Florida is the 4th most populous state (California, Texas, and New York) and it has 9 teams in the 4 professional sports: the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Jacksonville Jaguars but it is definitely the worst professional sports state.
I get the allure and importance of the Seminoles, Gators, Hurricanes, etc but most every other state has no trouble balancing college sports with the guys who get paid. Texans are both Longhorn and Cowboy fans or Aggies and Texans (or whatever the combination may be), Ohioans have no trouble supporting both the Buckeyes and the Browns or Bengals, Tennesseans both the Vols and Titans. How do I know this? Because people go to the games. The Titans haven’t been blacked out due to a non-sellout (under NFL rules, all home games not sold out are not shown locally on tv) since 1997 and even the Browns, who have had only 2 winning seasons since rejoining the NFL in 1995 haven’t had a game blacked-out. The Bucs, however, who were 10-6 last season, had their HOME OPENER blacked-out this season and though the Jags have managed to avoid the embarrassment since 2009, they fight the possibility every week. Believe me, I see the attraction of sitting at home and watching your 50″ tv with surround sound and a less-than-$10 beer but just about every other team manages to find 60,000 or so people willing to brave the elements (unless you’re in TAMPA or MIAMI), the traffic, and the potential stabbing/ shooting/ tasing to go to the stadium every Sunday. The Dolphins had to buy a ton of unsold tickets last week in order to avoid the same fate as Bucs.
Though last season the highest an NFL franchise finished in attendance last year was 16th, (Miami held that slot while Tampa Bay was second to last and Jacksonville 24th) the problem is not just with football. This season the Marlins and Rays rank 28th and 29th respectively out of the 30 teams in MLB attendance. The NHL teams ranked 22nd and 18th last season. The only semi-respectable Florida attendance numbers are in the NBA where both teams were in the top 10. A closer inspection however reveals that the percentage attendance for the Miami Heat were identical both at home and on the road. This strongly indicates the possibility that in the most popular NBA season ever, people wanted to see Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, and the Third Mouseketeer, not necessarily that the Heat have a loyal following. The Orlando Magic legitimately finished 9th in attendance, for this I admit I’m surprised.
It basically comes down to Florida has a number of well run organizations that consistently work to put competitive teams on the field (Heat, Rays, Dolphins, Bucs, Marlins until recently) but no one comes out to watch them. It’s embarrassing that the Bucs and Dolphins can’t sell out the first home game since the lockout in the most popular sport and that the Rays are a legitimately good team that is fighting valiantly for a playoff spot but no body cares enough to show up at the games. I get the reasons why teams would want to locate in Florida (the nice weather, the huge population from which to draw fan support) but if the Jaguars could easily sell more tickets in Las Vegas or the Rays in Omaha, what’s the incentive to stay? If I’m the owner of the Rays right now I’m fighting like crazy for a new stadium, but it’s sure as hell not in Tampa/ St. Pete.
Shape up Florida fans, you guys are the worst.
-Max Frankel
