Tampa Bay Rays: Relocation is all but inevitable at this point

The Tampa Bay Rays miserable attendance, and issues in securing a new stadium, have made relocation all but inevitable.

Throughout the course of franchise history, attendance woes have dogged the Tampa Bay Rays. This inability to generate revenue at the gates has led to a great deal of innovation, and a lot of success with limited funds, but the idea of a lifelong member of the franchise is laughable. Every franchise icon, be it James Shields, Ben Zobrist, or even Evan Longoria, were sent away for a package of prospects. While the hope is that a new stadium will alleviate those payroll concerns, such an undertaking has gotten more unlikely as the days pass.

Those attendance woes were underscored on Tuesday. The Rays “drew” a crowd of just 5786 people for their game against the Blue Jays, a pathetic amount for an exciting young team that is firmly in the chase for the postseason.

To say that this is a problem is putting it far too mildly. Yes, a new stadium is needed, given that Tropicana Field was already an outdated relic by the time the Rays came into existence. However, the Ybor City stadium concept is deader than Bela Lugosi, and less likely of being resurrected at this point.

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Given those ongoing attendance issues and the apparent inability to get a new stadium, it is time to face facts. Baseball simply is not working in the Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg area. Yes, the ratings are nice, but the Rays cannot survive on just television ratings alone. People need to come to the stadium and buy merchandise as well.

And they simply are not doing that. The Rays experiment has failed in South Florida, done in by indifference and town officials who refuse to work with the team to create a new, viable stadium. This is an exciting young team, and one that deserves a fanbase that cares enough to show up to the games.

At this point, relocation appears to be the only way to make that happen. There are plenty of baseball starved cities willing to do whatever it takes to earn an eventual expansion team whenever the league decides to expand. Until that point, it may behoove those cities to attempt to entice the Rays to look at greener pastures, as their location is no longer viable.

The Tampa Bay Rays have had to continually contend with attendance woes. At this point, it is time to leave the Tampa Bay-St. Pete area behind, and find a city willing to support the team.