I read an article from the Orlando Sentinel recently (around the time the Rays were playing a series against the Texas Rangers in Orlando), which pointed to the lack of attendence at Rays games as evidence that Tampa Bay was “overextended” as a region with professional sports franchises.
Then I noticed that the Marlins drew a whopping 11,525 for today’s game against the Rays.
So then I decided to see how well the Rays attendance figures were when the Marlins were in town. I couldn’t find the numbers, but I did find something else that was interesting…
In 2003 the Marlins won the World Series… and they averaged 16,290 in attendance per game. In 2006 the Rays finished with the worst overall record in baseball, qualifying them for the first overall pick in the recent amateur draft… and they averaged 16,901 in attendance per game.
I could really tear into the Sentinel column, but I’m too tired right now.