In the midst of the baseball offseason that has seen dozens of trades, questions answered, and signings (Cespedes not being one of them is quite bizarre), one of the better news in recent baseball memory has occurred under the noses of the mainstream media. The Tampa Bay Rays finally have permission to seek elsewhere for a new stadium, and may no longer be confined to the refrigerator known as Tropicana Field. This is fantastic news for Rays fans, for Tampa Bay, and for other cities in North America seeking their own baseball team.
We shall start with the Rays. They are no longer the Devil Rays of the past---this is a competitive team year in and year out with a flurry of front office people taking risks, making tons of trades, and sorting through the garbage big to pierce together a formidable squad. Even though the departure of Joe Maddon will eternally hurt the franchise (although some can argue that his departure led to increasing talks of a compromising to fix the Tropicana Field fiasco), there’s still enough good parts in the system to continue the fortune of good baseball. Most importantly, there is a certified culture, a distinctive and consistent personality.
The Tampa Bay Rays runs on old-school National League small ball, blended together with tight defense, unique decision-making, and ever-shifting strategies. Despite the management change, the attitude remains the same. The team revolves around Evan Longoria, who is signed with the team for the next several years (becoming the first and only major Rays player to stay in the organization for an extended period of time).
So what does this all mean? It’s not some hunky-dory awful franchise like the 76ers seeking a new stadium---this is a team with a personality, with a fanbase that is quietly growing (11th in television ratings), and with a future. The only issue within the past several season has been the stadium situation. It’s a domino effect: better attendance means better television numbers, which equates to more money to earn and spend on better players. And with the right location, we can see the average attendance of the team go up at least 10,000 per game. It won’t reach Fenway or AT&T Park numbers, but given the right destination the Rays can draw 25,000-30,000 fans per game easily. 50 million visit Orlando, over 4 million people live in Tampa Bay, and a total of 93 million visit Florida yearly---25,000 is a lofty and definitely reachable goal. It benefits Tampa, and benefits the opposing teams visiting the new ballpark.
Although the relocation idea might have been hampered because Tampa Bay now has permission to search within the borders of Tampa and Pinellas County, don’t get too upset Montreal, Portland, Mexico City, Charleston, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and maybe even Dominican Republic (Caribbean Nation would be perfect for an MLB team). With the Rays on the stadium upswing, it only leaves us with one remaining franchise in actual need of a new stadium: The Oakland Athletics. The argument can be made for the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago White Sox---but if Oakland can land a deal then the idea of expansion will hold much more weight.
32 teams is not a pipe dream, considering that Major League Baseball is the second most-successful league in the entire world, after the NFL of course. It is inches from the 10 billion mark, and that’s before the television contracts of multiple teams get refinanced and see drastic improvement. So why couldn’t the league expand its borders and reach out to Canada and Mexico? Montreal has become extremely hungry for some baseball, with this new generation pull for the Expos to make its return. Mexico is beautiful country full of passion and culture---and 125 million people. Mexico not having a franchise from any of the major North American leagues is nothing short of confusing (Major League Soccer, seriously?!!?!?!)
With the notorious stadium situation getting closer to a resolution in Tampa Bay, Major League Baseball can focus its efforts on Oakland, potentially working on the situation in Miami (beautiful stadium, weary fanbase), and ultimately giving more cities the opportunity to host a professional baseball team. The vote in St. Petersburg doesn’t just positively affect Florida and the Rays, it positively affects the league as a whole and the future.
Down the road in 2020, when we see the Montreal Expos, and the Mexico (*insert name here*) starting the season along with the other 30 teams, we can look at this day is one of the reasons why.
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