Wherever the Tampa Bay Rays’ future is, it is probably not within the metropolis they’ve referred to as dwelling for 27 years.
In his State of the City address on Tuesday, St. Petersburg, Fla. mayor Ken Welch mentioned town is poised to maneuver on from the Rays in the event that they reject a brand new stadium deal.
In response to Entrance Workplace Sports activities’ Eric Fisher, town and Pinellas County accredited bonding to cowl $600M of the stadium’s projected value ($1.3B) in July 2024. Nevertheless, the crew says legislative delays have launched extra prices it may possibly’t afford.
“We is not going to pursue the deal at any value,” Welch mentioned, per Fisher. “The greatness and way forward for St. Pete doesn’t rely solely on this deal, and I’m assured that now we have given this endeavor our greatest effort. It is an effort and course of we will all be pleased with.”
The Rays have till March 31 to show they’ll meet particular benchmarks to safe the general public cash, however Tampa Bay proprietor Stu Sternberg appears not sure that they may.
“We’ll determine how we need to proceed at that time, nicely earlier than that time,” Sternberg has mentioned, through Fisher.
The Rays’ settlement with town continues to be in place till 2028. On Wednesday, Colleen Wright reported that the deal would lengthen by way of the 2029 season if Tropicana Area’s roof — broken throughout Hurricane Milton — is not repaired subsequent season. (The Rays will play dwelling video games at Steinbrenner Area in Tampa Bay in 2025.)
Nevertheless, the Rays’ future appears murky and not using a solidified plan for a brand new stadium.
An absence of a robust fan base most likely would not assist issues. Per ESPN, the Rays had the third-lowest dwelling attendance (16,515) in baseball in 2024.
Nashville, Salt Lake Metropolis, Orlando or North Carolina could also be curious about bringing within the Rays. If the stadium deal falls by way of, they might be enjoying in a kind of areas quickly.
