Rays Last in Attendance, but TV Ratings Exceedingly Strong

According to FOX Sports Florida, the Rays are Tampa Bay's second-most-watched program in prime time:

Rank	Network	HH Rtg
1	10 WTSP CBS	5.54
2	RAYS ON SUN	4.32
3	8 WFLA NBC	3.07
4	13 WTVT FOX	2.83
5	28 WFTS ABC	2.76
6	TNT	1.81

Full disclosure, my employer, WTSP-TV, was No. 1.

Nevertheless, the Rays' last-in-the-league attendance isn't the only thing getting noticed this week:

Last night's #Rays game drew a 6.3 household rating in Tampa Bay. 115,000 homes. Tied for highest of the season, per Fox Sun Sports.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) July 30, 2014

#Rays average local TV audience this year is 79,000. That would rank 6th in the NBA, behind only NY, LAL, Mia, Chi, GS
— Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) July 30, 2014

FOXSports also reports at least a 40% increase in July 2014 ratings, compared to June 2013.  And the team's recent winning streak has drawn at least a 5.0 HH rating eight games in a row.

Fuel to the fire for Rays fans who insist the team has broad support across the Greater Tampa Bay television market...as well as those (i.e. yours truly) who insist the team will make a boatload when it renegotiates its television contract, which is up at the end of 2016.