There Might Be a Fan Experience in Tampa Bay
I realize I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus. It wasn’t because I don’t love using this platform for my insane baseball thoughts. Rather, it was in solidarity with the free agents out there. I’m not just going to throw articles out here willy-nilly. I have to wait for the right one. Well, now spring training is approaching and I have to get back into my workout routine, writing-wise. I need a workout routine workout-wise. I’ve got to start with the light work to get it rolling, so today we’re going to talk about Tampa and the Rays.
The Rays rich history centers in a town where my Google search of “famous people from Tampa” resulted in the juggernaut celebrities of Aaron Carter and Brooke Hogan. They’re not even the most famous people in their family, yet they’re the most famous from Tampa, so there’s that.
It’s not all jokes on Tampa today, I’m actually here to get you hyped about going to Tropicana Field. The Rays are coming off a 90-win season, they have a confident former top prospect returning from injury in Brent Honeywell and they’ve added a couple of boom-or-bust free agents in Charlie Morton and Avisail Garcia. Mix that in with a full year of Tommy Pham, Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow, and you can see why the Rays fan(s) is/are excited.
But this isn’t a team preview, I’m here to talk about why you and I might want to visit a stadium once described as a “fluted cow pie”.
The Rays knew they had to do something. Obviously there are issues when one of the most recognizable players on the team was ripping the “fan base.” How sad is it that a 90-win team is bringing in an average of 14,000 fans? Atmosphere is clearly a problem. How do you fill that cavern and stop the echoes?
Tampa Bay started by eliminating upper level seating. Around 5,000 seats are going to be inaccessible. That pushes down all the visiting Yankee and Red Sox fans to be on top of the crowd, a real boost for the team. Since everyone is now on the same couple of levels, speed of transaction is going to be important.
The Rays are the first team in North America to have a completely cashless stadium. I believe this is a smart move for the organization. The median age in Tampa is 34.8, which is almost three years younger than the average American. That may not seem like a big difference in age, but as baseball struggles to attract a younger crowd, these concepts help. I’m a typical millennial that never carries cash. There’s nothing I hate more than the cash-only stands. I consistently find seats that are located near those stands. Inevitably, I will get to the front of the line only to see the crinkled, laminated “cash only” sign on an index card. It really makes me rethink my decision to buy a $9 churro.
Any stadium that can eliminate those pesky cash-carrying adults that take forever, the little kids that shouldn’t be alone buying an ice cream and generally, anyone who’s in front of me in line, is great. If you want to carry cash, you should have your own section, like the family section where booze is prohibited. Stick those cash-carriers in the nosebleeds.
Kudos to you Tampa Bay Rays, although you might not have been able to secure a new stadium, you’re staying innovative and improving the experience at the current facility.
How do you think that article went? Worth the offseason wait? I felt like I just took a few swings in the batting cage. I’ve got a new couple blisters, but it’s not too bad. I’ll get better as the season ramps up.
