10Connects.com:Research says Downtown St. Pete worst place for Rays

Copy of a story by Noah Pransky of 10Connects.com

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The private group commissioned last year to ensure the long-term success of baseball in Tampa Bay suggested Thursday that Downtown St. Pete is not a suitable long term home for the Rays.

As it continues to release its initial findings, the Stadium Options committee of the ABC Coalition said that it studied five possible trade areas in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, and Tropicana Field’s current location near downtown St. Pete was too remote for most baseball fans to get to conveniently.

10 Connects reporter Noah Pransky is reporting on the developments today and you can read what he blogged below or what he Tweeted in the blue box on the right side of the article.

Previous Coverage:
Monday – REPORT: Group releases first findings on Rays
7/10/09 – REPORT: Fans launch campaign to move Rays to Tampa
7/3/09 – BLOG: How the Rays’ stadium saga will go down
6/16/09 – REPORT: Renovating The Trop too expensive
5/22/09 – BLOG: Location, Location, Location

10:22 a.m. - Meeting adjourned.

We’ll have updates right here throughout the afternoon, including our full interview with Rays’ Senior V.P. Michael Kalt.

A quick preview: “I think we need to be honest about what people’s tolerances are to travel to go to sporting events and not make adjustments based on what we want them to be but what they are in fact,” he said. “The reality is they don’t want to drive an hour to go to a baseball game on a weeknight as a matter of regular habit.”

10:05 a.m. – Conflicted group now trying to wrap up and decide what to do next. One member says “we don’t subscribe to ‘if you build it, they will come.’ If you are making a 500- or 600-million-dollar decision, you need to be absolutely sure.”

9:52 a.m. – Rays’ Senior VP Michael Kalt showing some frustration. “People here talk about going 30 minutes to a baseball game like people talk about going 2 hours in other places.”

“We think the area as a whole…has potential to be a very, very solid MLB market,” he continued, citing the area’s growth. “But its not a market where you can afford to live in the wrong part of it.”

“People aren’t driving 60 minutes to go see a game against the Royals on a Wednesday night.”

9:31 a.m. – Kalt just dropped his first public hint that Rays would be better off at the Mid-Pinellas site.

For the record, Mid-Pinellas is where I think the stadium will end up eventually.

His comment came after ABC Coalition analysis suggested that the team could capture the big potential season-ticket crowd near the Fairgrounds by moving to within 30 minutes of that area.

9:20 a.m. - State Fairgrounds site provides advantage in that population center of Tampa Bay is growing east, but it’s probably too far away from the economic core to lure the important business dollars.

Other interesting data – Tampa residents like baseball more than St. Pete residents, but St. Pete residents like hockey more than Tampa residents.

9:15 a.m. - Group concludes 60-minute drive times are pretty much all similar between five trade areas, but when it comes to 30-minute drivetimes, the Downtown St. Pete area fares poorly. It is “local” to approximately 28% less population than the other areas and the annual household income is a substantial 9% less than the other areas.

9:10 a.m. - Of 2008 Rays’ season-ticket holders, 47% came from Pinellas County and 25% came from Hillsborough County. Sarasota Co. was next at just 5%.

Of last year’s single-game ticket buyers, 25% came from Pinellas Co., 25% came from Hillsborough Co., and Pasco Co. was next at 9%.

The presenter didn’t say so, but the numbers suggest residents of Tampa Bay’s most populous county, Hillsborough, aren’t likely to go to as many games as residents of Pinellas Co. because of the drive.

9:01 a.m. - ABC Stadium Options Group begins presentation with, “We’re trying to assume if we didn’t have a stadium now, where would we (ideally) put it?”

The five areas (no specific sites) being considered by the group are:

• Downtown St. Pete
• Gateway/Mid-Pinellas
• Westshore
• Downtown Tampa
• State Fairgrounds

Again, no specific sites are being considered – the group called it a “trade-area data analysis.” They also won’t rank the sites, acknowledge the team has a long-term agreement with the City of St. Pete, and merely call the research an “academic exercise.”

8:46 a.m. – One board member sarcastically asked when an expensive retractable-roof would ever be open. The answer from his fellow board member: “The reality is, most game nights, the (stadium) will be fully-air-conditioned and the roof will be closed.”

Rays’ Senior Vice President Michael Kalt added that the Marlins predict their new retractable-roof stadium will be open for about half of their games. He says the Twins, playing their final season in the Metrodome, are the only other team currently playing on turf and in a closed-air stadium.

8:33 a.m. - The first presentation of the morning talks about what a new stadium could/should include, the group mostly talked about the same ideas that were brought up by the Tropicana Renovation committee on Monday.

New thoughts included the possibility of a new stadium acting as a hurricane shelter (it would cost substantially more as the roof would need reinforcement) and the importance of public transportation to a new location.

8:15 a.m. - Lyash calls Monday’s reports “sobering,” especially the finance report. A new stadium would likely cost upwards of $500M.
Note – that doesn’t include the cost of land, which could potentially up the cost substantially.

8:10 a.m. – In his opening comments, ABC Coalition Chairman Jeff Lyash cautioned that this week’s presentations were only initial reports, not final reports. However, he added that people need to keep in-mind that “the goal of the ABC Coalition is to ensure baseball succeeds (in Tampa Bay) long-term.”

“The question isn’t if replacing Tropicana Field is necessary, it is how and where and when,” he said. “We want to preserve baseball here for generations to come.”

You can follow 10 Connects reporter Noah Pransky on Twitter at www.twitter.com/noahpransky or Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Noah-Pransky/95411107517.