In 2010, he said "there has to be concern."
In 2011, he had no reason "to be too optimistic."
In 2012, he said attendance was "inexcusable" and "disappointing."
Now, a year later, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig says the Rays' stadium situation is "economically not tolerable" and "beyond disappointing."
In Bud's defense, the Rays are once again one of the best teams in baseball but one of the worst at the gate.
But on the other hand, Selig's problem isn't a few thousand Rays fans deciding to stay at home each night.....his problem is the league's embarrassment of riches. Owners and players have made so much money during Selig's tenure, the super-rich are fighting over how much they have to share with the league's modestly-rich.
As I've written before, MLB allowed its business expenses to skyrocket, and now it wants you to help fix it.
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In 1998 when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were born and began play in what is now known as Tropicana Field, Bud Selig was the commissioner of MLB. Apparently the stadium was good enough then, even before subsequent improvements, to be deemed an MLB caliber ball park. Maybe the fact the MLB and team owners were paid $155 million by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays ownership for ownership rights to the new franchise distorted Bud's view of the facility back then.
ReplyDeleteIn 2013 Bud Selig is still commissioner and now, the improved ball park is not good enough, in Bud's current view. Well then, Bud and Stu Sternberg can pay 100% for a new park and also pay the city of St. Petersburg whatever the penalty is for breaking the legally binding contract they have with the city through 2027. And, oh by the way, if Tampa Bay area unemployment continues at around 8%, the new stadium with not achieve satisfactory attendance either.
Exactly. Selig is counting on the uber-fans who will read this and fear that we should tear up any contracts and shower the team and it's owners with even more insane subsidies of public money.
ReplyDeleteThe facts are pretty obvious - Sternberg and the Rays donate a little money here and there (tax-deductible, I'm sure), refuse to disclose any financial information, and spend the rest of their time whining about the stadium, stirring up discord between cities and badmouthing the fans who find all of it distasteful.
I'm sorry, but if that's their recipe for success, they can move to Siberia for all I care. I'll even help them pack. Time and again the leagues cry poverty and then rake in millions and millions of dollars in public funds with zero proof of their return on investment. Before the ink is dry on an agreement they resort to legal hairsplitting and shady back room dealing to avoid holding up their end of the agreement. Witness the Bucs and their unfulfilled "sports complex", the Yankees and their parking garages, or any multitude of other pro-league swindles.
Enough with the con game. Time for the public to push back and reject the con.
LOL, relax, he's just "playing his hand" to help the cause, though he already knows the "behind the scenes" plans already in place for Channelside, the plans we bicker about because don't know yet...
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