Read where Tampa had the lowest playoff attendance in the first game since 1919
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That's hard to believe.
Not when you consider:
1) we're comparing an intro playoff game to the WORLD SERIES
2) Tampa's fanbase notoriously doesn't show up anyway
3) weather is still good down there right now (and pretty much forever)
4) the assumption is they won't make the World Series anyway
5) it's not like this is their first post-season run
6) they might even be hurt by the fact they didn't get a home WS in 2020 because of Covid
7) Tropicana Field doesn't exactly compel a fan to come enjoy a baseball game, either
I remember in 1995, when the Braves played the Reds at the old Riverfront Stadium, a matchup of the two best teams in the NL, the ENTIRE UPPER DECK between the foul poles had (virtually) no fans up there at all (although if you look at the attendance figure for that game, it claims there were 44,000 fans there, which is like the Nebraska sellout streak).
Bear in mind, Cincinnati is one of the best baseball towns in the US, it was cold and a school night, and most folks had already penciled the Braves in for the World Series, although a bunch of analysts decided the Reds could win.
I also realize that was Game Two, but they had more than Tampa last night.
Tampa-St Pete has never been a good BASEBALL town at the MLB level, and it would be amusing to see if the Twins or Giants, both of whom proposed moving there...would still be there had they moved.