ST. PETERSBURG — Rays attendance is down this season and playing home games opposite the Lightning’s run to the Stanley Cup Final hasn’t helped. But Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg said Tuesday that is not the main reason.
“That doesn’t help, necessarily,” Sternberg said. “But I don’t think that’s had a dramatic effect on it.”
Sternberg said as far back as spring training that ticket sales were slow, but he said Tuesday he didn’t expect to be averaging 14,410 per home game, especially for a team that sat atop the AL East standings heading into Tuesday’s game against the visiting Nationals.