not a lousy baseball market. There are 3 single A teams in the market as well as the D-Rays.

Problems I see in the Tampa Bay baseball market:

1. The Dunedin Blue Jays, the Clearwater Phillies and Tampa Yankees all playing in the same area during the season.

2. The Phillies and Yankees have much better ballparks than The Trop is, and they are single-A clubs.

3. The Rays hold Spring Training in St. Pete, which is just like having another month of the season rather than generating the Spring Training hype then the regular season hype. And it does not spread out the fan base outside of the Bay area like the Marlins do when they have Spring Training in Jupiter, Florida.

4. With the Blue Jays, Phillies, Yankees, Reds, Pirates and Tigers holding Spring Training within a comfortable drive of the area, a lot of people go to all of the games, get their fill of baseball after the winter and then there is no need to go to The Trop except to see the Yankees or Red Sox.

I see what you're saying but I have to disagree. The fact that there is so much baseball around the area leads me to believe that baseball must be pretty popular in the region. Why would 3 organizations all choose to put their teams in a lousy baseball market? That just doesn't make sense.

If people get their fill of baseball during spring training then it would seem to reason that after I come back from Florida every year I should no longer be interested in the Indians. Again that makes no sense. It's not like the Tampa Bay area residents go to each and every Rays game during spring training.

I do agree that the three single A teams all have better parks than the D-Rays. Even Dunedin's park is better than Tropicana. Also although one plays there anymore (except during spring training) Al Lang Field is better too.

I don't disagree with moving the D-Rays spring training elsewhere.

It's all about a new park and a better team. If hockey can survive in Tampa/St. Pete then baseball should have no trouble.

[VitaminD]

If hockey can survive in Tampa/St. Pete then baseball should have no trouble.

LIGHTNING:

Playoff appearances: 3.

Division championships: 2.

Stanley Cup championships: 1.

DEVIL RAYS:

Playoff appearances: 0.

Division titles: 0.

World Series titles: 0.

Hell - Seasons with fewer than 90 losses: 0.

I'm not sure I fully agree your logic - people will support a winner. You could draw people to Death Valley if they had a Cup winner to root for...

[bulldogbarks55]

I didn't feel like looking through five pages of posts on this topic so if someone else mentioned this, mia culpa. The Houston Astros were the Houston Colt .45s from 1962-64. One story is that they couldn't reach agreement with the Colt Firearms Co. who owned the rights to the gun's name. Rather than fight Colt and to coincide with the opening of the Astrodome and because Houston is home to NASA, they became the Astros in 1965. As Casey Stengel would say....."You could look it up!"

[winghaz]

Why not just "Stingrays"? That way, they could still be called the "Rays" for short, and not have to change a whole lot.

I like Stingrays as a replacement. A lot. The name is in American jargon (Devil Rays, of course, isn't). It would be a fine new name.

[Survival79]

One other item: when Tampa-St. Pete got the franchise in 1995, they announced the nickname "Devil Rays".  However, the owners did say that they would look into possibly changing the nickname.  The other option was "Manta Rays" - which is the actual name of the fish.

Don't know why they just didn't go with Manta Rays to begin with.

Because of the "fans" and "people", per this April 3, 1995 article It's official: Devil Rays in the St. Petersburg Times:

Devil Rays stays.

Managing general partner Vince Naimoli said Sunday night that the Tampa Bay baseball expansion team will continue to be known as the Devil Rays.

There initially was strong public reaction against the name and Naimoli said he would consider changing it to Manta Rays. He established a telephone poll and 50,000 calls were virtually even between the names. But Naimoli said that after the first few days, the overwhelming majority of the calls favored Devil Rays.

"I am very pleased to say that fans reacted in exactly the way we thought that they would," Naimoli said. "When they had the time to take a look at the complete package with the colors and logo as it appears on team merchandise, they were as enthusiastic about it as we hoped that they would be."

The sale of team merchandise has been strong in the Tampa Bay area and nationally, Naimoli said.

"Everywhere I went the past two weeks people told me that they loved the logo and colors and that the name Devil Rays grows on you and they didn't want the name to be changed," Naimoli said.

Team vice president John Higgins said: "I didn't see any overwhelming support to justify changing the name."

The real reason they became the Devil Rays, from a February 10, 1995 article Fans get a chance to name that team in the St. Petersburg Times:

He also said he will not pay anyone for the rights to a name, which seems to dismiss some of the names often suggested - Tampa Bay Thunder, Tampa Bay Thunderbolts, and Tampa Bay Tarpons. Area residents Teresa deArrigoitia and Tony Karcher registered trademarks for those names, as well as Tampa Bay Tornadoes, last year, and sold shirts with those names. Now, they want to sell Naimoli the rights to the names.

"The ownership group is going to spend a lot of money for a team and we aren't going to spend a lot of money plus one cent in order to buy a name from someone who ran up to the copyright office and invested $300," Naimoli said.

[infrared41]

I'm not sure I fully agree your logic - people will support a winner. You could draw people to Death Valley if they had a Cup winner to root for...

That is exactly what I am talking about. My point all along has been that with a decent team and a park worth going to the fans in Tampa would definitely support the Devil Rays. That was my point when I brought up hockey.

Tampa is much more of a baseball market than it is a hockey market. It's not like Tampa is Detroit, Toronto or Montreal. Yet their hockey team draws well because it's a good product. A successful major league baseball team in Tampa/St. Pete would do much better than Hockey.

I'm not knocking Hockey. I am a huge Hockey fan but the reality is that Baseball is far more popular especially in the south. So when I say if Hockey can do well in Tampa then baseball certainly can, that is what I am talking about.

Hope that clears it up.

[NJTank]

Tampa Bay Gators

[pooter]

I see what you're saying but I have to disagree. The fact that there is so much baseball around the area leads me to believe that baseball must be pretty popular in the region. Why would 3 organizations all choose to put their teams in a lousy baseball market? That just doesn't make sense.

It costs far less to field a Single-A team than it does a MLB team. Just look at the travel expenses for one thing.

If people get their fill of baseball during spring training then it would seem to reason that after I come back from Florida every year I should no longer be interested in the Indians. Again that makes no sense. It's not like the Tampa Bay area residents go to each and every Rays game during spring training.

There are several people I know have "season" spring-training tickets that go to all of the "home" games and then if they are away, they go to the games in Tampa, Clearwater, Dunedin, Sarasota, etc. to see their team play.

What I was getting at is that it is difficult to built an alliance with the Rays when there is so much other baseball with Spring Training, the 3 A-clubs and then on top of it, the Yankees broadcast all of their games in this market. THAT makes no sense to me. If I were a baseball god, I would not allow that. Having team that is floundering like the Rays are and then having "The Evil Empire" broadcast in that market? That makes no sense and is bad for baseball. Good for "The Evil Empire", but not for Tampa Bay baseball.

I do agree that the three single A teams all have better parks than the D-Rays. Even Dunedin's park is better than Tropicana. Also although one plays there anymore (except  during spring training)  Al Lang Field is better too.

For as many fans that show up at The Trop, they could fill Florida Power Park (Al Lang Field) and still not turn anybody away. Better views too.

[mjrbaseball]

If they chose to become the Tampa Bay Rays or the St. Petersburg Rays or whatever Rays, they could capitalize on being in Florida and have the logo be rays of sunshine.

[VitaminD]

So when I say if Hockey can do well in Tampa then baseball certainly can, that is what I am talking about.

But there is a slight difference.

In terms of hockey, the NHL went into virgin territory when it expanded into the Sun Belt (with the exclusion of the WHL's short-lived teams in Houston and Birmingham). Also, it was an area of North America that didn't follow hockey all that closely, and certainly not as intensely as the traditional northern US and Canadian markets. There were enough transplants to Florida to make a go of it. And the Lightning and Panthers have done well, though when both teams have hit hard times, attendance has flagged.

On the other hand, baseball has flourished in Florida for over a century. Not only is it the American Pastime, but it is ingrained in the many Latino cultures that predominate in Florida (Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican). It is a baseball-savvy market, and many people have their favorite teams. Old-timers likely follow the team of their childhood, which is likely what started some of the Yankees' appeal in Tampa (they used to hold Spring Training in Ft. Lauderdale, it was in my lifetime). The Yankees saw a market that they could force their way into, and as a result, they broadcast down there and have a successful following. Other people also bring with them their allegiances, so it isn't like you have an unaffiliated fan base that can be united to follow a new team.

But maybe it's more than just all this. Maybe some of these guys are on to something. Case in point? The Marlins have won 2 World Series in about a decade. But they don't draw that well - see below:

2002: 29th in total attendance, played to 23.6% capacity

2003: 28th in total attendance, played to 44.8% capacity (AND WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!)

2004: 27th in total attendance, played to 60.6% capacity (as defending champs)

2005: 28th in total attendance, played to 62.7% capacity

So what's the Marlins' excuse? Bad stadium? Bad weather? Huizenga? Some or all of the above? There must be a reason for the disinterest - you have a winning team that can't fill 2/3 of its stadium.

[mjrbaseball]

... or like I once proposed, merge with the Marlins, become the Florida Rays, and move to Orlando (where they could draw from the tourist crowd).

[VitaminD]

If they chose to become the Tampa Bay Rays or the St. Petersburg Rays or whatever Rays, they could capitalize on being in Florida and have the logo be rays of sunshine.

It's a built-in ad slogan: "Wanna catch some Rays?"

I can only hope the advertising world can get on without my talents... ... .

[Survival79]

If they chose to become the Tampa Bay Rays or the St. Petersburg Rays or whatever Rays, they could capitalize on being in Florida and have the logo be rays of sunshine.

It's a built-in ad slogan: "Wanna catch some Rays?"

I can only hope the advertising world can get on without my talents... ... .

A screen capture from a promotional video put out by the new ownership:

[RamblinGamblinTiger]

I don't think they would be stupid enough to go with "Rays" and use the sun aspect for a logo -> For more reasons, see: Tampa Bay Lightning

[AAO]

i like stingrays