Tampa Bay Business Journal Hosts #BusinessOfSports Forum

I was disappointed to miss the Tampa Bay Business Journal's #BusinessOfSports forum today at...well, the Forum.  But saw a lot of tweets about it:

#businessofsports panelists discussing role of television, changing ticket/TV dynamic.
— TBBJMargaret (@TBBJMargaret) January 9, 2014

Bucs COO says team was seeing a loss in merchandise revenue bc of blackouts. #businessofsports Led to team decision to buy remaining seats — Chris Wilkerson (@TBBJwilkerson) January 9, 2014

That's what took them three years?!?

At @TBBJnewsroom #BusinessofSports overwhelming show of hands when asked how many want @RaysBaseball in downtown #tampa
— Margie Manning (@MargieTBBJ) January 9, 2014

No surprise that the business community attending a sports forum in Tampa would prefer a stadium in Tampa, but we know for a fact there are more big businesses that would potentially buy baseball tickets on the West side of the bay.

Tampa Bay is a very difficult market for corporate partnerships - Tim Ramsberger #businessofsports
— Chris Wilkerson (@TBBJwilkerson) January 9, 2014

This may be an understatement.  The man behind the race formerly known as the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg alludes to one of the region's biggest problems when it comes to putting butts in seats.

But while the grand prix will likely look for national sponsors to fill Honda's void, the Rays are still hoping Tampa's local businesses step up and start buying more tickets.