Countdown to a new Rays stadium......

[Tobywan]

Some of the latest tidbits on the stadium issue.

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik bought up about 14 acres around the forum where the Lightning play in downtown Tampa. Many including Hillsborough County commissioner Ken Hagan would like him to hold off developing the area in hopes of providing it as a possible stadium site for the Rays.



Hagan would like Vinik to save a spot for Rays.


Despite playing much better and actually being in contention they aren't even drawing as much as the Marlins. In yet another article pointing at the Rays attendance woes, this article claims that two unnamed ST Pete officials have statedthat Bud Selig's "intervention" is telling the Rays not to pay ST Pete a dime to be let out of their user agreement. Mayor Foster has his nose out of joint because Selig has refused to deal with him directly, as far as I know and what I have seen from other issues involving teams and their home cities, that isn't how it's done anyway. It is suppose to be the team that sort of acts as a mediator between the city it plays for and MLB. In my own personal opinion though IF that is indeed the case that Selig thinks nothing is owed to ST Pete, I disagree. I think they are entitled to some compensation other then to redevelop the land where the Trop sits, so does the guy running against Foster for Mayor in the upcoming election. So, here we are again in a holding pattern for the time being.



Supposedly Selig wants the Rays to stiff St Pete.

[Tobywan]

Rick Kriseman defeated Mayor Foster and will take over January 2nd. He has already stated he would like a "get to know each-other" face to face meeting with Sternberg.

In the meantime the Trop is getting a $750,000 renovation. The team will foot most of the bill with a small portion coming from already approved "maintenance" allowance the Rays got from the city last month. The improvements will mirror the spring training facility's 360 degree atmosphere(which is fabulous!!), with an open air field viewable space in the center of left field where the Batter's Eye restaurant used to be so the area between the Rays tank and the Captain Morgan party deck will be more easily accessible. About 3,000 seats are expected to be removed for this change. Not like we are selling them anyway.

Drawings of what the area should look like.

[Tobywan]

There will now be a new negotiator on the Rays side in the quest for a new stadium. Senior vice president Michael Kalt has taken a new role to lead a private investment office established by some of the Rays general partners in New York. There has been no official replacement named.

Tampa Mayor Buckhorn recently asked the Community Redevelopment Agency to go slow in making decisions on what to do with money that will be freed up once the convention center in the downtown area is paid off. Many have speculated including the Mayor himself that it could be used for a new stadium.

The owner of Ferg's located directly across from Tropicana Field has expressed fear of business loss if the Rays move, he announced last week that he will open another location across from the St Times Forum in downtown Tampa... the plot thickens.

[Tobywan]

During a MLB Diversity Business Summit yesterday Stu Sternberg announced that the Rays will be in "a full-out exploration" of all transportation and access issues in different regions of the Tampa-ST Pete area.

Really??? That's all ya got??

[Tobywan]

Window closing.



The developer that pitched a new stadium site 2 years ago is about to take it off the table in order to move forward on a different use for the area. The team has never even looked at the proposal....... no shit. I am not sure what part of "we want to be able to look at areas outside St Pete and Pinellas County" those trying to keep the Rays in ST Pete and Pinellas County, don't understand. Not even responding to a proposal should be clue enough that Sternberg doesn't want the team in St Pete and Pinellas County.

[Tobywan]

There have been quite few changes in downtown Tampa the past few months, the home of the TB Lightning got a new name, it went from the Tampa Bay Times Forum (formerly St Pete Times) to Amalie Arena named for a local oil company. Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik was successful to acquiring the Channelside Bay Plaza complex and in May he filed plans to build a 400-room hotel near the arena. He has plans to restructure and revitalize the downtown Tampa area. His possible billion dollar project got some major backing recently when an investment firm controlled by Bill Gates recently became a partner in the project.

There has been a lot of hope by those on the Tampa side wanting to lure the Rays that a new stadium could possibly be a part of this development of downtown in the future. There is a face to face meeting planned soon between Rays officials and new St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, preliminary talks have sparked speculation that an agreement is coming that will allow the Rays to look outside Pinellas County for sites. This was further fueled when Hillsborough County commissioners appointed the Tampa Sports Authority just last week to be the negotiators in a plan of action if/when the Rays get official permission.

[Tobywan]

Word is there an agreement is imminent, possible financial compensation up front then a settlement IF a site is chosen outside of Pinellas County. Stay tuned.

[Tobywan]

Well, in mid-December the St Petersburg City Council voted 5-3 to reject Mayor Kriseman's proposal allowing the Rays to look at stadium sites outside of St Pete. The no votes came from those opposed to the compensation the Rays would pay, citing it was too low. Kriseman has been racking his brain trying to come up with something that is beneficial for both sides he has been in talks with the Rays for 3 months. He is set to send a revision of the plan to the City Council this week.

The new revision has the Rays (which they approved) giving up their right to half of any (re) development rights gained from the whole or partial sale of the stadium or surrounding land. At least one of the council members staunchly feels the Rays should pay compensation up front to get out of the User Agreement.
Reports say the new revision could be submitted as early as today but there has been no time line on when Kriseman will ask for another vote on the issue.


New MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was at the Rays spring training site recently addressing the issue as well. He urged the local governments to provide assistance in resolving the situation. He believes the lack of attendance on lack of a good product because the Rays have stayed competitive for several years. The location and attraction of the current stadium is likely the culprit keeping fans from the park.

[Tobywan]

So, again the proposal to allow the Rays to look outside St Pete appears dead again, at least for now. While the new proposal was discussed last Friday, it was left off the agenda for any detailed discussion or vote on the docket in the near future. I got to hand it Kriseman he has really bent over backwards to try to accommodate both sides, but the council that have been in place before he got there don't seem to want to budge just like former Mayor Foster.

[Tobywan]

The Rays representatives attended the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce lunch yesterday. Team president Brian Auld, manager Kevin Cash, backup catcher Bobby Wilson, outfielder Steven Souza Jr. and relief pitcher Kevin Jepsen were on hand to answer questions. Auld of course addressed the stadium issue. Negotiations appeared dead in December when city council nixed a proposal that would allow the Rays to look at sites outside St Pete with compensation to the city.

The City Council has scheduled a workshop to discuss the stadium situation for May 28.


The Monday night game against the Yankees drew 10,619, the team is currently 29th in attendance this season.

[Tobywan]

The St Petersburg City Council held a workshop to discuss the Rays stadium situation and potential redevelopment options for the Tropicana Field site if or when the team should move. The only change was that one staunch opponent to the Rays being allowed to look outside St Pete as a possible site is now in favor of allowing them. However, that leaves the council still split down the middle and a new vote was still a stalemate. Those opposed still feel that compensation payments by the Rays are far too little.

The current proposal by Mayor Kriseman has the Rays paying $4M for every season not played at the Trop through 2018, it drops to $3M through 2023 and then $2M until the contract expires in 2027. One councilman thinks the amount should be closer to $55 M for the Rays to be able to opt out of the lease, but he is basing that on compensations paid to cities where a team has left the entire region. This is on top of the city retaining all the money if the land on and around the Trop is sold.

The opposing council also questions whether the team is actually "struggling" financially, due to the value being placed on the team now as opposed to when it was purchased by the current ownership group. I don't know how little it says about people in charge of running a city that don't understand there is a difference between what someone could get in selling a team and what a team is able to create in revenue to sustain itself on an annual basis. The Trop lacks the amenities that attract corporate sponsorship dollars and attendance is once again at the bottom.

This was all happening on the same day that commissioner Rob Manfred was meeting with Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre in New York.

This basically going to come down to who blinks first. It is looking though like any change from the city council may not happen unless there is a change in the members with elections coming after this year.

[Tobywan]

The Rays rarely discuss business issues during the season, but the St. Pete Mayor, council and Pinellas County commissioners have been busy with stadium issues and another baseball proposal that includes the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays spring training. In May the council once again voted against a proposal to send to the Rays even though it was amended from one in December designed to curry favor from the staunch opposition of City Council member Jim Kennedy. The new one has a stipulation that the Rays keep the city informed regularly on all aspects of viable sites during their search.


There was a plan currently being developed for a ST venue for the Braves in an area nicknamed "Toytown" by the Pinellas County Commission board. The county has also been working with Dunedin on their desire to get the Blue Jays a new training facility.




Those plans got put on hold once the St Pete council and Pinellas County board traded barbs. St Pete thinks any proposals and tax money reserved for a sports facility to should go to the Rays.


The county board is angry that St Pete has stonewalled the Rays for so many years on looking anywhere outside of the city limits. MLB also chimed in stating that the regions first priority should be to TB Rays.


There was also a proposal by a local architect Sean Williams detailing a plan for a new stadium on the current site and surrounding development. Mayor Kriseman and other city officials thought the plan was interesting and worthy of future consideration. However, Major League Baseball has an exclusive stadium design contract with the Populous company.

[Tobywan]

City Council member Jim Kennedy proposed a deal last week, it asked for a $5 million Tropicana Field redevelopment fee ($2.5 if they stay in Pinellas) and $4 million for each unfulfilled year of the contract ($2 million in Pinellas) and no charge from the Rays if they stay in St. Pete.The deal would add about $33M to the cost of any new stadium built outside St. Petersburg in 2020. It included a clause that provided grounds for the city to sue the Rays if the city disagrees with how the team evaluates competing sites. This proposition was probably more egregious to the Rays than the higher price tag.

It passed the council 5-3 in favor, a meeting with the team was scheduled for Oct. 29th.


Sooooo, when the two sides met on Thursday for about an hour, it came as no big surprise that the deal was rejected by the Rays.


Team officials released a simple statement: “Although we appreciate the time and attention that Mayor Kriseman and the City Council have dedicated to this issue, we do not agree to this proposal,” Rays President Brian Auld said in a statement released by the team. “We remain open to pursuing a cooperative path forward.”


It didn't come as much surprise to the Mayor either, but he also seems committed to working on a resolution.

[Tobywan]

I don't know about rejoicing but this could be positive for the Rays. I mentioned earlier that the St. Pete council could shift in November. The election was held today and a candidate that has been supportive of a resolution with the team was voted in beating an incumbent that has been a staunch opponent on cutting the team any slack.

[Tobywan]

St Pete Mayor Kriseman, Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin and Kevin King (Kriseman's chief of staff) met with TB Rays president Brian Auld and Rays execs Melanie Lenz and Rafaela A. Amador at an informal meeting just to reiterate both sides willingness to keep working on a deal over the stadium issue. A new proposal will likely not be presented until the newly elected council member Lisa Wheeler-Brown officially takes her seat in January.