Price tweeted:
"Had a chance to clinch a post season spot tonight with about 10,000 fans in the stands....embarrassing." | @DAVIDprice14
Although he later apologized for his comment with another tweet:
"If I offended anyone I apologize I did not think it was gonna turn into this..." | @DAVIDprice14
Then teammate Longoria talked about Tampa Bay Rays attendance to the media, saying:
"We've been playing great baseball all year. Since I've been here in [2006], the fans have wanted a good baseball team. They've wanted to watch a contender," Longoria told reporters. "And for us to play good baseball for three years now, and for us to be in a spot to clinch again and go to the playoffs, we're all confused as to why it's only 15,000 to 20,000 in the building." | ESPN
The internet was divided as to who was right in the this situation. Most said it's a bad way of doing business to call your customers out and many also stated reasons why attendance was probably so low.
Here are a couple of quotes from some of the better articles taking the fans side:
Folks who run a business -- any business -- put a product up for sale, and would-be patrons have the right to decide whether they want to buy the product. Nobody is obligated to buy the product, just as the Rays are not obligated to commit to staying in St. Petersburg forever. | ESPN
Like Florida, Philadelphia suffers from 12% unemployment right now, and they've sold out hundreds of games in a row. Well, yeah. But that team has also played baseball in that town for a 127 years, the population of Philadelphia is seriously from Philly, and the park is both beautiful and accessible. It's a gross understatement to say that those things matter, and it's an unfair simplification of things to slam Rays fans for failing to support their team. | HardballTalk
Then on Tuesday afternoon, Craig Calcaterra reposted a brilliant comment from one of his readers. Steven Luck created the Jonah Keri* Memorial "Stop Making Fun of Rays Fans" Index using the formula:
[Average Home Attendance]*81/(([Metro Area Population]/[Number of Teams in Metro Area])*(1-[Metro Area Unemployment Rate]))
Using this formula, he got these as his top five fans in baseball:
Milwaukee 1.948
San Francisco 1.568
St. Louis 1.304
Colorado 1.243
Minnesota 1.057
The bottom five were:
Texas 0.419
Washington 0.357
Toronto 0.323
Florida 0.307
NY Mets 0.306
Tampa Bay finishes in ninth place. So if you believe his results, and I think they look pretty good, the Rays don't have it as bad as two-thirds of the teams in the league.
Finally, Tuesday afternoon, in response to all the criticism, the Rays announced that they would be giving away 20,000 free tickets to the game on Wednesday.
The team will provide the tickets in what is an unusual offer for a pro sports team. Asked how many of the 20,000 they expect to be claimed, Silverman said: "The fact that you're asking that question speaks to the challenges that we face. We don't know, and we'll see tomorrow. I'm hopeful that we'll have a packed house." | St. Petersburg Times via @AmyKNelson
I think this is a pretty good PR move, but I'm most happy that 20,000 people that might not have a chance to go to a baseball game will have the chance. It's moves like this that will help the Rays build a fan base into the next generation of baseball fans and hopefully attendance problems will soon be a thing of the past.
-Matt
*Note that Jonah Keri isn't dead.
Sources:
Rays only baking up trouble - Buster Olney | ESPN
Rays attendance is not about fan apathy. It's a structural thing. - Craig Calcaterra | HardballTalk
Introducing the "Stop Making Fun of Rays Fans" Index - Craig Calcaterra | HardballTalk
Rays to give away 20,000 free tickets Wednesday | St. Petersburg Times via @AmyKNelson
Follow On Twitter:
Craig Calcaterra | @craigcalcaterra
Steven Luck | @PestiEsti
Jonah Keri | @jonahkeri
Buster Olney | @Buster_ESPN
Amy K. Nelson | @AmyKNelson
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