St. Petersburg asked all Rays fans in the city to come out and support the team Friday night.

  • Fans asked to support the Rays Friday night
  • Part of the Baseball Forever Campaign
  • 15,109 people attended, short of the 40,473 seating capacity

It was part of the city's "Baseball Forever Campaign," an effort to keep the team in the city.

Earlier this summer, the city council gave the go-ahead for the Tampa Bay Rays to look at other options in Hillsborough County and other parts of Pinellas County for a new ballpark site.

“We want to start creating some momentum,” said Chris Steinocher, St. Pete Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.  "It's time to put the rally caps on in Tampa Bay and get everybody out and realize there's an economic impact of baseball."

The campaign sold an additional 2,000 tickets to Friday’s game against the Texas Rangers.  Although the turnout for the game was 15,109, short of the 40,473 seating capacity at Tropicana Field, Baseball Forever campaign manager Rick Mussett said it's encouraging.

"I think it's a strong statement to say in a matter of a few weeks, we were able to sell over 2,000 tickets to the St. Petersburg community and to demonstrate why they were excited about this game, but more importantly, keeping the Rays in Saint Pete long-term," Mussett said.