Rays, Lightning Score Big in ESPN Rankings Again

In case you missed it, the Rays were once again named pro sports' most affordable team by ESPN.

In the annual "ESPN Ultimate Standings," the Rays ranked 16th overall out of 122 teams (fourth among MLB franchises). They got generally strong ratings across-the-board, but suffered from a poor "stadium experience" rating and lack of long-term success.

The Lightning ranked seventh overall (second in NHL), backed by top-10 performances is the "fan relations," "ownership," and "stadium experience" categories.

ESPN was more generous toward the Lightning than Businessweek was recently when it comes to how the Lightning spend its dollars. ESPN ranked the Bolts 27th in "Bang for the Buck," while Businessweek just ranked the team 76th. Businessweek ranked the Rays first.

The Buccaneers, meanwhile, ranked 97th overall, with the Miami Dolphins Florida's only franchise to fare worse (110th). The Bucs' 2002 title was the only factor preventing the team from suffering below-average ratings in each of ESPN's eight categories, including "stadium experience" and "affordability."

Rays Named "Smartest Spenders" in Sports

This should come as no surprise to Rays fans, but the franchise was named the Businessweek "smartest spender in sports" across MLB, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL.

Bloomberg's press release follows:

Bloomberg Businessweek’s second annual ranking of the smartest spenders in sports is online now at businessweek.com and in the magazine on newsstands Friday, August 31, 2012. The ranking determines how well the 122 franchises in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB spend their money. Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Ira Boudway compiled the list using regular and post-season records, and publicly available payroll data, to calculate how much teams spent per win over the last five seasons. (For baseball, he also included the first half of the current season.) Every team was then compared against league average to see how well they turn wages into wins, producing a total score called the “efficiency index.” The lower the index the
better.

MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays came in at #1 with an efficiency index of -1.82, followed by #2 MLB’s Texas Rangers; #3 NHL’s Detroit Red Wings; #4 NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers; #5 NBA’s Boston Celtics; #6 NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins; #7 NFL’s New England Patriots; #8 NFL’s Green Bay Packers; #9 NFL’s New York Giants; and #10 NHL’s Boston Bruins. Dead last on the ranking is NFL’s St. Louis Rams, coming in at #122 with an efficiency index of 4.07. Joining the Rams in the bottom 10 least efficient spenders are #121 NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves; #120 MLB’s New York Mets; #119 New York Islanders; #118 NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs; #117 MLB’s Chicago Cubs; #116 NBA’s New York Knicks; #115 NBA’s Brooklyn Nets; #114 NHL’s Winnipeg Jets; and #113 MLB’s Seattle Mariners.

For this year’s ranking, bonuses were added for the victories that matter most: wins above .500, playoff wins, and championships. The scale counts regular season wins once, with a half-win bonus for every win over .500. Playoff wins count for 10 percent of a season; championships for half a season. In their Super Bowl winning season in 2011, for instance, the New York Giants got credit for 9 regular season wins, plus a .5 game bonus for their ninth win—the one that put them above .500. Their 4 playoff wins earned them 6.4 more wins. And the Super Bowl victory 8 more, for total of 23.9 “weighted” wins. At businessweek.com, the rankings are interactive as readers can adjust the weights with their own values, and see how the rankings change. They can also sort the rankings by league.

NOTABLE FINDINGS:
Baseball: Top MLB team is the Tampa Bay Rays (#1); Least efficient is the New York Mets (#120)
Basketball: Top NBA team is the LA Lakers (#4); Least efficient is the Minnesota Timberwolves (#121)
Football: Top NFL team is the New England Patriots (#7); Least efficient is the St. Louis Rams (#122)
Hockey: Top NHL team is the Detroit Red Wings (#3); Least efficient is the New York Islanders(#119)

Boston: The Celtics, Patriots, and Bruins make the top 10, but the Red Sox come in at #70

New York Area: The #9 New York Giants and #14 New Jersey Devils are in the top 15, while the New York Rangers are at #45, New York Jets are at #54, and the New York Yankees are at #98, with the #115 Brooklyn Nets, #116 New York Knicks, #119 New York Islanders, and #120 New York Mets all in the bottom 10

Los Angeles: The City of Angels also has a wide spread, with the Lakers at #4, the Kings at #37, the Anaheim Ducks at #65, the Dodgers at #79, the Clippers at #86, and the Angels at #90

For Tampa Bay fans keeping score at home, the Buccaneers came in just above average at No. 59, while the Lightning were just below average at No. 76.

Vinik Wins Channelside; Tampa Rays Fans Celebrate

In a showdown between two of the region’s biggest names in entertainment, a group led by Lightning owner Jeff Vinik has been chosen as the top bidder for Tampa’s Channelside complex. And it could be good news for those who hope to one day actually bring the Tampa Bay Rays to Tampa.

Vinik’s bid – a concept believed to be focused on integrating the entertainment complex better with neighbors such as the Tampa Bay Times Forum and Florida Aquarium – topped a bid from a powerhouse group led by new BayWalk owner Bill Edwards.

There's no telling if Vinik had the highest bid for the once-thriving complex, but he apparently had the best. And while he isn't expected to place as great of an emphasis on shopping as the Edwards group, he didn't de-emphacize the idea of a Downtown Tampa baseball stadium as the other group did.

While the Lightning owner is currently a minority owner in the Red Sox, if he ever wanted to invest in the Rays, selling off his Boston stakes would be a mere formality.

The naming of Vinik as the preferred Channelside buyer doesn't affect the Stadium Saga much right now, but it certainly makes the short-term chatter much more interesting.

Vinik Pumps More Money Into Forum

Last year, Lightning owner Jeff Vinik said he didn't need public dollars to make $40 million in upgrades to the St. Pete Times Forum. This year, the venue's name has changed...but Vinik's tune has not.

Not only did Vinik upgrade the venue without any pressure on local governments to share the bill, but he's now planning on another $5 million upgrade to the Forum's video board:

A $5 million video scoreboard will be installed at the Tampa Bay Times Forum before the start of the 2012-13 season, the team announced Thursday.

The upgraded video display board will feature the largest high-definition, center-hung video displays in any U.S. or Canadian arena. It will include a state-of-the-art control room and allow for a true high-definition signal with 1,296 lines of resolution.

The new video board comes on the heels of last summer's $40 million in upgrades that included a pipe organ, hanging Tesla coils and padded seats in the upper and lower bowls.

The new board, produced by Daktronics Inc., features four video boards. The two largest will be 28 feet high and 50 feet wide — reaching from blue line to blue line — and the two smaller boards will be 28 feet high and 20 feet wide.

Lightning owner Jeff Vinik is privately funding the project, the team said in a news release.

The current scoreboard, installed in 2007 at a cost of $4 million, is 16 feet high and 28 feet wide on each of the four sides. The current video system offered an HD-quality display, but the new system will offer true high-definition picture quality.

New Arena Coming in Tampa

New seats and an organ aren't the only big changes in store for the St. Pete Times Forum this year; with the namesake's announced name change today, the arena is about to get a new name too.

The St. Petersburg Times announced it will become the Tampa Bay Times on Jan. 1, meaning the arena will likely become the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The Lightning haven't confirmed the news yet; they will make their own name change announcement soon.

ESPN Ranks Lightning No. 2 Franchise in Sports

ESPN's annual Franchise Rankings pay big props to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the second-best franchise in all the major sports. The Green Bay Packers were No. 1.

The rankings take into account a number of factors, including front-office success, fan relations, and ownership's honesty/loyalty to players and fans. The Lighning notched outstanding ratings in those three categories. Even the team's worst rating, "Stadium Experience," was in the top 25 percent of franchises.

The Tampa Bay Rays were the 25th-ranked franchise of 122, thanks to excellent performance on-the-field and excellent affordability for fans. However, the Tropicana Field experience (111th) and ownership loyalty to player/community (86th) dragged it down.

The Tampa Bay Bucs, 59th of 122 teams, were middle-of-the-pack in most categories. They scored positive points for their recent championship, but were penalized for poor fan relations (104th).

Lightning Say They Don't Need Bed Tax Dollars

Following a noontime press conference to announce uniform changes, Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik previewed the renovations he was planning for the St. Pete Times Forum.

We asked Vinik if he was still going after bed tax dollars, as uncovered by the Times.

"We do not have a deal with the county for public funding at all," Vinik told WTSP-TV reporter Mike Deeson. "We are announcing this plan to go ahead whether we eventually get funding from the county or not."

In a time where almost every commission and council in Florida is looking to cut spending (even tourist taxes), Vinik's comments are truly a nice surprise. They also show he's a really really bad poker player.....unless he's a really really good one and we don't know it yet.

Lightning Looking to Grab Few Available Hillsborough Tax Dollars

News this week of the Lightning's renovation plans for the St. Pete Times Forum should come as no real surprise, nor should their plans to ask for reimbursement from the county:

The Tampa Bay Lightning plans to announce roughly $40 million in renovations to the St. Pete Times Forum that the team hopes will significantly improve the hockey game and concert-going experience.

Documents obtained from Hillsborough County indicate that the team's new owners want to get reimbursed for much of the work with tourist taxes.

Among the changes being discussed: new seating, an overhauled ventilation system, a new interior color scheme and an upper-level concession area.

Deferred payment on immediate upgrades to a public building isn't a bad deal for the county. But it also reinforces my point from last year that Hillsborough County has no money for a possible Rays stadium.

When there's discussion of bed taxes potentially not covering the $2 million annual tab for the Forum, there's no way money will just magically free up for a brand-new baseball stadium before the bonds are paid off in 2027.

Vinik Rolls Big Into South Tampa

As long as I'm going to keep track of the Glazers' real estate purchases, I may as well follow the grand expenditures of new Lightning owner Jeffrey Vinik.

The millionaire may single-handedly revive Tampa housing numbers by purchasing a South Tampa home appraised at $3 million for $6 million...as well as the smaller home next to it for another $3 million. No word on what he plans to do with the adjacent properties.

Elsewhere in the sports world, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is apparently once again considering a ban on caffeine since studies show it enhances performance.

"Caffeine was on WADA’s list of banned substances at one time, but the agency delisted the popular substance in 2004 because it proved too difficult to determine if caffeine in the human body came from the incidental use of coffee and soft drinks or from supplements."

The knee-jerk reaction from WADA comes after an athlete in Australia reportedly suffered a bad reaction from mixing pills. But caffeine abuse is hardly an epidemic. It doesn't create an unlevel playing field. The benefit an athlete gets from the chemical diminishes after 200mg, which is about as much caffeine as is in two cups of coffee.

So the long and short of it is, I wouldn't read too much into the WADA's possible ban. It's not like any of the U.S. leagues would follow suit with caffeinated beverages such a large sponsor of sporting events.