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Rays Aim To Grow Fan Base In Tampa

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By TED JACKOVICS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays sell twice as many season tickets in Pinellas County than in Hillsborough County, but Rays executives intend to expand their reach to more fans across the Bay next season, team president and Tampa resident Matt Silverman said in an interview Tuesday.

The demographics of Rays season ticket holders were a tightly held secret among the team's original ownership group and seldom, if ever, have been discussed publicly.

However, Silverman, who was named team president in October 2005 when Stuart Sternberg, a native of New York's Brooklyn borough, became the Rays principal owner, spoke candidly Tuesday about the Rays business challenges before a news conference on the team's 2008 outlook.

The Rays will focus on Hillsborough marketing from a 3,400-square-foot office they opened in August overlooking Lykes Gaslight Square in downtown Tampa. They sell tickets and T-shirts there, but its primary purpose is to gain a Tampa presence and target ticket sales among Tampa businesspeople, using a mock-up of a suite at the Rays' ballpark at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg as a selling tool.

Like other Major League Baseball teams, the Rays do not disclose specific figures for season ticket sales.

'It stands at two-thirds Pinellas and one-third Hillsborough for season tickets, excluding those sold beyond those two counties, like Manatee County,' Silverman said.

Silverman added that individual game ticket sales are much more balanced between Hillsborough and Pinellas residents at about 50-50.

Team officials did not say Tuesday whether the team's new name, which will be announced Nov. 8, will play into marketing aimed at broadening the Devil Rays' appeal, but festivities surrounding the new name will be held both in St. Petersburg and Tampa.

The Devil Rays ranked 29th out of 30 MLB teams in attendance in 2007, with a total of 1,387,603. That's an average of 17,131 a game, beating only the Florida Marlins, which averaged 16,920 a game. Both teams fell far short of the 2007 MLB average of 32,785 fans a game during a year of record attendance of 79.5 million.

The good news locally: The Rays increased attendance by 1.4 percent in 2007 compared with 2006, matching the American League high in percentage increase by the Boston Red Sox, who drew 2,970,755 for an average of 36,676 a game.

Silverman and senior vice president/chief sales officer Mark Fernandez, a Tampa native and resident, acknowledged the Rays have not enjoyed success on the field in the team's 10-year history.

'We know we have to play well on the field to achieve better attendance,' Silverman said. 'Performance comes first.'

Winning games to boost attendance has worked for other Bay area sports teams. The Tampa Bay Lightning, for example, frequently drew crowds of 20,000 when they played at St. Petersburg's ThunderDome. Lightning officials said then they drew plentiful Hillsborough fans during the team's stay in Pinellas. They still draw 20,000 people at Tampa's smaller St. Pete Times Forum.

Likewise, the University of South Florida Bulls' first ever top-10 college football ranking this week generated predictions of more sellouts at Raymond James Stadium.

'I think it's very important to have a regional fan base,' said David Feaster, area president of Whitney Bank in St. Petersburg and 14 outlets in Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties. 'With greater attendance will come greater revenue and more money to bring in and retain the best ballplayers.'

Feaster parlayed his business and longtime baseball interests into sponsoring The Whitney Bank Club at Tropicana Field last season, where patrons enjoy club seating, dining and an elegant club atmosphere. He intends to renew his sponsorship, based on the business returns the bank received from the name-association with The Whitney Bank Club and the Rays.

The Rays do not release their financial data. However, the most recent Forbes magazine baseball survey shows the team's value in 2006, the most recent data available, was $267 million, up 28 percent in the first year of the Sternberg ownership.

The Forbes report says the Devil Rays had $134 million in revenue and $20.2 million in income in 2006. Although more exact figures would produce a more reliable profit margin, the Forbes numbers hint that the Devil Rays profit is at about 15 percent. If all teams' profits were similarly calculated, the Rays rank No. 6.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at tjackovics@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7817.

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