I'm in Westshore and the trip there is a nothing burger for me. I also used to commute to St. Pete from Lutz and traffic is so much better on a Saturday evening that I wouldn't complain. Midweek games could be a pain though.
Usually it is pretty easy to get there from Citrus Park on the Hillsborough side where I live. However, if there is a popular Rays game going on the same night (like the Ottawa game) it can be pretty bad traffic getting in, but once you pass the Trop and leaving was not bad at all.
This is a baseball related narrative that really doesn't have a place for a discussion about Rowdies attendance. The merits of it even for weekday baseball are questionable. Driving into St Pete from neighboring counties on a Saturday is not a big deal at all.
But it is relative, there is a documented issue for Bay area residents about the psychological barrier of the bridge and bay for sports and other activities on either side of the bay. It is less of an issue for soccer as the fan base seems to be more active and there are less games than baseball (especially weekday games), but to ignore it completely would be folly. Soccer (and the Rowdies) at the MLS level in the Tampa Bay area would also benefit from having a local fan base that is not attached to their pre-Tampa immigrant city teams (NY, NJ, PH, etc.), such as the problem with NFL, MLB, and to a lesser degree NHL.
There's a documented issue for people going to weeknight baseball games. It's also misguided but that debate has no place here. You cannot compare 81 baseball games to 17 soccer games. You cannot compare a 7 game homestand in baseball to a one game (sometimes two) games per week MLS slate with most games happening on the weekend. This really isn't even a conversation worth having. Al Lang is the site It's a beautiful site. It is free. Millions of trips are made across that bridge a year by people looking to go to a Pinellas County beach on the weekend. There's no psychological barrier there.
The psychological barrier will be there if we are talking about one game or one thousand games. A barrier becomes one that people are more likely to put up with when the resource (games) is scarcer. So yes, I agree, the barrier is more or less a non-issue for the Rowdies and MLS, but the barrier remains.
Rowdies referendum win reinvigorates MLS push http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay...es-referendum-win-reinvigorates-mls-push.html
The Unused Substitutes @UnusedSubsPod 9h Rowdies are seeking a one-year extension to their deal to manage Al Lang Stadium. St Pete City Council will vote on the deal next Thursday.
It's obvious that the Rowdies days are numbered at AL Lang. Where do they go when the city decides to cash in on the waterfront site?
Not sure it's obvious they're leaving, but hopefully Raymond James for me, lol. I would go to a LOT more Rowdies games if they were on this side of the bay, though it would be a damn shame to lose that beautiful soccer specific stadium.
I will draw you a picture. Rays own the Rowdies. St Pete and the Rays look like they won't come to an agreement to keep baseball in the Burg. The Rays are much more likely to bolt to another city than across the bay. The city government doesn't want minor league soccer occupying the waterfront. The Rowdies signed a one year extension because the breaking point is coming soon between the Rays and St Pete. The Rays will either fold the Rowdies when they leave or sell them if an owner can be found. Either way a new home will be needed. Ray Jay is way too big and expensive. There aren't many other alternatives.
I've seen nothing that indicates St. Pete is unhappy with having the Rowdies on the waterfront. The Rays situation is a big question mark, though. If they sell, I wonder if the Glazers would be interested this time after watching all the other NFL owners snatch up a piece of the domestic soccer market with MLS clubs. That would make RayJay viable again. Or maybe Jeff Vinik steps in.
Members of the city council have openly coveted the Al Lang site for redevelopment. And none of those plans include a soccer stadium
🎵 𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙩. 𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙚. 🎵 pic.twitter.com/eXrKkDiJlS— Tampa Bay Rowdies (@TampaBayRowdies) November 10, 2022 The days continue to be numbered.
Talking to some Rowdies fans and apparently it's part of St. Pete law that public land/property like that can only be leased at a maximum of 5 years at a time, and each renegotiation is simply figuring out the money + how long the city is go on that new lease.
3 years seems pretty good to me. Lower division soccer is inherently less stable than D1. For every Charleston Battery there are 10 Austin Aztex. Love the Rowdies and will enjoy them as long as the Rays keep them around.
I saw Tampa was 1 of 3 supposed finalist for NWSL team. https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/nwsl-expansion-team-san-francisco-tampa-boston/ Anyone have insight into where they would plan to play? Seems to be good fit for Al Lang.
Since the bid is supported by the Rays I assume it would have to be Al Lang. There's no other soccer specific facility with its capacity. USF has Corbett Soccer Stadium but it's hardly fit for a professional team and only has a listed capacity of 3000.
I interpret Sternberg's interest in investing in a NWSL team as a positive for the Rowdies. If he were wanting to wrap things up, I wouldn't see him spending money on another soccer money trap. If Tampa is awarded a women's team, I hope they use the same yellow/green color scheme. I find that helpful to link the teams and brand soccer in the region.