The Mascots!

The name of the main mascot for the Tampa Bay Rays is Raymond. He is a fury blue creature that wears a white jersey, large sneakers and a big baseball cap that is on backwards. Raymond is a huge part of the experience of attending a Tampa Bay Rays game. He is involved in a variety of events that take place inside the stadium and out. From taking pictures with young fans and getting on the dugout to dance , to attending charity events that the Rays host, you can always expect to see Raymond at any event the Rays participate in. But not only do the Rays have Raymond, but they also have another new exciting mascot named DJ Kitty! The name perfectly describes what he is, a kitty that is also a DJ. The kitty plays the music in between batters and innings and is always getting the fans up on their feet and into the game. Like Raymond, Dj Kitty also wears the signature Rays baseball cap backwards along with a white jersey. The Rays are the only team in MLB that have two official mascots for their team. Raymond and Dj kitty are both a big part of the Rays organization.

The Guys In Charge

A lot of people tend to think that the manager of the team is the one who has all the power and is also the one who owns the team. Though the managers do have a lot of say so in the Rays organization, they are not the actual owner of the team or organization. The current owner is Stuart Sternberg, and has been the principle shareholder and Managing General Partner of the Tampa bay Rays since 2005. Before Sternberg, the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays was Vince Naimoli, and he was the owner of the organization from 1998-2004. Stuart Sternberg was born in Brooklyn New York, so even though he is the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, he is also a New York Mets fan! Sternberg hired Matthew Silverman as the teams president. Silverman has remained a low-key owner of the organization and his primary goal is to get the teams finances in order. Another one of the main General Managers for the Rays organization is Erik Neander. If Sternberg isn’t making a final decision for the organization, then Neander is. The Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has made the organization very successful in the past years and he plans on keeping that success going in the future.

Attendance!

A high majority of baseball fans that live in the Tampa Bay area are Rays fans, but most of the fans do not get to attend the games in person due to several reasons. Last year under the leadership of Kevin Cash, the Rays drew in under 1.3 million fans to the Trop. Though 1.3 million is a lot of fans, it is nowhere near the amount of people that should be attending the games. One of the main reasons why the attendance for the games is so low is due to the location of the stadium. It is very inconvenient for people from Tampa to drive to and from the Trop. Most people would rather just watch the game on television, rather than actually going out and watching the game in person. The Rays organization is hoping to solve this problem by switching stadiums from Tropicana Field currently in St. Petersburg to a new Ybor location much closer to the Tampa Bay area. Not only was the location a big factor in why the attendance levels have been so low, but its also because the Rays are a young team trying to build up and haven’t done as well as they have in previous seasons. But with the new team, new manager and new location, hopefully the attendance levels will be higher than last season.