World Sports News:Listen to your realtor when it comes to Rays stadium: Location, location, location

Officially, the committee studying possible stadium locations in Tampa Bay has narrowed the field to five.

Realistically, I think you can assume the Rays would be interested in three.

You can eliminate downtown St. Petersburg. Opponents of the stadium project have effectively eliminated the waterfront (and I think the Rays are grateful because they seem to have deep misgivings about long-term viability in downtown St. Pete) and team ownership has pretty much nixed any kind of revamping of the current Tropicana Field area.

You can also probably eliminate the fairgrounds area in eastern Hillsborough. The problem with the fairgrounds is the same problem with downtown St. Petersburg - it is too remote for too much of the population. And forget about the argument that it would be easier for people from Lakeland and Orlando. If folks won’t drive from Tampa to St. Pete, which is considered the same market, what makes you think a large number of people will drive from Orlando to Tampa? Orlando is a bonus, not a main factor.

So that leaves the Carillon area in mid-Pinellas, the West Shore Blvd area in Hillsborough and downtown Tampa. Those three sites are the most centrally located, plus they have the demographics a Major League team would want.

While population is obviously a critical factor for a team owner, so is the type of population. You want the stadium surrounded by a younger, more affluent population. In other words, people who are more inclined to spend money and stay out late.

Football owners can count on fans driving long distances because it’s a once-a-week event, and it is usually on a Sunday. Baseball owners need people who can leave work at 6 p.m. and be in the stands by 7 p.m. And they need it several nights a week.

That’s what makes Carillon, West Shore and downtown Tampa more intriguing because the business communities are more attractive.

One of the reasons Tampa Bay has struggled with attendance is the lack of major corporations in the area. In other markets, corporations account for large chunks of the season ticket base, buying dozens of seats for employee perks or client inducements. The Rays have lagged far behind most other major league teams in that department.

Does this mean a new stadium is heading to one of those sites? Hardly.

There’s still the little problem of coming up with 0-million or so to pay for a stadium. And there’s the issue of breaking the lease at Tropicana Field, which is not going to be easy if Hillsborough is a proposed destination.

As we’ve said before, this is the earliest stages of what will be a long battle.

But you can pretty much count on those three locations as the battle site.