Bucs No. 2 Team In Town? Baloney.
October 25th, 2011
Trey Wingo sympathizer Tom Jones, the St. Pete Times media writer who recklessly torched Joe last year by publishing inaccurate “gut feelings,” multiple “guesses” and revealing a shameful agenda, is now curiously trying to convince readers the Rays are more popular than the Bucs.
You can read all about it here on TampaBay.com.
Jones regurgitates some clearly garbage data from Scarborough Research.
Using a formula that takes into account television and radio listeners as well as attendance from August 2010 to September 2011, Scarborough determined the Rays had just more than 1.5 million fans. The Bucs came in second with about 1.49 million, and the Lightning had just fewer than 700,000.
This is all sounds fine and dandy, but anyone paying attention knows the Bucs have a far greater fan base than the Rays.
Television ratings for Bucs games dwarf those of Rays games, including Rays playoff games. Jones knows this, or could have looked it up, but chose to omit this pesky fact from his story, which included information about Rays TV ratings.
Way to go, Tom!
Also, the Scarborough formula referenced above claims to take into account ticket sales. That’s funny. Joe’s never heard anyone assert that the Rays are doing better than the Bucs in that area.
As for radio listeners, well, Joe could see how the Rays might win that battle. However, is anyone taking into account the tens of thousands of Bucs fans watching blacked out games online? There’s nothing in Jones’ story to suggest Scarborough did.
The Buccaneers have more followers on Facebook and Twitter than the Rays’ official social media pages, and there’s plenty of anecdotal and measurable evidence around the local sports world that reveals the Bucs are the No. 1 game in town. But showing that would have taken a little effort.
Joe’s just not going to sit on his hands while Jones and his newspaper, proud sponsors of the Rays, spread BS propaganda.
October 25th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Also, baseball fans don’t count as people.
October 25th, 2011 at 11:13 am
I’d personally put the Rays at #3 below the Lightning. Then again, I cannot stand baseball. Maybe if they let their players duke it out.
Either way, dish it out to Tom, Joe!
October 25th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Joe, if you’re still hung up on this Wingo thing, why would you link to an article that basically says your statements a year ago were reactionary, unobjective, sensational, unfounded, and inappropriate?
I dunno, not the article I would’ve linked to if I was trying to paint Wingo as “shameful.”
October 25th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Joe here,
@Jamie — first, the “shameful” refers to Jones. That should be clear.
Good question, though. Joe’s not hung up on the Wingo thing. Just resetting for those that missed it. Joe’s not concerned about linking to the story that ripped Joe. Thinking readers will see it for what it is.
October 25th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
Joe,
Times have changed. The community has rejected this cheap version of the bucs franchise we used to be proud of. You are probably correct that the total bucs fan base is broader than the Rats. But at this rate not for long.
However, the bucs are declining rapidly in popularity while the Rays are ascending. The Rays are adding respect and value, while the bucs are losing respect and according to Forbes was one of the very rare franchises to have lost value. Things just aint good in buc land and if they miss the playoffs again, wholesale changes are in order.