The Tampa Bay Rays’ postseason (PS) was not a “festival”.
U.S. sports broadcaster ESPN reported on Thursday (Feb. 4), citing sports statistics site Elias Sports Bureau, that attendance for the opening game of the American League (AL) Wild Card Series against the Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay’s home field, Tropicana Field, was 19,704, about 5,300 fewer than capacity. This is the smallest PS attendance since the 1919 World Series (WS), excluding the coronavirus pandemic. According to ESPN, Game 7 of the 1919 WS between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox drew 13,923 fans.
It’s a foregone conclusion. Tampa Bay entered the postseason in second place in the AL East, but fans have turned away. Cumulative home attendance this season remains at 1.44 million. Except for their inaugural season in 1998 (2.5 million), the Rays have never exceeded 2 million. Since 2008, the team has exceeded 1.8 million fans for three consecutive years, but has not recovered since a significant drop to 1.52 million in 2011.
According to ESPN, “Tampa Bay has averaged 17,781 fans in 81 home games this season. Only the Kansas City Royals (1.3 million), Miami Marlins (1.16 million) and Oakland Athletics (830,000) averaged less,” and “Tampa Bay last month announced plans to build a 30,000-seat ballpark to replace Tropicana Field, the domed stadium where the Rays have played since their inaugural season in 1998. Considering the Rays struggle to fill even 20,000 seats, that’s a lot.
For comparison, the AL East rivals and Major League Baseball (MLB) favorites, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, have home attendance of 3.26 million and 2.67 million this season, respectively. The Toronto Blue Jays, of which Hyun-jin Ryu is a member, have a home attendance of 3.02 million, a far cry from Tampa Bay.카지노사이트
Tampa Bay dropped Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series against Texas 0-4 in front of its fans. Starter Taylor Glasnow took the loss, giving up four runs on six hits in five innings. The trusted offense was shut down by Texas starter Jordan Montgomery in seven scoreless innings.