Monday night at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, members of the Associated Press Sports Editors and the public were given a rare treat: the three owners of the Tampa Bay sports teams, Jeffrey Vinik of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Bryan Glazer of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Stuart Sternberg of the Tampa Bay Rays took part in a panel discussion on “The Business of Sports”.

The moderators, Tampa Bay Times columnist Ernest Hooper and ESPN Deputy Editor Mary Byrne, asked about the status of each of their respective teams, with later questions coming from the audience. Hooper started out the questioning by asking what is the biggest problem facing their teams today.

“The biggest challenge is people sitting at home versus watching the in-game experience. It’s very comfortable to be at home on your couch with a high definition television, and the refrigerator and bathroom are a couple of feet away. We have to make it a great experience for the fans, and making sure they come back”, said Glazer.

Sternberg and Vinik also voiced their opinions with the first questioning, but as the questioning went on, the answers were relatively the same. For Jeffrey Vinik, he hasn’t faced many problems due to the success of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the past year and a half, but still needed to clarify what he needed to do as an owner.

“We need to adapt to the ever-changing sports environment. We need to try to bring a community together around an experience the fans won’t forget”, Vinik said.

So far in the 2015-16 NHL season, Vinik and his Lightning are exceeding expectations, getting great turnout for fans to come to games, as they find themselves gearing up for another run at the Stanley Cup come summer.

For Stuart Sternberg, the focus of all of the questions geared towards his way is the fate of Tropicana Field, notoriously one of the worst MLB ballparks in the United States. Many people assume if Sternberg can’t get the Rays to move to Tampa, then they will be on their way out.

“We are looking through the Tampa Bay region and we are clearly in need of a new facility. We do not take our current fan base for granted, but we need to go through a process where we need an ideal spot as a solution for a new stadium”, Sternberg said.

The owners also commented on a broad range of issues, from media and the press with sports, evaluating draft picks (Which Glazer wouldn’t directly answer about Jameis Winston nor Manchester United, which the Galzer family own), the MLB and Cuba, upgrade in Stadiums, and the prices of ticket sales.

The audience got a feel of what it would be like to be a Sports Owner for an hour and a half monday night, and it was a successful event for the three owners, and the Poynter Institute.