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Casey D

By Casey D
in The Stadium Wall Archives

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machine gun kelly Hall of Famer

machine gun kelly

Posted
Posted

I didn't mean to put Tampa Bay teams records as being worse than Buffalo. But the nature of the demographics here, and the huge

Snowbird population create a situation of a smaller less passionate/interested/seasonal fanbase. You can go to a Bucs game easily. when the Bills were

Playing a few years back. It seemed like at least a third of the stadium were Bills fans. I don't think the game was close to a sellout. Unless someone is born here life long fans are hard to come by. The Rays attendence unless a powerhouse team is here is at times laughable. Day game or not.

I see more people chatting someone up with a Bills/Sabres hat on than say a Bucs/Bolts.

Their misery index is better than Buffalo but I see way less people that Could care less about Tampa's pro teams. Unlike WNY where the fanbase is rabid. The article seemed to only use a won loss record as the main theme in their rankings. I guess for anyone not a Bills fan it would seem fair.

BOA - I appreciate the clarification. A couple of points. It's a misnomer to think Tampa has a lot of snowbirds. It's one of the industrial cities in FL and most people in the city of Tampa and suburbs live here 12 months a year. Snowbirds are more so in Pinellas County which is everything between Clearwater to St. Petersburg. When I moved here 25 years ago, it seemed a ton of people were from somewhere else. Now there is a much more mature population where people have lived in Tampa for many years.

 

There are a ton of Lightning fans here. I think they've gained such a nice fan base because they've had a good product for quite some time. The Bucs have sucked for 6 years, and prior to that Gruden was up and down. People glorify that guy, but he would go 11-5 one year, and 5-11 the next year. That went on from 2002 when they won the SB to 2010. It's funny as Ray Jay stadium had a waiting list of over 10,000 people for season tickets and every game sold out until the crash of 2008. It was hard to get tickets from 1996-2008. Since then, the stadium has been half empty. What fills the stadium these last few years are the northern teams fans who use the game as a reason for a vacation.

 

The Rays are different. They've had good teams, but have ok attendance. It is too big of a stadium for this city. They get great attendance for the Yankees and Red Sox fans as it fills up with those fans. My point before was also you'll probably see an uptick in ticket sales this year as there is some genuine excitement Tampa might put together a much better product. People have gotten behind Winston as a franchise QB, McCoy, and David are loved down here. They feel they had a good draft although the kicker pick was not well received in Tampa at all.

 

I guess to your point, it is very hard to compare Bills fans to many cities as I believe we have some of the most loyal rabid fans in the US. I call into NFLR quite a bit, and those analysts always seem to say Packers, Chiefs, Bills, and Steelers are some of the best fans in the NFL. Interestingly, they also comment how loyal Browns fans are even though they have such a bad team.

Chandler#81 Hall of Famer

Chandler#81

Posted
Posted

I would say kind of. It is a regional sport and the ratings reflect that. The Stanley Cup averaged less than 4M viewers. By comparison, it is roughly the equivalent of your average Monday Night Raw episode. That's roughly 1/3 of the people watching the Indianapolis 500.

 

The reality is the NHL is LIGHT YEARS from the other leagues. I'm a hockey fan but they aren't on equal footing with the other 3 leagues. You can't have 10% of the people watching and consider yourself an equal.

 

Rather regional perspective, Kirbs. On the global front, its absolutely a major sport. Possibly 2nd only to soccer or 3rd to basketball. Can't speak for the ice-less, US South, but they're missing a fantastic game.

 

I agree, the NHL is a very poorly run Pro Sport League.

Kirby Jackson Hall of Famer

Kirby Jackson

Posted
Posted

 

Rather regional perspective, Kirbs. On the global front, its absolutely a major sport. Possibly 2nd only to soccer or 3rd to basketball. Can't speak for the ice-less, US South, but they're missing a fantastic game.

 

I agree, the NHL is a very poorly run Pro Sport League.

I was speaking strictly domestically (probably should have clarified that). There are pockets in Eastern Europe where it is a major game. Baseball has the islands and into South America. Football really is North America but it is growing in Europe. Soccer is 1st, basketball 2nd because those are worldwide games. They are played on every continent and in some of the larger countries in the world (i.e. China, India, etc..).
chaccof RFA

chaccof

Posted
Posted (edited)

I had my truck aligned this morning and my Bills front plate was hanging by a thread due to a recent run in with something I ran over....when I came to pick up the truck I started talking football with the shop manager and it was then that he mentioned he fixed my Bills plate "because I felt bad for you being a Bills fan....." so it's finally paid off - being a Bills fan that is.....

Edited by chaccof
chris heff Veteran

chris heff

Posted
Posted

I had my truck aligned this morning and my Bills front plate was hanging by a thread due to a recent run in with something I ran overl....when I came to pick up the truck I started talking football with the shop manager and it was then that he mentioned he fixed my Bills plate "because I felt bad for you being a Bills fan....." so it's finally paid off - being a Bills fan that is.....

Where do you live?

Best Player Available All Pro

Best Player Available

Posted
Posted

BOA - I appreciate the clarification. A couple of points. It's a misnomer to think Tampa has a lot of snowbirds. It's one of the industrial cities in FL and most people in the city of Tampa and suburbs live here 12 months a year. Snowbirds are more so in Pinellas County which is everything between Clearwater to St. Petersburg. When I moved here 25 years ago, it seemed a ton of people were from somewhere else. Now there is a much more mature population where people have lived in Tampa for many years.

There are a ton of Lightning fans here. I think they've gained such a nice fan base because they've had a good product for quite some time. The Bucs have sucked for 6 years, and prior to that Gruden was up and down. People glorify that guy, but he would go 11-5 one year, and 5-11 the next year. That went on from 2002 when they won the SB to 2010. It's funny as Ray Jay stadium had a waiting list of over 10,000 people for season tickets and every game sold out until the crash of 2008. It was hard to get tickets from 1996-2008. Since then, the stadium has been half empty. What fills the stadium these last few years are the northern teams fans who use the game as a reason for a vacation.

The Rays are different. They've had good teams, but have ok attendance. It is too big of a stadium for this city. They get great attendance for the Yankees and Red Sox fans as it fills up with those fans. My point before was also you'll probably see an uptick in ticket sales this year as there is some genuine excitement Tampa might put together a much better product. People have gotten behind Winston as a franchise QB, McCoy, and David are loved down here. They feel they had a good draft although the kicker pick was not well received in Tampa at all.

I guess to your point, it is very hard to compare Bills fans to many cities as I believe we have some of the most loyal rabid fans in the US. I call into NFLR quite a bit, and those analysts always seem to say Packers, Chiefs, Bills, and Steelers are some of the best fans in the NFL. Interestingly, they also comment how loyal Browns fans are even though they have such a bad team.

Well the way you break out Pinellis County from Tampa is pretty interesting and correct in terms of snowbirds, etc.

Well said.

machine gun kelly Hall of Famer

machine gun kelly

Posted
Posted

Thanks bud. I really wasn't trying to argue, just know this area as well as Buffalo. I love both places. Buffalo will always be home in my heart, but absolutely love Tampa. Nice people, great weather, a solid economy, and a lot to do.

 

The difference really lies in so many dads and moms came from up north somewhere (I'm 48 so people in my generation) so they have their childhood team, and then they have their Tampa teams. The other part of this area as far as sports fans is college. College rules down here. People are nuts about the Gators, Seminoles, Hurricanes, and so on. I can't tell you how many people have season tickets to these teams and drive up every weekend for the games.

SRQ_BillsFan RFA

SRQ_BillsFan

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've lived near Tampa for 25-30 years now and could give a rats @ss about any of thier teams. I've gone to some games, usually Bills and Sabres but others as well.

 

 

The day they announced that Pegula was buying the team was like winning the Super Bowl to me. So my misery clock started ticking over at that point. Something only a Bills fan could understand, so I wouldn't expect the national media to pick up on it.

Edited by SRQ_BillsFan
Augie Hall of Famer

Augie

Posted
Posted

I'm more depressed about moving away from SRQ after 18 years than my sports teams, and that's saying something! Enjoy.

Augie Hall of Famer

Augie

Posted
Posted (edited)

Moved there in '93 and moved to Atlanta 5 years ago for work. Still get back often as we have a place there my mom lives in. Just not often enough!

 

I left Buffalo for college at 17, so I lived in Sarasota longer than any other place in my life. I've learned to just consider myself lucky for that.

Edited by Augie
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