(07-23-2018 01:32 PM)knightastic Wrote:  

(07-11-2018 01:44 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(07-11-2018 11:43 AM)Knights_of_UCF Wrote:  How is tampa a small market? they are #13 media market. Or do you just mean cheap owners?

In baseball, they are a small market. LA, New York, the Bay Area, Balt./Washington and Chicago each have two teams. Baltimore is technically smaller but has seniority over Washington in virtually the same market and has had a team much longer than Tampa Bay. Toronto is a bigger market as a singularity and the only team in Canada, making it a much bigger market. Many places that are technically smaller, especially St. Louis, have had teams for decades longer if not over a full century. Finally, TB punches well below its weight as a baseball market, let alone as a sports market.

Add it all up, and Tampa Bay is indeed a small market for baseball. Amazingly, it's probably bigger than Miami for baseball.

And Tampa feels like a smaller market than their actual ranking. Orlando is a smaller market but feels more urban. Anyone that has traveled a lot knows what I'm talking about. It's weird bc Tampa has a lot of pieces to become even bigger than Miami but everything moves at a snails pace.

Orlando is a much smaller market than Tampa. Orlando will be hard pressed to ever get a MLB, NFL, or NHL team. The NBA likes small market, one big league franchise cities (Orlando, Salt Lake, San Antonio, Portland, OKC, etc.). This doesn't include MLS. MLS has a ways to go to be on par with the other 4 leagues.

Tampa Bay screwed up by putting a stadium in St Pete to begin with. If the Rays had been in Tampa all along, the narrative would have been different from the get go. Being in downtown Tampa alone is worth several thousand more fans per game, as opposed to being in St Pete where no one can get to without fighting traffic.

(07-23-2018 12:48 PM)knightastic Wrote:  No natural grass would be a non starter. You are going to spend almost 900 millon and still play on fake turf?

ask the Players, they hate playing on turf and some players have blamed it on shortening their prime(Carl Crawford)

The new stuff isn't like the AstroTurf in the past.

(07-23-2018 12:48 PM)knightastic Wrote:  No natural grass would be a non starter. You are going to spend almost 900 millon and still play on fake turf?

ask the Players, they hate playing on turf and some players have blamed it on shortening their prime(Carl Crawford)

Just like translucent glass technology has improved over the last few decades, so has artificial turf technology. Heck turf has improved even since Carl Crawford last played at the Trop. This isn't the old bad carpet Astroturf with big seams and hard as a rock turf we are talking about.

(07-23-2018 01:43 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(07-23-2018 01:32 PM)knightastic Wrote:  

(07-11-2018 01:44 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(07-11-2018 11:43 AM)Knights_of_UCF Wrote:  How is tampa a small market? they are #13 media market. Or do you just mean cheap owners?

In baseball, they are a small market. LA, New York, the Bay Area, Balt./Washington and Chicago each have two teams. Baltimore is technically smaller but has seniority over Washington in virtually the same market and has had a team much longer than Tampa Bay. Toronto is a bigger market as a singularity and the only team in Canada, making it a much bigger market. Many places that are technically smaller, especially St. Louis, have had teams for decades longer if not over a full century. Finally, TB punches well below its weight as a baseball market, let alone as a sports market.

Add it all up, and Tampa Bay is indeed a small market for baseball. Amazingly, it's probably bigger than Miami for baseball.

And Tampa feels like a smaller market than their actual ranking. Orlando is a smaller market but feels more urban. Anyone that has traveled a lot knows what I'm talking about. It's weird bc Tampa has a lot of pieces to become even bigger than Miami but everything moves at a snails pace.

Orlando is a much smaller market than Tampa. Orlando will be hard pressed to ever get a MLB, NFL, or NHL team. The NBA likes small market, one big league franchise cities (Orlando, Salt Lake, San Antonio, Portland, OKC, etc.). This doesn't include MLS. MLS has a ways to go to be on par with the other 4 leagues.

Tampa Bay screwed up by putting a stadium in St Pete to begin with. If the Rays had been in Tampa all along, the narrative would have been different from the get go. Being in downtown Tampa alone is worth several thousand more fans per game, as opposed to being in St Pete where no one can get to without fighting traffic.

I don't think Orlando should have an MLB team either.

Nowhere in Florida south of the Panhandle should either. That's Spring Training grounds.

(07-23-2018 10:44 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  Nowhere in Florida south of the Panhandle should either. That's Spring Training grounds.

If the team moves to Ybor...I hope the Tropicana Dome Area can be redeveloped to include a MLB Spring Training Facility.

I hope they turn it into a parking garage, they don't have much to change.