Orlando is the largest TV market without baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays have made overtures, but to build baseball back, they may need to get more proactive.
Orlando has pushed forward and grown in just about every sport available to the U.S. market. The city has expanded greatly in its sports culture, adding a major soccer team to its sports portfolio.
The new Citrus Bowl has opened doors for new and better sporting events like Sunday’s U.S. Women’s National Team game. The Amway Center has proven to be one of the nicest arenas in the NBA, giving the Orlando Magic a very permanent home. Orlando City will be building its new stadium to complement the downtown area very soon.
The city even has hockey.
A lot is going for Orlando. A lot is growing for Orlando.
Except baseball. Baseball is more or less dead in Orlando.
Tinker Field has been torn down. The Braves are getting ready to move out of Disney for Spring Training. The Astros have already left Kissimmee. The efforts to bring a minor league baseball team to Winter Park died fairly quickly.
As local radio host Marc Daniels noted at the SportsManias City Summit a few months ago, baseball is the only sport that seems to have lost any footing in Orlando. Is it because the city is that obsessed with football? Is it because the Magic are more rooted or Orlando City too new?
Teams have tried. And their results appear mixed. But like any thing else, when there is an opportunity, someone seeks to take it. Orlando is still the largest television market without a baseball team.
The Tampa Bay Rays have tried in the last few years to find their way into the Orlando market. They posted billboards advising Orlando to “Rays Up” and advertising the next home game or local broadcast (all the Rays games are broadcast on Sun Sports).
They have tried to get into the Orlando market several times, even playing a pair of regular season games at Disney in 2007.
As the closest team geographically to Orlando, the Rays certainly should play a role in baseball’s future in Orlando. They certainly should continue their efforts to reach Orlando baseball fans.
Port Charlotte is a lovely city, but Orlando is a much more attractive destination, and gives the Tampa Bay Rays the backing and support of the largest entertainment company in the world.
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Orlando is not only a more active and desirable destination for a minor league stadium, but it is also closer where the Rays want their MLB stadium location to be in Hillsborough County. ESPN Wide World of Sports is only an hour drive from Tampa, compared to about an hour and a half to Port Charlotte from a theoretical MLB stadium.
By having the Spring Training location in Orlando, the Rays could also be building a grassroots program that would pay off in the future. Depending on the timeline of these events happening, if the Rays are able to build a stadium and move to Hillsborough County, they would already have a better local presence and familiarity with fans in the Orlando area, doubling down on advertising and existence in the Central Florida market.
It is a nice thought.
The Rays currently do their spring training in Port Charlotte in Southwest Florida. Investing more seriously in Orlando by bringing the Rays more permanently and visibly to Orlando would be a big way to grow the fan base in Orlando.
But the problems of Orlando as a baseball market persist.
The Orlando Rays failed after moving to Disney. The Braves struggled when they moved to Disney, and they appear ready to move to St. Petersburg.
Maybe it is location. Driving to Kissimmee (to see the Astros) or to Disney is difficult for many in Central Florida. But there are no other facilities available.
The Orlando Rays left downtown Orlando because Tinker Field could not keep up with other spring training or minor league facilities around the state. It was no longer competitively viable.
And, now, it no longer exists.
As nice as it would be to bring the Rays to Orlando or some form of baseball back to Orlando, it is not going to happen until the city or one of the suburban cities builds a ballpark to host that team. For it to be successful, it would almost certainly have to be downtown or in North Orlando in the Winter Park area.
For baseball fans in Orlando though, the Rays provide the future. Or at least a part of it. If for no reason than their geography and their desire to reach Orlando fans in the market.
