It didn't help that a nasty storm cell (featuring a waterspout) knocked out power to half of St. Petersburg last night and play was suspended at the Trop for 20 minutes. But hey, at least it wasn't rained out, right? And at least they played Bugs Bunny:
NICE!!! @JohnLembo1878: Best part of #Trop power outage? They're playing Bugs Bunny's baseball cartoon on the big screen. Yes! #Rays”And as much as people will point to the team's 30th-place attendance numbers, it doesn't necessarily mean the team is struggling. Rays Index reports that TV ratings are once again soaring:
— Leigh Spann (@WFLALeigh) July 31, 2013
Since April 1, Sun Sports is the no. 1 rated cable network in primetime and their ratings have risen 8% since June 28.The Rays have a chance to climb out of the attendance cellar with $2 kids night tonight and three games this weekend against the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.
Playing the Red Sox and Yankees certainly helps. But these numbers show that fans are starting to get excited about this year’s club. And that could mean a surge in both the TV ratings and the attendance.
And where does the club rank in profitability?
ReplyDeleteThe Marlins "drew" 23,408 last night. Saw snippets of their game, and it looked like there were less than half of that in the stands (including none in the upper bowl).
ReplyDeleteThe attendance numbers themselves are mostly bogus and completely goosed up (yes, the Rays are one of the biggest culprits, too). I'd be interested in seeing what the actual turnstile counts are for all the teams, instead of "tickets distributed."