INSIDE SPORTS: Complete coverage of the IronPigs in Florida C1 ...

Wow wrote:

What makes you say the fan base isn't there? Did YOU do due diligence to come to that conclusion? Again, I'd certainly put my trust in current, successful, businessmen and teamowners than naysayers that point to teams that failed almost 50 years ago.
Stadium was completed under budget and ahead of schedule.
"Nearly 1,000 fans waited for hours in the snow and freezing temperatures and in less than two hours tickets to the March 30 exhibition showdown with the Phillies were gone." Tickets were sold on eBay at many times face value.
Club level and front row season tickets are sold out.
TV coverage is almost unprecedented for a minor league team.
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Steel Hog wrote:

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I would assume you're a native Valleyite. If you had ever lived in a baseball type town, like the NYC metro area, Boston, St. Louis, Chicago, or smaller places like Tidewater, NJ, Detroit, etc., you'd know exactly what I meant by the valley being out of the fan base. Heck, the Phillies have to block the cable companies from carrying the YES network because some many people wanted to watch the Yankees!!! In a baseball town, you wont find 5 different 'favorite' teams in an area. This is a big problem here, you have to have focused attention on a team in order to pack the house everynight. Once the novelty wears off, who will be left? Yankee fans probably already outnumber Philly fans here and they'll only go the SWB vs. IP games.

Steel Hog wrote:

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Are you serious? I can give you a lot more than 3 reasons:
1. The Valley ain't a baseball town. If you've ever lived in one, you'd know exactly what I mean. There are some fair weather Philly fans and die hard Met and Yankee fans, that's about it.
2. Baseball teams have failed here before. Yes, I know the Ambassadors weren't pro, but they couldn't even give the tickets away.
3. People don't drive to Reading,'all the time'. They're more likely to head to the Somerset Patriots (a baseball town).
4. The Stadium is going to be a behemouth and an albatross to the valley. They haven't accounted for the increased infrastruture cost in police, fire, road work, etc. The team was a 'feel good now' idea, doomed to fail because they think this is a 'baseball town'(read number 1)
With that said, I would actually like to see the Pigs succeed. But from a business perspective, it was a bad idea and it doesn't appear that due diligence was proper. Our area needs to stop dreaming unrealistically. They may have been better off putting money towards infrastructure and bringing the arts to easton and south bethlehem. After all, the valley has moved from the blue collar steel worker baseball type to a healthcare, nurse doctor environment.

Steel Hog wrote:

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I would assume you're a native Valleyite. If you had ever lived in a baseball type town, like the NYC metro area, Boston, St. Louis, Chicago, or smaller places like Tidewater, NJ, Detroit, etc., you'd know exactly what I meant by the valley being out of the fan base. Heck, the Phillies have to block the cable companies from carrying the YES network because some many people wanted to watch the Yankees!!! In a baseball town, you wont find 5 different 'favorite' teams in an area. This is a big problem here, you have to have focused attention on a team in order to pack the house everynight. Once the novelty wears off, who will be left? Yankee fans probably already outnumber Philly fans here and they'll only go the SWB vs. IP games.

DipSchlitz wrote:

Well I find it ridiculous that you cannot bring your own food and drink into the game. You can do it at Yankee Stadium and other ballparks. I wonder who is daring enough to file a lawsuit. Getting Greedy already. Don't get me wrong, I believe the prices will not be overinflated but I should still be able to bring in food items that I prefer to eat.
I am not a couch potato either. I am a season ticket holder...

radical moderate wrote:

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I do not buy your claim that this is not a baseball town. I was at the bar last night and everyone was talking baseball.

Steel Hog wrote:

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It ain't. Ask anyone who's ever lived in a baseball town. The Valley ain't even close. The IP's are doomed.....DOOMED!!!