By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo: Sports Illustrated
The Rays have been the home for Tampa since its inaugural season in 1998. Could we see the Rays moving from Tampa to Orlando?
There have been discussions about the possibility of moving the franchise from one city to another. The Rays should stay in Tampa, but a team needs one in Orlando.
MLB should take a page from the NFL and add a third Florida team. In the NFL, there are the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
MLB could have Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, and a new Orlando team. One of the names thrown out there is renaming the Orlando Rays to the Orlando Dreamers.
Dreamers is not a bad name, but it doesn’t sound too catchy for a team’s name. Orlando is a city that continues to ride, and tourism continues to increase. It’s never fun to see a team leave a town because of the passionate fans who have been attending and supporting the Rays for years in Tampa.
The problem that could jeopardize the Rays’ stay in Tampa is the attendance records. St Petersburg is gorgeous, and Tropicana Field is perfect for it, but the stadium has trouble filling the seats.
Relocating is a double-edged sword. We will see a new team in Orlando in the future. We just hope that instead of taking off one Florida team, we add another one. Florida is the sunshine state, and Tampa, like Orlando, needs more entertainment.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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