#HMBlog: New Era's Tampa Bay Rays edition of ‘Local Market’ hat omits Tropicana Field’s 727 area code
Photo from New Era
The Tampa Bay Rays are on fire. They’ve won 11 straight and just took possession of first place in the AL East. Yes, there is still a lot of baseball to play but there is a buzz in St. Petersburg about their hometown team. Someone better tell that to New Era, the hat company who is the exclusive hat provider of Major League Baseball since 1993.
Each year, New Era puts out a “Local Market” edition of each baseball cities hometown. This year, the Rays cap features the state of Florida and the number 1998 in reference to the team’s inaugural season as well as Florida staples including a flamingo, a palm tree, and an orange. Also, the area code “813” is featured on the front of the cap. 813 which is centered on Tampa and includes surrounding communities such as Brandon, Land O’ Lakes, Oldsmar, Riverview, Thonotosassa, Town ‘n’ Country, Valrico and Zephyrhills.
The Rays play in St. Petersburg however, the 727 area code, which is not featured on the hat. The Rays may not be in St. Pete for long, with talks in process to redevelop the Trop site after the City of St. Pete and the Rays lease contract ends in 2027. However, for now, they reside in St. Pete, the 727! If nothing else, in the age of disinformation spreading across the internet, we need accuracy now more than ever. New Era needs to either fix this mistake or St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman needs to draft a militia to take over Tampa and surrounding area’s to win the battle of disinformation- either is fine with me.