This past week, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays announced an ownership, management, and business operations overhaul. Now, the only thing this means to the Marlins is market encroachment. The new Rays Owner has already declared he will compete with the Marlins for Florida.

 

What do you consider the local market?

I don't think in terms of local. I consider [that] anything within 100 to 115 miles out is certainly our fan base, and anywhere where someone can get to our stadium inside an hour or an hour and 15 minutes. Certainly, Orlando to the east, Fort Myers to the south, and the north is defining itself as we speak. We want to go well up the coastline. Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Bradenton -- that's where we'll be focusing, but by no means is it going to be limited to those areas.

 

Now, the Marlins have no claim to the Tampa Bay area. But Orlando, Fort Myers, Gainesville, and Tallahassee are TV Markets the Marlins and Devil Rays share equally, but they both underserve. Well, the Marlins drew the first blood signing a statewide deal for 150 games from 2006 to 2020 on FSN Florida. Some areas cannot see FSN Florida on cable, but all of Florida has access to Marlins Baseball on FSN Florida via Dish Network and DIRECTV. The Rays have 75 games statewide on FSN and 65 on the Rays TV Network (aka PAX/i).

 

TV Advantage: Marlins, no doubt. The Fish have 150 games covered statewide. FSN is responsible for cracking into those few cable systems left without them. However the Rays have 65 games they must find homes for on affiliates around the state, excluding Miami and Palm Beach. The Marlins have won the TV game easily.

 

WQAM and the Marlins have had a rocky relationship, but in recent months it has smoothed out to a nice marriage. WQAM owns WWCN in Fort Myers, the Marlins have WORL in Orlando affiliated, and both parties are constantly looking for new affiliates. The Devil Rays started the first year of their new radio contract with WHNZ in Tampa. It is a good relationship financially, but WHNZ is not a sports station like WQAM is. The Rays are affiliated with ESPN Radio in Orlando, have no Fort Myers affiliate, and their Tallahassee and Gainesville affiliates are located outside of those two areas' core populations.

 

Radio Advantage: Marlins, right now. The Rays are buying their way onto more airwaves, but the Marlins can still do barter/rights agreements. The Marlins network has been around longer and has better affiliates. The Marlins must do more though to stay ahead. The Rays have a long road ahead, but the foundation is there.

 

Rays Orlando Overall: TV (FSN Florida-75 games, WOPX-? games) | Radio (ESPN 1080 WHOO)

Marlins Orlando Overall: TV (FSN Florida-150 games) | Radio (660 WORL)

*FSN not on Bright House in Orlando, but DISH and DIRECTV do carry FSN in Orlando.

 

Rays Fort Myers Overall: TV (FSN Florida-75 games, ???) | Radio (???)

Marlins Fort Myers Overall: TV (FSN Florida-150 games) | Radio (770 WWCN)

*FSN is on area cable systems along with DISH and DIRECTV

 

Tallahassee and Gainesville are very similar to Orlando for both teams, except the Marlins have no radio affiliates in these areas and the Rays affiliates are weaker than lightbulbs.

 

To Sum It All Up: The Marlins have TV covered with FSN, but FSN/Sun Sports needs to get on the horse and go after those bad cable systems that carry SUN but not FSN. Marlins Radio and WQAM need to go affiliate hunting, XM Radio coverage is not good or local enough. The Rays have 75 games covered with FSN and FSN must get on the horse as well for them. The Rays have a large gap with their PAX/i deal outside of Tampa Bay because the affiliates air partial packages. They must increase the packages, affiliates, and get an easy to understand network up. Rays Radio needs to write some more checks and get into radio stations that actually hit town, XM is not good enough, but the advertisers are being scammed out thinking they are paying for good signals.

Does that FSN agreement include Marlin baseball in Tally next year?

Does that FSN agreement include Marlin baseball in Tally next year?

 

FSN's agreement has always included Tally, problem is Comcast in Tally doesn't have a deal to carry FSN. With a Dish, you could get the Fish on FSN (all 150 games).

Does that FSN agreement include Marlin baseball in Tally next year?

 

FSN's agreement has always included Tally, problem is Comcast in Tally doesn't have a deal to carry FSN. With a Dish, you could get the Fish on FSN (all 150 games).

Ah, I get it. Here's to hoping mom gives me some extra $ for dish next year.

Ah, I get it. Here's to hoping mom gives me some extra $ for dish next year.

 

If you don't mind me asking....how much do you pay for Comcast?

Wasn't meant for me but I pay $45 -ish in Naples for the basic stuff. I had digital for around $60 but realized I was always watching FSN/ESPN anyways. I was interested in this article because I am in between Tampa and Miami and wanted to make sure the D-Rays weren't on 150 times next year.

I live up in Fort Myers. As long as you get FSN Florida and Sun Sports, I am told you will get all 150 Marlins TV games and FSN's 75 game Rays package.

 

BTW, the lowest Dish Network package with FSN Florida and Sun Sports is the America's Top 60 Plus. Anywhere in Florida, if you get this $37 package from Dish Network, you will get the Marlins, Rays, and at least 1 NBA and 1 NHL team.

 

Dish Network Info: http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/program...=20369&sortby=1

 

You can lease your boxes from Dish for $5 a month. We do that and it came out cheaper than Time Warner here in the Cape and we got upgraded to HD on 2 TVs.

If Fox Sports was smart, they would try and put Tampa Bay on Sun. Like they do with the Panthers, and the Lightning. No point in having two teams fight over Coverage when they have two channels to accomadate.

 

 

I just hope that I will still be able to watch My Marlins play up hear in the Nature Coast.

Ah, I get it. Here's to hoping mom gives me some extra $ for dish next year.

 

If you don't mind me asking....how much do you pay for Comcast?

I dunno, it's the school cable network.

 

I can't get the dish in my dorm, obviously. Next year I'll be off campus.

cool, off-campus=freedom. :mischief