@@chrisfromswts It's a nostalgic thing. I'm sure they were great memories but that still doesn't take away the fact that it is a very unattractive stadium.
I visited The Trop for the first time 2 years ago and saw a few games there. I honestly liked it and really enjoyed seeing games there. That stadium doesn't deserve all of the hatred that it gets. It's nice to have unique stadiums like The Trop in the league.
As a Tampa native, I have mixed feelings about the Trop. I saw a Devil Rays game there their first season in 1998 and the stadium has improved immensely over the last 22 years. The atmosphere in the stands is not as bad as most people say. And believe me, it beats the Florida summer heat. Where the stadium does feel dated is in the concourse and concession areas. The ceiling is very low and the architecture is almost Soviet brutalist. The non-public service areas seem completely unmaintained compared to say, the main tunnel under Raymond James Stadium - it makes the Trop look structurally decrepit. I'll always have a fond appreciation for Tropicana Field, but its time to be replaced has long since passed. When it comes to the Rays, being a fan in the late 00s early 10s when the whole region knew every player by name was electric. It was like how the Lightning are in Tampa today. But trading away the household names hurt them. I'd rather not share the team. If Sternberg can't make the Rays work here, then move them completely.
@@jasonwhite8102 I'm a Rays fan. I never said anything bad about the team itself. I'm continuously pleased with the success they have on a shoestring budget. The Rays deserve a new stadium in Ybor and a different owner.
Anyone who has attended a Playoff game here knows the truth, The Trop is a great home until a Tampa venue can be built. The weather inside the dome is always perfect, 72 degrees and no rain. Great staff and young, exciting players who interact with fans and a winning team. The neighborhood around the Trop is up and coming with development nearby. Many markets would love to have what we have here. We know it isn't perfect. We love it just the same.
Went to a game once and almost melted in the 97 degree heat and 96 per cent humidity buying tickets. Walked into the A/C and it felt like going from hell to heaven.
Actually it was most likely 100% humidity in the low 90's. But that parking lot legitimately adds 10 degrees of heat. The people who designed the stadium had zero brain
It must've been doublety insulting to folks in the Tampa Bay area that Miami got an MLB expansion team before they did, considering that the only venue that the Marlins could reasonably play in was Dolphins Stadium... ...which is an NFL-specific stadium. Not a multi-use, cookie cutter stadium, that could fit a baseball field. An NFL-specific stadium! That they had to cut a chunk out of in order to fit a baseball field in. One that had no roof to protect agains the Florida heat. MLB chose THAT over Tropicana Field! To be fair, it wasn't exactly the wrong choice.
@@keltondavis4559 Not every one, brokedick SkyDome is still being used. But yeah, FPV even did a video about why dual-use stadiums are the drizzling shits.
The park gets crowded when the Yankees are in town. A lot of people in the Tampa area are Yankees fans and they go down to the Trop to watch them play.
4:48 while it's about a 30 minute drive from Tampa to st.petersburg, because of traffic and where most people in Tampa actually live, it's usually an hour + trip to the trop.
That's what a lot of people from out of town don't understand, especially with the stadium being in Downtown St. Pete as opposed to the northern part of the city, which is closer to the bridges. Even Steinbrenner Field, a minor-league venue in West Tampa, has roughly twice as many people within a 30-minute drive as the Trop has.
I often thought of this stadium as misunderstood. While many hated it, I liked its uniqueness and quirks. As I got older, I understood why people didn't like this stadium. I still see it as a guilty pleasure. A stadium that has its own charm that many will never understand. Plus, what other stadium can say they hosted Baseball, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Arena Football & Tennis in its lifespan?
There is nothing wrong with it! It is, by far, the best dome in baseball history, vastly superior to Houston, Seattle, Minnesota, Toronto and Montreal.
bro not even bustin your ballz but u gotta pop out to the trop. it’s not as bad as you think when you can experience it in person. played ball all my life personally it was on of my favorites and most unique. dingers sounds nuts there too
El Chris and what, give Tropicana back the money for naming rights? It was only called The Thunderdome when The Lightening played there...cuz thunder and lightning make sense...but not Tropicana dollars
Watching from Saint Petersburg, Florida! My group of friends always call the Trop "The Used Condom". I have great memories at the Trop, such as a boy scout over-night camp out on the field and my high school graduation, but it is absolutely an eye soar on the downtown Saint Petersburg skyline. USFSP represent. Go bulls!
i remember when i was a kid, i was in the boy scouts and we had a MASSIVE sleepover with all the various groups in the state. was awesome sleeping in-field. Remember they used the jumbotron to play movies. It's where I saw my first Star Wars movie. (Episode I)
Moving the back to Montreal makes the most sense tbh. They want a team, they'll support a team, they're willing to chip in on a stadium, they have a stadium ready (even if its a bit of a shithole), and it'll ease travel costs for the AL East
Same here I was there for the very first devil rays game, a few playoff games and a world series game and will go to the last game... which hopefully wont be for a while.
I have been to the tropic twice and honestly it’s one of the coolest places you can go to. It’s really cool walking into the place and yeah it gets made fun of and they need to move because it’s a headache getting there but it’s super different from any baseball park.
I’ve always had something of a secret soft spot for Tropicana Field. Not just because it has mostly good memories for me as a Mariner fan on the occasions we catch the Rays rebuilding, but also because I feel a bit of a kinship to it via my Mariners’ old home, the Kingdome, which was similarly designed and maligned in its time and went through a very similar replacement/relocation arc to Tropicana as well. In a way, as a younger fan who never grew up with them, it’s nice to be able to still see a relic of the “cookie-cutter” AstroTurf era of stadium construction in action, even if it most likely doesn’t have that many years left in the tank. If I could hug Tropicana and let it know there are people who love it for what it is, I would. :)
It’s amazing to think that the Kingdome only stood for 25 years yet after almost as much time since its passing is still beloved and remembered fondly as an iconic landmark of the city. It had the aesthetic of playing baseball in a parking garage, but the fan atmosphere was absolutely electric! Like an underground club. The 90s Mariners captured our hearts, but the Seahawks weren’t even that good back then yet the Kingdome was one of the loudest stadiums in sports! It was a dump, but it was Our dump! The new stadiums are fantastic tho-they actually did a really great job on the architecture of both. The retractable roof on Safeco Field (still can’t get used to T Mobile Park with that hideous pink everywhere) was such a smart move. The twin cantilevers on the Clink (screw “Lumen Field”) are instantly iconic and of course help provide the legendary acoustics.
I always loved the old kingdome. My first mariners game was July of 95 and Randy Johnson threw a gem. Yes the kingdome was tired but a lot of it was poor upkeep. Think about it they built it on marsh land. Visiting teams hated the dome because of how loud it got even when the teams were crap. My first seahawks game was against the packers and I was hooked on the hawks.
The split stadium idea makes zero sense when they are becoming a perennially successful team. They cannot split a playoff series between St. Pete and Montreal.
Thankfully, the idea was quashed. Considering the timing of the announcement of the plan being dropped (right before they buckled down to get the new CBA done), I'm pretty sure it was because of the players union objecting to it.
The Tampa Bay Gamma Rays. The only MLB team comprised entirely of Floridamen. A team that reluctantly wears cleats and pants. To think all they had to do was leave the waste where it was and we could have a team of mutant baseball players.
Because it would be really hard to fit the top deck behind home plate. Not that it would really matter when your hockey team that plays in a building less than half the size draws more fans.
I moved down here to the Bay Area in 1987 and I have seen the ups and downs of the Trop. Hell, I remember one of the 1st events there was a concert (I want to say it was Willie Nelson but don't hold me to that), and the roof leaked... badly. My father used to work for Sports Service who handled the concessions for the Lightning & Storm so I used to find ways to get cheap seats for both and despite the terrible way traffic is handled in Downtown St. Pete those places were rocking. I was there on October 9th 1993 when over 27,000 fans packed the house to see the Lightning face off against the Panthers, and before you ask, yes, they did play the Tina Turner "Welcome to Thunderdome!" monologue before every game. Fucking Awesome! While I have never been a big fan of the building or it's location I think this is a fitting tribute to one of the more obscure structures in Professional Sports today. Excellent Video as always, and as always, Dam Son!
The area is divided into two counties, Hillsborough and Pinellas. The video brought up a great point in the beginning about Pinellas county funding the building of this stadium; and without a team. Hillsborough county has always wanted the team . And so the now typical stalemate between Pinellas county not wanting to fund a state of the art stadium, to be owned by the team, and the team not wanting to invest in a state of the art stadium in st. Petersburg (the smaller city in the Tampa bay area, who has had issues drawing fans). So the area is less than the sum of their parts, the counties work against each other, and it really breaks my heart. As a local i think st. Pete and pinellas county should make a sweetheart deal with Tampa and hillsborough county, allow the team to break the five or so years remaining on the lease, give hillsborough county the team essentially, for a small percentage of some profits over a period of time. Let's keep this incredible baseball team in tampa bay (year round). I mean we have an awesome HOCKEY team in tampa that draws a ton of fans. HOCKEY!
@Hardy Harhar I think Vancouver would be a better option for another Canadian team, it could also give the Seattle Mariners the down the road rivalry they want.
@@jordanherkowski5052 I agree you already have the Blue Jays in eastern Canada. I am not a fan of baseball in Canada but if your going to add a 2nd team at least don't put it in an already failed baseball market.
I've been there and it's not that bad, sure it's sort of sterile but watching a game there isn't bad. It's a lot cheaper than Fenway and more comfortable.
Let's not forget the traffic woes just getting into and from that damn dome. There's one thing that's more hated in the area than the Trop, and it's name is Howard Frankland.
As a lifelong Rays fan, this video is so touching and poignant. The history of how the Trop was built is entirely forgotten and it's nice to hear the acknowledgement of who and what it was replacing.
The Trop itself isn’t boring or drab inside, it’s evolved over the years as I’ve lived in Tampa for 7 years. The process to actually get there on a weekday is absolute hellfire though. Despite attendance. People love the Rays here. They do. Just the process of driving to South St Pete is taxing. Great video! I went to Game 4 here against the Astros in 2019. This place was ROCKING. They love their team here as I do
Thank you for this. I never knew the history of my local stadium but have always heard about it sucking. It's great to finally get the story behind the suckage. Seriously, Thank you.
Tropicana Field is very aesthetically ugly There's no other way to honestly describe it. It looks like an indoor nuclear fallout shelter somewhere in Russia. It has the lighting of the New York City subways. The only good thing about Tropicana Field is the Ted Williams hitters museum center field. It's funny how there are a lot of New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox uniforms and caps in the exhibits. Those two teams are Tampa's rivals. No beauty or originality is put into the ballpark, the uniforms, the ballcaps. I would describe it like Chernobyl nuclear plant but you don't know if the nuclear fallout is coming from inside or outside. It's attendance is going to suffer as why should a father bring their son as there is no charm or history. It's a cookie cutter concrete ugly stadium.
3:33 It would be dumb to put 2 expansion teams in the same state." The NBA putting 2 expansion teams (in FLORIDA) in 1988 and 1989: "Are we a joke to you?"
Nothing is as bad as what LA and the Dodgers did to the Hispanic community where Dodger Stadium now sits. The owner of the Dodgers took a helicopter ride with the Mayor of LA, pointed out the Neighborhood of the Chavez Ravine, and said "There" LA Proceeded to remove many families of Mexican heritage and bulldoze houses that had been in their families for generations.
Leave this stadium alone. It's not unwanted and it's gotten a lot of improvements over the last decade! The rays have put tons a lot of money into this stadium making a great fan experience. They redid the whole outfield area a few years ago and it's become super popular and very nicely done! New types of turf consistently being installed every few years. This is one of the best kept fields in the league now. Their only hope is a new stadium near downtown Tampa where more of their fan base is and make it easier to get to with major highways connecting there! Until Stu sells the damn team or someone can afford to build a new stadium they're stuck at the trop tbh.
Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2004 season. The Patriots defeated the Eagles by the score of 24-21. The game was played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, the first time the Super Bowl was played in that city.
Me and my dad walked around the outside of the stadium during this past spring training when we were in Florida it’s just sad because it’s like a ghost town
This is what happens when government builds something for private sector use, but is designed by a committee of bureaucrats who know nothing of the needs of their target user.
Love your stadium videos Five Points! Could you do a couple of videos on three of my favorites, the former Candlestick Park in San Francisco, SDCCU Stadium in San Diego, and the Inglewood Forum in Inglewood?
Tampa Bay should have never been given an MLB team period. The fans of the Rays are fair weather at best. The only times that stadium is decently full is when the Yankees, Red Sox, or defending World Series champions come to town. It is a joke of a franchise and everyone knows it. Move the team somewhere they will actually be appreciated.
I like how it’s a dome stadium, but going to a Tampa Bay Rays game is depressing. I went there 2 years ago and only 25% of the stadium was filled with fans. It looked like how games will be with Coronavirus, but in a normal game. No wonder the Rays are moving to Montréal, they need it.
The St Pete area hosts a number of Grapefruit League teams during spring training. They are avid baseball fans. I used to live north of St Pete and went by the Trop many times. Ugly looking thing, like a cake that has fallen on one side. Never heard a single good word about it and never had the urge to attend a game there. Cheers....
I was in town on business during the inaugural week and was given tickets for games 2 & 3. Being a lifelong ball fan, I had experienced numerous major league stadiums prior to this. Indeed, there was nothing memorable about this stadium. I do recall it being claustrophobic and lacklustre in its presentation.
Manfred is terrible. The Ray's need to stay in Tampa Bay, EXCLUSIVELY. If Montreal wants a team again they should give them an expansion and the Expos can come back ...
I went to a Rays game at the Trop last summer with my cousin (he lives about 10 minutes away), and I didn’t think it was a terrible stadium. That said, they could have better. After the game, I even saw some guys protesting splitting time between St. Petersburg and Montreal. It definitely was an experience.
I'd rather have an NFL team. We already have Camping World Stadium just waiting to be someone's home. Of course they could tear down the I-4 Eyesore, and build a MLB stadium, and nobody would complain.
@@dvferyance California had four until the Raiders went to LV. Tampa is closer to Miami than it is to Orlando. Oh, and we already have Camping World Stadium, which was built to house the Apollos. So we already have a stadium, and we have Disney, which already pours tons of money into the Orlando Magic. And then there's the fact that every Madden game for years now has had Orlando as a potential expansion city. There's literally no reason why Orlando can't have an NFL team, and a multitude of reasons one would work.
Central Florida is full of a lot of yankees and braves fans. Unfortunate for the rays. both of those teams started their hot streak at the same time Tampa was awarded a team. Probably would have been a different story if they got a team in the 80s
I’ve been to Tropicana Field so many times in my life, I only live a few miles away and I’ve been to not only baseball games, but a few other events like college football bowl games
As a born and raised Tampon, I love this stadium. I would love to see it across the bay, but will settle for an hour’s drive just for the midgame lightning strikes to the dome. Also, the extensive use painted cinder blocks through out has always given me a crappy 1950s rec center pool vibe- and I’m here for it. The trop’s an ugly f*cker, but she’s our ugly f*cker - for now, at least.
“Born and raised tampon” lolol It’s like the old Kingdome in Seattle: it had the aesthetic of playing baseball in a parking garage, but the fans and the elite players made it electric like an underground club! It was a dump, but it was Our dump! The new Seahawks and Mariners stadiums are really nice tho-they actually did a fantastic job with both.
When I was younger I grew up in the historic kenwood area from 2004-2015 just up the street from the trop before moving in to the city of seminole. I loved coming to the games here but it would've been better if the team decide to renovate the ballpark and the area around it.
Bring back the Expos! My dad found an old ticket stub from when the Padres were still at Qualcomm and that day they were playing Montreal. I would love to see them back and it would create another great rivalry with Toronto.
I'm a Tampa guy. Moved to Florida in '98 as a kid and went to games as during the inaugural season. The memories growing up would be hard to replace the Trop. Going out with my dad. Even in college at USF, we would all go to Treasure Island Beach and scoop cheap tickets after a day in the heat. Rain comes around 4,5,6 o'clock every day in the summer. June thru August. Like clockwork. 72°. I've been to multiple ballfields around the country including spring training. As much as I would love to see my Rays on this side of the Bay, it would be really hard to replace the Trop.
The Rays deserve a new home in Tampa but thanks to Loria buttfucking Miami, it’s gonna take longer since city officials don’t want another Marlins Park situation.
Being a hockey fan, my time with this stadium was during its days as the Thunderdome. Some of my best hockey memories were made there, like waiting outside after the game and getting the Lightning players' autographs. My mom even got passes to the team lounge once, though with two small children in tow she sadly wasn't able to use them. I know the place is long past the prime I remember, but I'll still be a little sad to see it go.
I wouldn't call Tropicana Field a tragic story. From all the Google reviews I have read about it there are some reoccurring trends. People have a good time, it's clean, parking is easy, it's air conditioned, friendly staff, good food options, and a overall unique charm. Also Rays have had good winning teams in the last 14 years including 7 playoff appearances and 2 AL pennants. Way more success than the Toronto Blue Jays or a lot of other MLB teams for that matter
Thanks for bringing attention to the location. You could relocate them to a stadium almost anywhere in the area and have a much higher pop within a 30 mile radius. It is by far the lowest in baseball, and fundamental to why attendance is as low as it's been.
It is amazing how The Truman Sports complex for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, side by side stadiums, was built in 1973, and BOTH still exist as beautiful as ever. All they had to do was put GRASS in Royal's stadium, plus make some minor improvements over the years. Still a beautiful setting!!
My wife and I went to a Rays' game in 2006. Back then they were the "Devil" Rays, met fans who didn't like the stadium, didn't care if they played a game at all, and it was during a lightning storm. We were visiting from Illinois. The pluses were the parking was free and the game was awesome. They were actually opening up the stingray tank for the first time. The Rays beat the Orioles 14-7 that day. They were giving away Scott Kasmir statuettes which I still have. I had two, but gave one away to my friend's son in New York state.
I grew up about 35-40 min from the trop. I love it. It's inside and cool, and it's just a fun atmosphere. I've always had a great time at the top. I fully realized that it's not nice like a lot of parks especially these days, and I'll be happy if they get a new stadium although it's 100% going to have to be at least a retractable roof. It rains every day for a month here. They would never play in the summer at home. But no matter what I love it and it's super comfortable in there. Fun to walk around and change your seats and sit somewhere else for a couple innings because they almost never check. Then go out to the bar and centerfield and stand there and watch right over the center fielders head. Good times. But the rays are the Tampa BAY rays. Tampa Bay goes around tampa, clearwater, St pete, etc etc. So St Pete is part of Tampa Bay. That's why they're not the Tampa rays they're the Tampa Bay rays. The rays of the entire Bay area. Including........ St Pete. Though dt Pete is nowhere near the area Tampa is.
I grew up 15 minutes from the Trop and enjoyed every Rays game that I got to attend since the first season in 1998.
Loyal fan
Same here. Don't under stand the hate
@@chrisfromswts It's a nostalgic thing. I'm sure they were great memories but that still doesn't take away the fact that it is a very unattractive stadium.
I visited The Trop for the first time 2 years ago and saw a few games there. I honestly liked it and really enjoyed seeing games there. That stadium doesn't deserve all of the hatred that it gets. It's nice to have unique stadiums like The Trop in the league.
ATalkingBadger I would get season tickets if we didn’t have to drive a hour and a half to get over a bridge
As a Tampa native, I have mixed feelings about the Trop. I saw a Devil Rays game there their first season in 1998 and the stadium has improved immensely over the last 22 years. The atmosphere in the stands is not as bad as most people say. And believe me, it beats the Florida summer heat. Where the stadium does feel dated is in the concourse and concession areas. The ceiling is very low and the architecture is almost Soviet brutalist. The non-public service areas seem completely unmaintained compared to say, the main tunnel under Raymond James Stadium - it makes the Trop look structurally decrepit. I'll always have a fond appreciation for Tropicana Field, but its time to be replaced has long since passed.
When it comes to the Rays, being a fan in the late 00s early 10s when the whole region knew every player by name was electric. It was like how the Lightning are in Tampa today. But trading away the household names hurt them. I'd rather not share the team. If Sternberg can't make the Rays work here, then move them completely.
Amen and Hallelujah, Garrett! Preach, Brother!
The Rays aren't the problem, Sternberg is the problem. Top 5 worse owner in sports in the world
"Soviet brutalist" LMAO. yup its pretty damn drab. I just hope they don't split for Montreal. No pun intended. :-)
You obviously haven’t been paying attention the last couple seasons. Oh look, the Rays lead the AL in wins again this season thus far…
@@jasonwhite8102 I'm a Rays fan. I never said anything bad about the team itself. I'm continuously pleased with the success they have on a shoestring budget. The Rays deserve a new stadium in Ybor and a different owner.
The Trop: You took everything from me
Tampa: I don't even know who you are
St Petersburg
Bruh ur everywhere
bro you are everywhere holy shit balls
If it wasn’t in st Pete me and my dad would get season tickets
Jason Matteson Yes but he said Tampa because Tampa wants to build a new stadium within the city. They want nothing to do with that stadium
Anyone who has attended a Playoff game here knows the truth, The Trop is a great home until a Tampa venue can be built. The weather inside the dome is always perfect, 72 degrees and no rain. Great staff and young, exciting players who interact with fans and a winning team. The neighborhood around the Trop is up and coming with development nearby. Many markets would love to have what we have here. We know it isn't perfect. We love it just the same.
Went to a game once and almost melted in the 97 degree heat and 96 per cent humidity buying tickets. Walked into the A/C and it felt like going from hell to heaven.
Actually it was most likely 100% humidity in the low 90's. But that parking lot legitimately adds 10 degrees of heat. The people who designed the stadium had zero brain
@@8bitorgy Must be the asphalt.
It is a swamp oasis.
@@119Agent they say it’s daft to build a stadium in a swamp, but they built it all the same.
@@LateNightTableCo And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest stadium in all of Florida!
It must've been doublety insulting to folks in the Tampa Bay area that Miami got an MLB expansion team before they did, considering that the only venue that the Marlins could reasonably play in was Dolphins Stadium...
...which is an NFL-specific stadium. Not a multi-use, cookie cutter stadium, that could fit a baseball field. An NFL-specific stadium! That they had to cut a chunk out of in order to fit a baseball field in. One that had no roof to protect agains the Florida heat. MLB chose THAT over Tropicana Field!
To be fair, it wasn't exactly the wrong choice.
Rays play in Miami Opening Day 2021 too. Rays should be good this year imo dark horse in AL.
Wayne Huizenga had deep pockets and control over the stadium
@LTATJ's JaYs then why has every multi use stadium been abandoned and torn down?
@@keltondavis4559 Not every one, brokedick SkyDome is still being used. But yeah, FPV even did a video about why dual-use stadiums are the drizzling shits.
Miami is a larger city therefore larger fan market.
The Rays were so good last year and it looked like the only time the stadium had full capacity was in the playoffs
The park gets crowded when the Yankees are in town. A lot of people in the Tampa area are Yankees fans and they go down to the Trop to watch them play.
You should have seen it in 2008.
@@yankeeshater Did not know that🤔
It’s a whole different story in the playoffs
The Rays are a very good team
4:48 while it's about a 30 minute drive from Tampa to st.petersburg, because of traffic and where most people in Tampa actually live, it's usually an hour + trip to the trop.
Can confirm as someone living in suburban Tampa
@@dominic64tblightning24 I second that! A weekday evening game is almost 2 hours for me.
always takes me around 2 hours with traffic, which is common on that damn bridge.
It's also harder for people who live on the east coast.
That's what a lot of people from out of town don't understand, especially with the stadium being in Downtown St. Pete as opposed to the northern part of the city, which is closer to the bridges. Even Steinbrenner Field, a minor-league venue in West Tampa, has roughly twice as many people within a 30-minute drive as the Trop has.
I often thought of this stadium as misunderstood. While many hated it, I liked its uniqueness and quirks. As I got older, I understood why people didn't like this stadium. I still see it as a guilty pleasure. A stadium that has its own charm that many will never understand. Plus, what other stadium can say they hosted Baseball, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Arena Football & Tennis in its lifespan?
There is nothing wrong with it! It is, by far, the best dome in baseball history, vastly superior to Houston, Seattle, Minnesota, Toronto and Montreal.
I’ve been to 27 MLB ballparks. Sadly, this beauty isn’t one of them
Which ones have you not been to?
Well look like you have too.
My grandma has lived right across the street from there. Yet I've never been inside of there
bro not even bustin your ballz but u gotta pop out to the trop. it’s not as bad as you think when you can experience it in person. played ball all my life personally it was on of my favorites and most unique. dingers sounds nuts there too
@@wrestlingfan1888 Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Philadelphia (I've been to this one but never seen a game)
Should be called the thunderdome again
Like Thunderthome
- only when this dome is hosting the Lightning and the NHL new year day Winter Classic.
... with the a/c set at 30*f .
El Chris and what, give Tropicana back the money for naming rights? It was only called The Thunderdome when The Lightening played there...cuz thunder and lightning make sense...but not Tropicana dollars
WWE might own the trademark right now
@@tapoutnick5985 as of a few weeks ago they do along with the Discovery Channel with their "Dodgeball Thunderdome" series
Watching from Saint Petersburg, Florida! My group of friends always call the Trop "The Used Condom". I have great memories at the Trop, such as a boy scout over-night camp out on the field and my high school graduation, but it is absolutely an eye soar on the downtown Saint Petersburg skyline.
USFSP represent. Go bulls!
Thank God that the late, great Tampa Bay sports television personality "Salty" Sol Fleischman doesn't have to see this sickening affair transpire!
*eye sore
i remember when i was a kid, i was in the boy scouts and we had a MASSIVE sleepover with all the various groups in the state. was awesome sleeping in-field. Remember they used the jumbotron to play movies. It's where I saw my first Star Wars movie. (Episode I)
I prefer "The Diaper Pail."
The new stadium has to be in Tampa and out of St. Pete if this team has any future in Florida
Moving the back to Montreal makes the most sense tbh.
They want a team, they'll support a team, they're willing to chip in on a stadium, they have a stadium ready (even if its a bit of a shithole), and it'll ease travel costs for the AL East
THE BRAIN SPECIALIST great idea!!! Bring back those sweet Montreal Expos uniforms too!
They need out of st Pete no one wants to drive a hour over a bridge especially if it’s raining it’s needs to be in Tampa or ybor city
The Keegan Clover personally I don’t think Orlando is a bad option.
The Keegan Clover if they want to become the Orlando Rays, then sure
The Trop is my home. I don’t care if it’s a bad stadium, I love it all the same.
Same
Same here I was there for the very first devil rays game, a few playoff games and a world series game and will go to the last game... which hopefully wont be for a while.
Same honestly
And the Rays will continue to have the WORST attendance in the American League. Only the Team farther down south is Worse (Marlins)
Damn bro y’all have a pretty shitty home i feel bad
I have been to the tropic twice and honestly it’s one of the coolest places you can go to. It’s really cool walking into the place and yeah it gets made fun of and they need to move because it’s a headache getting there but it’s super different from any baseball park.
They shouldn’t be in st Pete no one wants to drive a hour over a bridge especially if it’s raining
Yes
That Ybor City stadium looked nice, but small. Make it at least 35-40k. Roof looked sick tho!
Cole Adams do the downfall of Pitt basketball
Unfortunately, if you go to any other stadium in the MLB, that’s when you will realize the Trop is a dump.
I’ve always had something of a secret soft spot for Tropicana Field. Not just because it has mostly good memories for me as a Mariner fan on the occasions we catch the Rays rebuilding, but also because I feel a bit of a kinship to it via my Mariners’ old home, the Kingdome, which was similarly designed and maligned in its time and went through a very similar replacement/relocation arc to Tropicana as well. In a way, as a younger fan who never grew up with them, it’s nice to be able to still see a relic of the “cookie-cutter” AstroTurf era of stadium construction in action, even if it most likely doesn’t have that many years left in the tank.
If I could hug Tropicana and let it know there are people who love it for what it is, I would. :)
It’s amazing to think that the Kingdome only stood for 25 years yet after almost as much time since its passing is still beloved and remembered fondly as an iconic landmark of the city. It had the aesthetic of playing baseball in a parking garage, but the fan atmosphere was absolutely electric! Like an underground club. The 90s Mariners captured our hearts, but the Seahawks weren’t even that good back then yet the Kingdome was one of the loudest stadiums in sports! It was a dump, but it was Our dump!
The new stadiums are fantastic tho-they actually did a really great job on the architecture of both. The retractable roof on Safeco Field (still can’t get used to T Mobile Park with that hideous pink everywhere) was such a smart move. The twin cantilevers on the Clink (screw “Lumen Field”) are instantly iconic and of course help provide the legendary acoustics.
I always loved the old kingdome. My first mariners game was July of 95 and Randy Johnson threw a gem. Yes the kingdome was tired but a lot of it was poor upkeep. Think about it they built it on marsh land. Visiting teams hated the dome because of how loud it got even when the teams were crap. My first seahawks game was against the packers and I was hooked on the hawks.
You know when your stadium is garbage when the best thing about it is a touch tank which can be found at any local aquarium.
Luke Leatherman that’s actually so cool tho that makes it so unique
It’s actually a sick stadium. It had more to do than the new braves stadium lmao
The rays have a terrible owner too
SELL THE TEAM, STU!
He’s good with on the field results but has no idea how to engage a fan base
Seriously why would he trade tommy Pham
@@jrhudson8135 I feel like he knows what he's doing on the field but off of it he has no idea what he's doing
You obviously never heard of the Dolan family
I understand the hate from outsiders but this stadium is my childhood. Never had a bad time. The trop will always have a soft spot in my heart❤️
The split stadium idea makes zero sense when they are becoming a perennially successful team. They cannot split a playoff series between St. Pete and Montreal.
It would probably just be for the regular season, but I agree it's a terrible idea.
Not at all! I agree
You may as well go with the idea asshole MLB agent Scott Boras made about 7 years ago and move the team to Jersey.
Thankfully, the idea was quashed. Considering the timing of the announcement of the plan being dropped (right before they buckled down to get the new CBA done), I'm pretty sure it was because of the players union objecting to it.
Tropicana Field: “How come they don’t want me, man?” 🥺😢
The Tampa Bay Gamma Rays. The only MLB team comprised entirely of Floridamen. A team that reluctantly wears cleats and pants. To think all they had to do was leave the waste where it was and we could have a team of mutant baseball players.
Good things about the trop:
The touch tank
That’s pretty much it
Cuesta ray cigar bar
don't forget air conditioning and parking is close to the field ;)
And Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame
If you're gonna slant the roof, why the hell not slant it up from home plate to center field? This is bass-ackward
It really doesn't matter. No one hits the roof... the catwalks are horizontally straight at each level and at the same height lol
Because it would be really hard to fit the top deck behind home plate. Not that it would really matter when your hockey team that plays in a building less than half the size draws more fans.
some one was drunk, read the plans wrong
some one was drunk, read the plans wrong
Was going to poast this
I love the trop, so many memories there. But yeah we need a new stadium.
I moved down here to the Bay Area in 1987 and I have seen the ups and downs of the Trop. Hell, I remember one of the 1st events there was a concert (I want to say it was Willie Nelson but don't hold me to that), and the roof leaked... badly. My father used to work for Sports Service who handled the concessions for the Lightning & Storm so I used to find ways to get cheap seats for both and despite the terrible way traffic is handled in Downtown St. Pete those places were rocking. I was there on October 9th 1993 when over 27,000 fans packed the house to see the Lightning face off against the Panthers, and before you ask, yes, they did play the Tina Turner "Welcome to Thunderdome!" monologue before every game. Fucking Awesome! While I have never been a big fan of the building or it's location I think this is a fitting tribute to one of the more obscure structures in Professional Sports today. Excellent Video as always, and as always, Dam Son!
Now the dome is now ripped thanks to Hurricane Milton
The area is divided into two counties, Hillsborough and Pinellas. The video brought up a great point in the beginning about Pinellas county funding the building of this stadium; and without a team. Hillsborough county has always wanted the team . And so the now typical stalemate between Pinellas county not wanting to fund a state of the art stadium, to be owned by the team, and the team not wanting to invest in a state of the art stadium in st. Petersburg (the smaller city in the Tampa bay area, who has had issues drawing fans). So the area is less than the sum of their parts, the counties work against each other, and it really breaks my heart. As a local i think st. Pete and pinellas county should make a sweetheart deal with Tampa and hillsborough county, allow the team to break the five or so years remaining on the lease, give hillsborough county the team essentially, for a small percentage of some profits over a period of time. Let's keep this incredible baseball team in tampa bay (year round). I mean we have an awesome HOCKEY team in tampa that draws a ton of fans. HOCKEY!
I love driving down to Tropicana Field from Georgia. Don’t know what’s so bad about it.
How often do you really do that tho? For someone who lives there it’s a pain in the ass to deal with rush hour and rain and BS
Nothings bad about it. People just look for a reason to complain. I go to games there all the time and It’s great.
As a Yankees fan, there’s always so many Yankees fans at Rays home games. A lot of northern transplants from NY, NJ, CT, and PA moved to Central FL.
so true when i went to a game last year i dvr it and when i watched it back micheal kay said it sounded like yankee stadium
CJ Acosta yeah it also helps that the spring training is in Tampa so that is a reason for Yankee fans to move near the rays
dantheman 23456 I always thought since jeter is like part owner of the marlins Id see a lot of Yankee fans there
Thank you Dick Clippers for this inspiring video
How does giving one team two stadiums make more sense than simply moving the team or doing another expansion to bring back the Montreal Expos?
That's what I'd like to know, Jordan.
Because Manfred
@Hardy Harhar I think Vancouver would be a better option for another Canadian team, it could also give the Seattle Mariners the down the road rivalry they want.
@@jordanherkowski5052 I agree you already have the Blue Jays in eastern Canada. I am not a fan of baseball in Canada but if your going to add a 2nd team at least don't put it in an already failed baseball market.
It makes no sense. They think we're stupid.
I’m a die hard rays fan and have been my whole life and live about 45 minutes away from the trop, I’ve enjoyed every trip I have made there #raysup
I've been there and it's not that bad, sure it's sort of sterile but watching a game there isn't bad. It's a lot cheaper than Fenway and more comfortable.
It can’t be more comfortable.
@@johnduffy9088 than Fenway it is more comfortable.
Lots of room to spread out, perfect for social distancing.
@@johnduffy9088 How would you know if you've never been there?
Let's not forget the traffic woes just getting into and from that damn dome.
There's one thing that's more hated in the area than the Trop, and it's name is Howard Frankland.
The Frankland is hated not only during rush hour, but also for many hours before and after that time of the day.
I used to live a couple blocks away from this stadium. I was jumped by a bunch of kids from my school right in front of it. Good times
As a lifelong Rays fan, this video is so touching and poignant. The history of how the Trop was built is entirely forgotten and it's nice to hear the acknowledgement of who and what it was replacing.
This feels so much like the Chargers with the Rays.
I was so excited for the stadium in Ybor City but NOOOooooOOoOoOO we couldn’t do it. Also, that ending clip was what I grew up on! It was so cool!
The Trop itself isn’t boring or drab inside, it’s evolved over the years as I’ve lived in Tampa for 7 years. The process to actually get there on a weekday is absolute hellfire though. Despite attendance. People love the Rays here. They do. Just the process of driving to South St Pete is taxing. Great video!
I went to Game 4 here against the Astros in 2019. This place was ROCKING. They love their team here as I do
Thank you for this. I never knew the history of my local stadium but have always heard about it sucking. It's great to finally get the story behind the suckage. Seriously, Thank you.
I hate that Idea of the rays playing in Montreal and St. Petersburg. Either Relocate to Montreal or just Stay, that idea is just stupid to me
Its been done before
Tropicana Field is very aesthetically ugly There's no other way to honestly describe it. It looks like an indoor nuclear fallout shelter somewhere in Russia. It has the lighting of the New York City subways. The only good thing about Tropicana Field is the Ted Williams hitters museum center field. It's funny how there are a lot of New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox uniforms and caps in the exhibits. Those two teams are Tampa's rivals. No beauty or originality is put into the ballpark, the uniforms, the ballcaps. I would describe it like Chernobyl nuclear plant but you don't know if the nuclear fallout is coming from inside or outside. It's attendance is going to suffer as why should a father bring their son as there is no charm or history. It's a cookie cutter concrete ugly stadium.
Love the footage at the end. That was a crazy day in baseball, lmao
3:33 It would be dumb to put 2 expansion teams in the same state."
The NBA putting 2 expansion teams (in FLORIDA) in 1988 and 1989: "Are we a joke to you?"
California with 5 fucking baseball teams
Meant in the same year
@@jamesesterline it *IS* the biggest state though
Finally one on the giant dump that is the trop
I actually really like Tropicana field because of unique and quirky it is. I also like it because it’s the last remaining dome stadium in MLB.
Nothing is as bad as what LA and the Dodgers did to the Hispanic community where Dodger Stadium now sits. The owner of the Dodgers took a helicopter ride with the Mayor of LA, pointed out the Neighborhood of the Chavez Ravine, and said "There" LA Proceeded to remove many families of Mexican heritage and bulldoze houses that had been in their families for generations.
Leave this stadium alone. It's not unwanted and it's gotten a lot of improvements over the last decade! The rays have put tons a lot of money into this stadium making a great fan experience. They redid the whole outfield area a few years ago and it's become super popular and very nicely done! New types of turf consistently being installed every few years. This is one of the best kept fields in the league now. Their only hope is a new stadium near downtown Tampa where more of their fan base is and make it easier to get to with major highways connecting there! Until Stu sells the damn team or someone can afford to build a new stadium they're stuck at the trop tbh.
I love your video, keep posting, I wish more people would see your channel, cause you deserve way more subs than you have
Thanks!
yw, keep posting
This is off topic, but are you doing a follow up of the best Minor League Stadiums?
Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2004 season. The Patriots defeated the Eagles by the score of 24-21. The game was played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, the first time the Super Bowl was played in that city.
I live in the Tampa Bay area and I love the stadium
I feel like you're the only one lol
The interior layout seems really nice...it would probably be one of the best parks in MLB if it wasn't for the roof.
I’m sure
I’ve been outside of it and it’s pretty ugly. The inside looks okay on tv but I’ve heard otherwise
So you’re the one.
I’m a huge baseball fan. Grew up 6 hours from the closest MLB field. I now live two hours from the Trop, and wouldn’t go there if I had free tickets.
Me and my dad walked around the outside of the stadium during this past spring training when we were in Florida it’s just sad because it’s like a ghost town
Me: "Tropicana Field is a dump."
Five Points Video: "Also, it's racist."
Nicely done, sir. Nicely done.
Unpopular opinion: The Trop is actually one of my favorite stadiums
This is what happens when government builds something for private sector use, but is designed by a committee of bureaucrats who know nothing of the needs of their target user.
Another nice thing the Trop got to see: Wade Boggs' 3,000th hit.
Home run to right center.
Love your stadium videos Five Points! Could you do a couple of videos on three of my favorites, the former Candlestick Park in San Francisco, SDCCU Stadium in San Diego, and the Inglewood Forum in Inglewood?
The beginning of video already sent the vibes of this video 😂😂😂😂. Love u man, no homo
8:26 That reminds some Texans and Astros fans of the Houston Astrodome
I've always thought Tropicana Field looked like a warehouse.
Tampa Bay should have never been given an MLB team period. The fans of the Rays are fair weather at best. The only times that stadium is decently full is when the Yankees, Red Sox, or defending World Series champions come to town. It is a joke of a franchise and everyone knows it. Move the team somewhere they will actually be appreciated.
If they moved to Montreal would they be able to call themselves the expos since they changed their name when they moved to DC?
MustNotSleep MustWarnOthers probably
If they moved to Montreal, they should be called the Exrays.
The rights to the Expos trademark went to MLB after DC changed their name, so I'm sure they would pass them along to the new owners.
@@JanLarson 'Exray Specs'.
The only MLB stadium not to host the All Star game.
I like how it’s a dome stadium, but going to a Tampa Bay Rays game is depressing. I went there 2 years ago and only 25% of the stadium was filled with fans. It looked like how games will be with Coronavirus, but in a normal game. No wonder the Rays are moving to Montréal, they need it.
The St Pete area hosts a number of Grapefruit League teams during spring training. They are avid baseball fans. I used to live north of St Pete and went by the Trop many times. Ugly looking thing, like a cake that has fallen on one side. Never heard a single good word about it and never had the urge to attend a game there. Cheers....
...here are two good words that have been used to describe the Trop... Comfort & Beer (or insert soft drinks which would make 3 words 🙃)...
The sad thing is that even when the Rays were very good last year, every home game looked like batting practice attendance.
Probably didn’t help their case that Tropicana is notorious for being one of the worst-rated stadiums for food quality and safety in the M.L.B. :/
Christmas Hake yeah also there’s only like one bridge in and out of St Pete. Traffic is absolutely horrendous
I was in town on business during the inaugural week and was given tickets for games 2 & 3. Being a lifelong ball fan, I had experienced numerous major league stadiums prior to this. Indeed, there was nothing memorable about this stadium. I do recall it being claustrophobic and lacklustre in its presentation.
Manfred is terrible. The Ray's need to stay in Tampa Bay, EXCLUSIVELY. If Montreal wants a team again they should give them an expansion and the Expos can come back ...
I went to a Rays game at the Trop last summer with my cousin (he lives about 10 minutes away), and I didn’t think it was a terrible stadium. That said, they could have better. After the game, I even saw some guys protesting splitting time between St. Petersburg and Montreal. It definitely was an experience.
I have heard multiple stories that be rays may be moving to Orlando I would definitely go multiple games a year
I'd rather have an NFL team. We already have Camping World Stadium just waiting to be someone's home. Of course they could tear down the I-4 Eyesore, and build a MLB stadium, and nobody would complain.
@@SkunkApe407 Not going to happen the Buccaneers are too close and Florida already has 3 teams.
@@dvferyance California had four until the Raiders went to LV. Tampa is closer to Miami than it is to Orlando. Oh, and we already have Camping World Stadium, which was built to house the Apollos. So we already have a stadium, and we have Disney, which already pours tons of money into the Orlando Magic. And then there's the fact that every Madden game for years now has had Orlando as a potential expansion city. There's literally no reason why Orlando can't have an NFL team, and a multitude of reasons one would work.
Central Florida is full of a lot of yankees and braves fans. Unfortunate for the rays. both of those teams started their hot streak at the same time Tampa was awarded a team.
Probably would have been a different story if they got a team in the 80s
They even had half their team name taken from them. What's next?
They took the devil outta the Rays... imagine how awesome goofy ass Raymond would be with horns and a pitchfork
The reason why is stupid as well ITS THE ACTUAL NAME OF THE ANIMAL!!!!!!!!
They removed that part of the name out of superstition
@@robertgraham5486 and they happen to get to the World Series the next year.
October 2024 and it's roof is gone
Hey, that's You HHENN eeyo. Go Redlegs!
I’ve been to Tropicana Field so many times in my life, I only live a few miles away and I’ve been to not only baseball games, but a few other events like college football bowl games
As a born and raised Tampon, I love this stadium. I would love to see it across the bay, but will settle for an hour’s drive just for the midgame lightning strikes to the dome. Also, the extensive use painted cinder blocks through out has always given me a crappy 1950s rec center pool vibe- and I’m here for it. The trop’s an ugly f*cker, but she’s our ugly f*cker - for now, at least.
“Born and raised tampon” lolol
It’s like the old Kingdome in Seattle: it had the aesthetic of playing baseball in a parking garage, but the fans and the elite players made it electric like an underground club! It was a dump, but it was Our dump!
The new Seahawks and Mariners stadiums are really nice tho-they actually did a fantastic job with both.
Lmao
When I was younger I grew up in the historic kenwood area from 2004-2015 just up the street from the trop before moving in to the city of seminole. I loved coming to the games here but it would've been better if the team decide to renovate the ballpark and the area around it.
Let’s do a sad history of the Palace of Auburn Hills
I've been patiently waiting for this vid. Made my day. Thanks man love the channel
Bring back the Expos! My dad found an old ticket stub from when the Padres were still at Qualcomm and that day they were playing Montreal. I would love to see them back and it would create another great rivalry with Toronto.
I'm a Tampa guy. Moved to Florida in '98 as a kid and went to games as during the inaugural season. The memories growing up would be hard to replace the Trop. Going out with my dad. Even in college at USF, we would all go to Treasure Island Beach and scoop cheap tickets after a day in the heat. Rain comes around 4,5,6 o'clock every day in the summer. June thru August. Like clockwork. 72°. I've been to multiple ballfields around the country including spring training. As much as I would love to see my Rays on this side of the Bay, it would be really hard to replace the Trop.
That stadium looks like a irregular top of a golf ball or a rusty mental hospital
The Rays deserve a new home in Tampa but thanks to Loria buttfucking Miami, it’s gonna take longer since city officials don’t want another Marlins Park situation.
Being a hockey fan, my time with this stadium was during its days as the Thunderdome. Some of my best hockey memories were made there, like waiting outside after the game and getting the Lightning players' autographs. My mom even got passes to the team lounge once, though with two small children in tow she sadly wasn't able to use them.
I know the place is long past the prime I remember, but I'll still be a little sad to see it go.
How come baseball fans complain that the Trop is "hard to reach," but hockey fans had no problem?
Wow so Tropicana Field didn't have a tenant for that long? Shit, it was cursed from the start!
Last time I was this early 5points had hair
I wouldn't call Tropicana Field a tragic story. From all the Google reviews I have read about it there are some reoccurring trends. People have a good time, it's clean, parking is easy, it's air conditioned, friendly staff, good food options, and a overall unique charm.
Also Rays have had good winning teams in the last 14 years including 7 playoff appearances and 2 AL pennants. Way more success than the Toronto Blue Jays or a lot of other MLB teams for that matter
6:34 No, it was to protect against hurricanes.
1/2 in St.Pete and the other in Montreal. Makes sense to me. LOL.!!!
5:36 Racism is usually a good marketing strategy 👌🏿👌🏿
Thanks for bringing attention to the location. You could relocate them to a stadium almost anywhere in the area and have a much higher pop within a 30 mile radius. It is by far the lowest in baseball, and fundamental to why attendance is as low as it's been.
I heard it was good for hockey
It was decent, til the Lightning outgrew it. Then they built theirs.
Went to a Lightning game there. It was a Saturday night vs the Panthers, & the place was rocking with about 20,000 fans.
It is amazing how The Truman Sports complex for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, side by side stadiums, was built in 1973, and BOTH still exist as beautiful as ever. All they had to do was put GRASS in Royal's stadium, plus make some minor improvements over the years. Still a beautiful setting!!
The trop is my stadium but lordie it’s not the best
My wife and I went to a Rays' game in 2006. Back then they were the "Devil" Rays, met fans who didn't like the stadium, didn't care if they played a game at all, and it was during a lightning storm. We were visiting from Illinois. The pluses were the parking was free and the game was awesome. They were actually opening up the stingray tank for the first time. The Rays beat the Orioles 14-7 that day. They were giving away Scott Kasmir statuettes which I still have. I had two, but gave one away to my friend's son in New York state.
If they do the dual-stadium thing they'll have to rename the team to The Tampa Bay Snowbirds Of Montreal.
Oiseaus du neige
@@cariopuppetmaster Would you believe me if I told you that the accepted expression in French-language media is "les snowbirds"?
I grew up about 35-40 min from the trop. I love it. It's inside and cool, and it's just a fun atmosphere. I've always had a great time at the top. I fully realized that it's not nice like a lot of parks especially these days, and I'll be happy if they get a new stadium although it's 100% going to have to be at least a retractable roof. It rains every day for a month here. They would never play in the summer at home. But no matter what I love it and it's super comfortable in there. Fun to walk around and change your seats and sit somewhere else for a couple innings because they almost never check. Then go out to the bar and centerfield and stand there and watch right over the center fielders head. Good times. But the rays are the Tampa BAY rays. Tampa Bay goes around tampa, clearwater, St pete, etc etc. So St Pete is part of Tampa Bay. That's why they're not the Tampa rays they're the Tampa Bay rays. The rays of the entire Bay area. Including........ St Pete. Though dt Pete is nowhere near the area Tampa is.