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The Tampa Bay Devils Rays have one of the lowest attendance figures in Major League Baseball for several years now. Rather than investing money in better players, the team has decided to take its act to nearby Orlando for a three game series with the Texas Rangers.
In a marketing ploy to increase the visibility of his franchise, owner Stuart Sternberg is hoping to make fans appear in the Magical Kingdom. "We're looking to build a regional power," Sternberg told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. "If we include Orlando in our region, we enjoy 4 to 5 million people as potential fans. Changing the culture doesn't happen overnight."
If successful, the series in Orlando could lead to increased television ratings in Central Florida and might convince Orlando residents to make the almost-100 mile sojourn to St. Petersburg, where the Devil Rays play in the over-ripened Tropicana Field. (The Juice Box has undergone a $35-million renovation over the last two years).
In addition to spending money on the stadium, the team provides free parking and allows fans to bring outside food into the stadium, acts that scream "revenue hemorrhaging." Unfortunately, an updated stadium can't help the Devil Rays squeeze more victories (just ask the Pirates). In the Devil Rays' nine-year existence, they have averaged just 65 wins per season.
The Devil Rays' business model is clear - profit is more important than winning. By keeping their payroll low, getting however many fans they can, and cashing in with MLB's revenue-sharing plan, the team is going to operate in the green almost every year. With all the revenue streams being split equally amongst the franchises in baseball, there is little motivation for Sternberg to field a winner.
That idea goes directly against the athlete's oath to preserve the integrity of the game by giving it their all. Owners like Sternberg who win money by losing are violating the basic trust between a franchise and its fans - albeit a dwindling number in the case of the Devil Rays.
Sternberg isn't completely at fault here, as the system that MLB has put together has hindered the competitive balance the owners and players hoped to achieve in 2001 with monumental revenue-sharing and luxury tax impositions. Money was handed out to teams with smaller revenue, but there weren't any requirements to spend that money on players. Small-market teams like the Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates have owners who are resigned to the reality that lack of money makes difficult, if not impossible, to compete for pennants.
Their reasons are simple enough - the luxury tax hasn't deterred the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs from freely spending money in the free-agent market. So why bother trying to win when you can turn a profit by feeding on MLB handouts?
If giving one's all is a fundamental tenant of sports, MLB owners should realize that the current economic system cheats fans, as much as a player taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs. And steroid use is far more difficult to prove than objective measures such as wins, losses and payroll.
5/18 UPDATE
Devil Rays sweep Rangers, draw decent crowds.