Yeah, it's pretty apparent at this point that it's not going to work in the Sunshine State. It'd be interesting to see what occurred, though, with a decent facility in Tampa and a stable ownership in Miami.

Disagree. 

The 'transplant' argument is moot. It isn't 1982 anymore - there are plenty of year-round residents to support major league teams. Miami doesn't roll up their sidewalks in August. The NFL has 3 franchises in the state. NBA two (and the Magic do just fine here in Orlando). NHL two.

So it's not a reflection of fan apathy that the Marlins did a player fire sale or the Rays have trouble drawing (though I do think it would help if their stadium were on the mainland side of the peninsula. You know, where most of the people live). No, the issue is the sorry state of Major League Baseball itself. The economics have gone ridiculously crazy to the point that only the very-large markets can compete. 

So your post almost got it right. I would change your title as follows:

One more reason the MLB teams in Florida should be contracted

This isn't a 'Florida' issue. It's a baseball issue.

It's moot from the standpoint that Florida is no longer a transient state. Hey look, I'm from NE Ohio & have lived in Fla for over 30 years now. Most of us are from somewhere else, but my point is we are here year-round...this is our home.

There are a variety of reasons why Florida MLB teams do not draw like they should. First one that comes to mind is the weather, which is oppressive in the summer. Course, Tampa plays in a dome, so so much for that. In the case of Miami, their stadium is on the site of the old Orange Bowl, in the heart of the city in Little Havana...tough to get in & out of. I think the NFL made a serious gaffe in putting a franchise in Jax simply because the market is too small. But the Miami Heat & Orlando Magic don't have trouble drawing fans.

I guess what I am saying is there are factors for fans not going to games that are far more viable than saying it's a 'Florida Thing.'

Quote:

Originally Posted by zipazoid 

It's moot from the standpoint that Florida is no longer a transient state. Hey look, I'm from NE Ohio & have lived in Fla for over 30 years now. Most of us are from somewhere else, but my point is we are here year-round...this is our home.

 

There are a variety of reasons why Florida MLB teams do not draw like they should. First one that comes to mind is the weather, which is oppressive in the summer. Course, Tampa plays in a dome, so so much for that. In the case of Miami, their stadium is on the site of the old Orange Bowl, in the heart of the city in Little Havana...tough to get in & out of. I think the NFL made a serious gaffe in putting a franchise in Jax simply because the market is too small. But the Miami Heat & Orlando Magic don't have trouble drawing fans.

 

I guess what I am saying is there are factors for fans not going to games that are far more viable than saying it's a 'Florida Thing.'

Well, it's not a "baseball thing." You could put that Rays team in Kansas City or Seattle and people would fill those yards every night.

You're still talking about a $7 billion industry, and that's the number the owners admit to. Also, the idea that small- or mid-market teams can't compete is a fallacy. Sure, they can't become Yankees-style juggernauts, but they can have sustained runs of success when things are done right, as Tampa Bay has proven over the past 5 years and teams like Minnesota and Oakland proved before that.

Take a look at the three biggest markets -- New York, L.A. and Chicago. Out of six teams, only one made the postseason this year. Boston and Philly sat it out, too.

San Francisco, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Washington, Oakland and Baltimore -- all playoff participants -- are all from mid-size or even small markets

Quote:

Originally Posted by ditchparrot19 

 

Well, it's not a "baseball thing." You could put that Rays team in Kansas City or Seattle and people would fill those yards every night.

 

You're still talking about a $7 billion industry, and that's the number the owners admit to. Also, the idea that small- or mid-market teams can't compete is a fallacy. Sure, they can't become Yankees-style juggernauts, but they can have sustained runs of success when things are done right, as Tampa Bay has proven over the past 5 years and teams like Minnesota and Oakland proved before that.

 

Take a look at the three biggest markets -- New York, L.A. and Chicago. Out of six teams, only one made the postseason this year. Boston and Philly sat it out, too.

 

San Francisco, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Washington, Oakland and Baltimore -- all playoff participants -- are all from mid-size or even small markets

Well, I reject there's something fundamentally wrong about Florida which keeps the Rays or Marlins from drawing. The 'transient' thing is from a different era. 

And sure, you can take a given year, like as you did, this year & say see? Mid-market teams represented in the playoffs. But since you seem to know the economics of MLB you obviously know the large markets have a huge advantage since there's no revenue sharing of local TV contracts. In other words, The NY Yankees are gonna get a helluva lot more money from their TV contract with a NY station than Cleveland will get with theirs.

So there's reasons why, over an extended period of time, the large markets tend to prevail on the field. 

But anyway. There's nothing wrong with Florida. Only thing I can think of that would keep people away from, say, Marlins games is that it's Miami....the Marlins have a lot of competition for the entertainment dollar of potential customers. Which would explain why a team draws in, for example Kansas City (your example). Answer? It's Kansas Freekin City. What else you gonna do there?

It's not a real mystery why Miami doesn't draw well. Other than the miracle of 2003, the franchise has never given the fans a reason to form a connection with it. It won a World Series in 1997 by throwing a ton of money at a bunch of major league a$$-wipes (Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, et al) and then promptly dumped them in the off-season. This year was hugely important because of the new park and the free-agent signings, and it just couldn't have gone worse.

Other entertainment options are no doubt a factor. There's a few of those in SoCal too, however, and both of those teams put more than 3 million butts in the chairs without the new-park drawing card.

Meen was on the mark -- my whole point about the Kansas City thing is that's a proven market when the on-field product is good. It's a town that would appreciate the heck out of a well-run, overachieving club like the Rays.

The situation in Tampa Bay appears to be hopeless. There are places from coast to coast (from Hartford, Conn. to Portland, Ore.) where that franchise would be a lot better off.

The thing about Miami though is that theres simply so much more to do than to go watch a game.  None of the pro teams in Florida have really been all that successful.