Out-Of-Town Allegiances Hit 42 Percent
July 22nd, 2011
No doubt the attendance issues of local sports teams is one of the most hackneyed, worn out discussions on Tampa Bay sports radio and around water coolers and in break rooms across the Bay area.
Joe’s heard every nuance of every argument. But still, Joe was taken back by a recent poll on the website of the Tampa Bay Business Journal that asked whether one actively supported a non-local franchises. A whopping 42 percent answered, “Yes.”
42 percent!
Joe found the number to be extraordinarily high and somewhat troubling because it’s safe to assume the typical Tampa Bay Business Journal reader has disposable cash to purchase tickets.
What an uphill battle the Bucs and the other clubs in town face.
That said, Joe can’t fathom any legitimate excuse/reason outside of a hurricane why the Bucs wouldn’t sell out Monday Night Football against the Colts and Peyton Manning, a national spectacle that hasn’t been here in years.
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:51 am
I’m guessing a large chunk of those pollsters were referring to baseball teams. I see so many NY/Red Sox/Cubs stickers on cars driving around it’s insane. It’s even more insane to think there are simply that many baseball fans around, must be a generational difference.
On a completely different topic, since you changed it so rapidly in the last paragraph there, I also think the MNF game will be sold out. I also hope our D-line is able to give Manning a little whiplash.
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:10 am
“a national spectacle that hasn’t been here in years.”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE BUCS HAVE NEVER PLAYED THE COLTS ON MONDAY NIGHT NOPE NEVER HAPPENED EVER.
😉
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:12 am
I have been saying this for years to counter the crying about terrible fan base here in the bay area. I’ve been in the hospitality industry here in Tampa for 25 years and I can tell you for a fact that 42% may even be on the low side. The only area’s you can compare us to are San Diego & LA. San Diego can’t fill any of their stadiums even though they’re playoff contenders; the Dodgers are going bankrupt and every other NFL team has failed in the LA market. Back when the Bucs were still in the NFC Central; I used to think wow the Packers & Bears travel so well with their teams. Then I realized that the majority of the fans live right here in the Bay area. It’s not just the Bears & Packers; it’s the Giants, Patriots, Steelers, Redskins, Eagles etc…etc… Each of the teams I’ve listed has their own sports bars right here in Tampa. What other city in the U.S. has sports bars for NFL teams other then their own?
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:22 am
“Matt Says:
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:10 am
“a national spectacle that hasn’t been here in years.”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE BUCS HAVE NEVER PLAYED THE COLTS ON MONDAY NIGHT NOPE NEVER HAPPENED EVER.”
What are you talking about? He simply meant MNF has not been here in awhile.
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:25 am
As far as so many supporting an out of town team….. that is part of the issue in Florida as a whole.
I also believe it is a bigger reason for issues with attendance in baseball because of years of allegiance with spring training games and retirees from elsewhere.
Regardless, I think more and more cities face this issue as it has become easier and easier to watch your old team regardless of where you move to.
As great as DirectTV and NFL network and HD and NFL packages and Fios etc… are , in the long run they are hurting attendance.
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:33 am
I wonder if people consider Orlando out of town
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:34 am
That is what happens when you hire a cheap no experience d backs coach and make him the HC and gut the roster without adding proven players as a replacement. People aren’t going to pay serious money in these times to go watch Byron Leftwich throw passes to Sammy Stroughter, with Sabby Piscitelli and Roy Miller trying to stop offenses.
I am glad that two of those 4 have been replaced, and Free is excellent (Williams and Blount Provide hope). But are those one year wonders enough? No. Derrick Brooks agrees.
Maybe we will great in 2014. I will re-buy my season tix then. Hopefully, Bill Cowher will be leading Josh Freeman out of the tunnel. If so, the stadium will be filled!
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:10 am
First of all, Thomas 2.2, fans like you are the problem, your only a fan when their good. “Bill Cowher” over Coach Raheem, hell no!!
All I can say is I look forward to watching GMC, Roy Miller, and our 2 new DE’s chase Manning down. Manning is going to remember this game. Not to mention a few blitzes from Dakota Watson and Mason Fostor.
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:16 am
Josh Freeman vs Peyton Manning
I have a feeling the Bay area will be talking about this game long after it is over.
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:58 am
Poor pathetic Thomas
July 22nd, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Peyton may even look like the lesser QB. His neck is screwed up and there are reports that he will miss training camp.
July 22nd, 2011 at 12:39 pm
@Dave: Whoosh.
(Real Bucs fans know that the Bucs did not play a game on October 6, 2003.)
July 22nd, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Thomas 2.2
LOLOLOL
You have become absolutely laughable.
Granted Raheem and Freeman and others have to prove it over the long run, but you would honestly want to throw out this sytem and half the players they have stockpiled the last 2 years for Cowher??????????
He has not coached in years and Raheem has every player loving to play for him.
besides, what coach has ever retired and come back and been succesful? Vermail? Anyone else?
July 22nd, 2011 at 1:32 pm
What? Who? Colts? you people are comedians. Colts have never played the Bucs.
July 22nd, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Fans who live here and now and have for over five years and still root against the Buccaneers, Rays, Bolts when their “home” team plays here are losers.
It’s pathetic and I have absolutely NO use for them. In fact, there is NOTHING more satisfying then seeing them leave a stadium to jeers after we win.
Ahh…..feel better now, much better. 10 more days and the London game is ours! Gooooooo lockout! There WILL be a full season, why not a full slate of real HOME GAMES?
Damn, starting to rant repetitively. Good afternoon.
July 22nd, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Snowbirds are up north too.
Personally, I think it’s because many people who have been loyal to Tampa teams are having to move to other states to get work. I know we’re concidering Vermont…it’s got a really low unemployment rate there.
This new florida governor has stolen money from the schools, the people and more. He’s making it NOT WORTH living here.
July 22nd, 2011 at 2:02 pm
Vermail? Is that like airmail, but slower?
July 22nd, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Tampa Bay is a rotten sports town and that stat proves it.
July 22nd, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Fans who live in the Tampa Bay area and root against the home team are probably the same people who get upset when naturalized Americans root against America in the Olympics. It’s the same thing!
I just don’t understand it. The relationship with the old home town is over, you moved away, so get over it. After all, I don’t keep a picture of my ex-wife in my wallet, do you?
July 22nd, 2011 at 4:19 pm
I’m with ImNotARocketSurgeon. I don’t know what the guys at ESPN are smoking.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=231006027
July 22nd, 2011 at 4:24 pm
@Jonny.
Bite me, ass clown.
July 22nd, 2011 at 4:32 pm
@Jonny I’m sure Charlotte, Atlanta, or New Orleans is better, huh Jonny?
Fool.
July 22nd, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Tampa is a drinking town with a sports problem!!!!
July 22nd, 2011 at 5:38 pm
Jonny ass clown.
Just damn traitors. You live here more than 4 years, you cheer for the home team! Damn Benedict Arnolds and Judas Escariots! They, along with their wretched northern teams- suck! You wanna cheer for the packers? Then pack your car, and head back to the pathetic land of cheese.horrible weather, and huge fat women. Get the hell outta bikini land-and move back to sucksVille!
Oh, and take Jonny with you, and deposit him in the ass crack of the first( of many)400 lb woman you see. Just shove him in, head first.
Then sit there and remember how bad Wisconsin(or Philly, Ny, Detroit, etc) SUCKS!!!!!
Love, Capt. Tim
July 22nd, 2011 at 6:20 pm
I think some people in Tampa haven’t woken up to the fact they live in Florida now.
The Steeler Bucs game was 3 to 1 Steeler fans, and we thought they drove down from Pittsburgh, until we saw the suntans!
July 22nd, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Awesome! I get to be the third Matt on this thread! Matts unite!
I think 2.2″ is joking. He’s got to be because the comments are so far removed from the truth that I just had to laugh. They’re delusional and nobody can be that blind and deny the Bucs are building something the right way.
Capt. Tim,
I’ve got to disagree with you this time. Maybe I’m abnormal but I believe that when you pick your team, that is your team for life if you’re a true fan (abrev. for fanatic). I grew up in a different state but when I was 9 years old, I became a fanatic Buccaneers fan when I saw the team on a Saturday NFL Films highlight show (back when highlight music was good). I had never heard of this exotic sounding place and I loved the uniform and colors. I stuck with my team all through the crappy 80’s (after’82) and early 90’s when it was bad team after bad team. I was one of the few visiting fans every time the Bucs played in my state. Now I live in Tampa and it’s not entirely coincidence. If I move away to another state, my loyalties will still be with the Buccaneers – after 4 years or 40 years. I know there are lots of out-of-state Bucs fans that comment here that are just like me in that respect. So, I don’t expect out-of-towners to change their allegiances after 4 years in Tampa either.
The fact that so many people that grew up elsewhere is one of the main reasons fan support is more challenging to aquire in Florida. The others have all been mentioned too: unemployment & underemployment, for the Rays it’s a matter of not having existed long enough to build a following, HD television and easier ways to follow your out-of-state team, for the Bucs it’s also some people in Florida who choose to live here but don’t like the sun (Oh poor babies), and I’m missing many more reasons.
It’s not because Raheem is the coach or that we’re building a foundation through the draft instead of free agency like one person wants you to believe. Those people aren’t fans anyway. Then again, maybe the casual fair-weather fans are needed to fill the stadium and, in that case, only winning games will solve the problem. On the other hand, even that doesn’t work for the Rays but they have stadium issues too.
Sorry for the long comment. Thank you for listening to my two cents if you’ve made it this far.
July 22nd, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Maybe that is a true, a smaller fanbase. This is old news we all know this. So many snowbirds and transplants. But, the big BUT is, fans like us more than make up for it. Hardcore, loud, proud, spending our lunch money on tickets. Those that don’t love or follow this team are in the dark. Their loss, because this team rocks. Bandwagon is just over the hill and heading this way.
Go Freakin Bucs!!! Hell Yeah!
July 22nd, 2011 at 8:39 pm
I would have answered yes because I support an English soccer team.
I also support bucs/rays/bolts.
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:36 pm
0 blackouts under dungy and gruden. 2010 totally blacked out under head cheerleader rah rah. What does that tell you?
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:48 pm
It tells me that you don’t know your A$$ from a hole in the ground.
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:50 pm
I’m not sure what Matt’s trying to say but … yes, the Bucs indeed played the Colts on MNF on Oct 6, 2003. I remember the game well because it made me want to puke. The Bucs had their way with Manning in the first half. With the Bucs leading 21-0 at halftime, the game appeared to be in the bag. Meshawn Johnson (and a few others) started celebrating in the 3rd Qtr and I started thinking “oh, no, this is not good”. Sure enough, the Colts rolled us in the 4th Qtr and ended up winning the game in OT 38-35. Sick!
July 23rd, 2011 at 12:52 am
Listen, I understand growing up elsewhere. I wasn’t born in Florida either. You can have love for the team where you grew up.
To this point. The team I go see on Sundays is the BUCs. I made my choice to live here. It’s now my home port. So this is my team. I may cheer for my other team – But never against the Bucs- cause this is MY HOME NOW! I want my former to beat everybody BUT Tampa. That’s the team I take my kid to see. That’s the team that represents my Town.
If you go to Bucs games every week, but you’re wearing a Packers jersey when they come to town- you Suck! Get yer head outta yer arse, and show a little damn loyalty!
Otherwise, go throw yourself in that giant Butt crack with Jonny- you are just an ungrateful waste!
Sorry- no more sympathy than that for this issue. If this is where you chose to live- then be part of the town that feeds ya, and show some damn loyalty! Damn!
July 23rd, 2011 at 12:55 am
I guess if you ancestors where from England, you renounce your America citezenship on English Holidays- and fly the British Flag, claiming your British?? It’s the same damn thing!
July 23rd, 2011 at 3:00 am
Buzzsaw,
What one of the other Matts was saying is that the game vs the Colts in 2003 was so painful that he prefers to pretend that it never took place. He chooses to erase it from his memory.
July 23rd, 2011 at 7:19 am
Matt B makes perfect sence! That is also the reason I get so pi$$ed off when these same fans say Tampa is not a good sports town. It’s just a mixture of fans from everywhere in the country. I work with about 75 employess and out of those 75 maybe 5 are actually from Tampa and add another 5 or 10 who have changed their alliance to the Bucs, Rays, & Lightning. The other 60 or so still root for their home teams. NO WHERE else in the country experiences this kind of melting pot effect. Realistically; I would say that only about 25-30% of the population in the St. Pete, Clearwater, Tampa area are actually born & raised here.
Captain; as always thanks for the early mouning laughs! I agree with you!
July 23rd, 2011 at 7:32 am
The town was a snowbird/transplant town under dungy and gruden. Yet games were sold out, the fan base was sizeable and the community cares. In comes head cheerleader, then 3-13 and few people care.
We should be known as the “blackouts.”
July 23rd, 2011 at 8:06 am
BucnJim- lol, your Welcome! As usual , I’m not that pissed about people living the teams they grew up. But if they’re here- gotta love the team your with!
Picturing Jonny in a 400lbs of buttCrack made me laugh too!
July 23rd, 2011 at 9:56 am
Tampa has always been a good sports town, and if the Rays had not started to win and not drawn attendance, this wouldn’t even be an issue. In a good economy and with decent teams that ownership made a solid investment, fans have always been there, often at waiting list levels. I think fans here have a real misconception about other cities. Go to Chicago, New York, etc. and you will see 10 times more “bars for other teams” filled with “people who support non local teams”. Tampa has been around for 125 years and there are plenty of natives here. Last time I checked, Plant, Chamberlain, Jesuit, and the others have been producing locals for generations. Never seems to matter until we start talking sports, which is when all the northeasterners inject themselves and exacerbate what, in my mind, is normal attendance fluctuations that any market outside the top 5 or 6 experiences.
July 23rd, 2011 at 4:45 pm
@Capt. Dim: You are nothing more than a delusional internet troll as usual. The kind of name calling you resort to over the web tells me what kind of a job you have and what kind of a loser you are. So you are butthurt when I say Tampa Bay is a rotten sports town for the home teams? Prove me I am wrong. I am quite sure you weren’t there at the Steelers game or Saints game. There were more fans of opposing teams than Bucs. I haven’t seen people more fickle minded about their allegiance than the Bay area ones.
Now you and other butthurt Tampa residents have certainly given excuses as of why there are so few diehard local fans. No matter what the excuse is, it is still ridiculous that a team from up north has more fans in the stadium than the local team’s. Our players were very disappointed with the way fans showed up. It will obviously take one more generation for the locals to get attached to their teams, until then Tampa will remain a city of bandwagoners.
July 24th, 2011 at 7:06 am
Jonny,
What state are you from again?
July 24th, 2011 at 8:45 am
I thouight that Cult’s game was on a Thursday night…It was awful regardless.
July 24th, 2011 at 8:49 am
Uh,Colt’s…
July 24th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Nah, Jonny, I understood what you were saying. And sort of agree. But your statement was so board based, that it blasted the entire city- instead of calling out the turncoats the deserve to be blasted. That was my issue. Now back in yer Buttcrack . .
I’ve had friends here, raising their kids to fans of out of state teams.
Pittsburgh, for one. I’d ask him” Do you think your kid is gonna grow up so dumb, that he’d move back to that misfile you just escaped from?”
And his answer was always no. Then why raise him to be a damn steelers fan? Leave that for the Pittsburgh residents- after all, Football is all those poor people have, for gods sake!!
If you were lucky enough to rescue your family to Florida, then raise them up Buc fans- I doubt they are gonna move back to nasty place you just ran away from!! Come on, people, use yer heads!