This Is Now The Most Happening Place To Be In All Of Tampa Bay

Because it's St. Pete, and it's always 70 degrees and gorgeous, no one wants to go to a Rays game on a Friday evening. That's all changing, as the team plans to turn the Trop into a "baseball nightclub."

Friday's been a sore spot for attendance: those games tend to draw the weeknight average of 20,000, rather than the weekend average of 30,000. Rather than just admit that baseball in Florida simply isn't working, the crack marketing staff has come up with something new! and exciting!

And while it's clear something had to be done, it's also clear the Rays have no idea what a nightclub is. What makes Friday games such a party?

•T-shirt giveaways (including one "for women that will have a message on the front that reads, 'I Heart Longoria.'")

•Fireworks after the game ("It's pretty cool. The roof is still on the building.")

•An "afterparty" at the bar/restaurant inside the stadium.

•...Actually, that's all.

So, t-shirts and fireworks and extended hours at their overpriced sports bar...these do not a party make. So it's tough to imagine how their VP of marketing kept a straight face when he gave this quote:

The two-word pitch batted around during marketing meetings in the offseason was "baseball nightclub," Fernandez said.

Maybe for older white folks, it's a nightclub. Oh wait, we're talking about Florida. Perfect!

Rays want Fridays at Trop to be 'baseball nightclub' [Tampa Tribune]