11.14.2013

Tampa Bay Rays to Relocate to Turner Field in 2017

The Tampa Bay Rays finally have their new stadium, after years of low attendance and jokes at the Trop's expense, Rays' ownership have finally found an opportunity for a new stadium when the Atlanta Braves decided to move out of Turner Field.  Rays Principal Owner Stu Sternberg was elated to share the news, saying, "We have heard the cries of Rays fans everywhere and have struck a deal with the city of Atlanta to play in a world class facility built not long ago for the Olympics, the freaking Olympics, how great is that?!" He then promised that the name, the logo, and the community involvement in the city of Tampa would not change.

The Rays, who in 2013 saw just 1,510,300 people come through the turnstiles were in desperate need of something to engage fans. This Sternberg also addressed in his initial statement claiming, "We are taking Rays baseball to the fans!"

When asked how moving to a stadium 478 miles from their existing stadium would be moving "to the fans", Sternberg was quick to mention, "Oh, Tampa doesn't have baseball fans, Florida doesn't have baseball fans, look at Miami. We are moving to where people enjoy baseball, in the City of Atlanta. As I mentioned in my statement, we are just as dedicated to the City of Tampa as we've always been. For those who do want to attend a game, it's one road, I-75, how simple is that? In Chicago, you need to take about 50 streets and 3 trains just to see a game, what a pain!"

Fans in Tampa are excited by the news. One die hard Rays fan said, "I think it's great for the Rays to move to a facility as current and modern as Turner Field". When asked if this would change his going to see games, he simply said, "Absolutely not, I love the Rays, and that's why I'm glad I can still listen on the radio while at the beach, I've never actually attended a game, that sounds terrible."