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ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays weren't the only ones to take a hit from dwindling attendance at Tropicana Field this year.
It cost taxpayers, too.
The city will kick in an extra $115,000 to subsidize operations of Tropicana Field because attendance was 300,000 less than last year's.
St. Petersburg collects 67 cents for every fan who goes through the turnstiles at Rays games and other Trop events. So when Rays attendance dropped 16 percent this season, the city's cut fell to about $750,000, compared with the $900,000 projected.
But the lower attendance meant that fewer police were needed for traffic control at sparsely attended games, which offset some of the losses from lower attendance.
Ticket sales and a slice of stadium naming rights are the two major ways the city makes money at the Trop.
On the other hand, the contract with the Rays calls for the city to provide property insurance on the dome and traffic control at games. Costs usually outpace revenues $1 million to $2 million a year, creating an operating subsidy on top of St. Petersburg's annual $6 million debt service on the Trop construction bonds.
On Monday, the City Council approved a $114,665 boost to the operating subsidy for fiscal year 2011, to account for the ticket sales drop.
Compared with other year-end budget adjustments, the Trop change was relatively minor. Use of the Coliseum and of Sunken Gardens, for example, was less than expected this year, causing their combined subsidies to rise by about the same amount as the Trop's. The Mahaffey Theater's operating subsidy rose by about $240,000 to cover transition costs to new management.
Attendance at Rays games has been the subject of much discussion as principal owner Stuart Sternberg angles for a new stadium. In 2010, the Rays drew 1,828,066 fans during the regular season and went to the playoffs, 22nd out of 30 teams.
In 2011, the team made the playoffs again, despite losing several productive and popular players to free agency. Attendance dropped to 1,529,188, second to last in the major leagues, behind the Oakland Athletics.
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