There's a perception in Major League Baseball that fans in the Tampa Bay region are not supportive of the Rays and don't come to the ballpark. So far, attendance at Tropicana Field for 2012 tells a different story.
The Tampa Bay Rays are averaging 20,017 which on its own is not great - 28 out of 30 teams. Cleveland (14,624) and the Chicago White Sox (19,911) are averaging fewer fans at home games.
But, when you calculate in the size of the ballpark, the Rays rank 19th filling 58.7 percent of the Trop. There are 11 teams below the Rays in home game attendance percentage. The lowest, Cleveland, has only 33.4 percent attendance so far in 2012.
Among the "big league" teams in "big cities" that rank lower than the Tampa Bay region: Washington, Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, Toronto, and Chicago (White Sox).
If you just look at away games, the Tampa Bay Rays rank 7th among the 30 teams in average attendance at 74.5 percent. So other fans like to watch the Rays play.
Calculate home and away attendance together, the Tampa Bay Rays are 16th in the middle of the pack. It doesn't match the team's league-leading 19-8 record at this point, but it's not the cellar either.
