One dedicated fan reacts to the Tampa Bay Rays balk

On Twitter, I just promoted an article headline at the Tampa Bay Times that says the July 1st – 3rd games at Tropicana Field will have $2 tickets available. This comes hours after news of the Rays sending out an email to fans about how desperately the club wants to stay in Tampa Bay.,

Both gestures are face-saving, damage-control tactics. The former coincides with the club’s general marketing failure when it comes to costs of attending games at Tropicana Field and issues attendees have which are in the Rays control to improve. The latter coincides rhetoric of Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg from Wednesday as well as the club’s forced-rush “negotiating” tactic failure with the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County on a proposed ballpark in Ybor City.

The words of value here are not from the articles cited above but from a Twitter response when I published the news of the Rays ticket-price plan. It’s a reactive response to where the Rays have put themselves in the last seven days with thanks to seeking and gaining exploration permission on playing home games in both St. Petersburg and Montréal, Quebec:

This is one fan’s reaction. This does not state how the fans of the Tampa Bay metroplex react in general, but it shows cause and effect. Action, reaction.

The actions and choices of the Rays brass speak volumes while a marketing tactic and a damage control emails are close to mute in this season of #Raysfall — a summer where the team has on-field competitiveness while those in control of the franchise are seeking maximum profit at minimum investment or tact, sullying franchise and market value in the process.