Wherever the Tampa Bay Rays’ future is, it might not be within the metropolis they’ve known as dwelling for 27 years.
In his State of the Metropolis deal with on Tuesday, St. Petersburg, Fla. mayor Ken Welch stated town is poised to maneuver on from the Rays in the event that they reject a brand new stadium deal.
In keeping with Entrance Workplace Sports activities’ Eric Fisher, town and Pinellas County authorised bonding to cowl $600M of the stadium’s projected value ($1.3B) in July 2024. Nonetheless, the workforce says legislative delays have launched further prices it will possibly’t afford.
“We won’t pursue the deal at any value,” Welch stated, per Fisher. “The greatness and way forward for St. Pete doesn’t rely solely on this deal, and I’m assured that we have now given this endeavor our greatest effort. It is an effort and course of we are able to all be happy with.”
The Rays have till March 31 to show they will meet particular benchmarks to safe the general public cash, however Tampa Bay proprietor Stu Sternberg appears uncertain that they may.
“We’ll determine how we wish to proceed at that time, effectively earlier than that time,” Sternberg has stated, by way of Fisher.
The Rays’ settlement with town continues to be in place till 2028. On Wednesday, Colleen Wright reported that the deal would prolong via the 2029 season if Tropicana Discipline’s roof — broken throughout Hurricane Milton — is not repaired subsequent season. (The Rays will play dwelling video games at Steinbrenner Discipline in Tampa Bay in 2025.)
Nonetheless, the Rays’ future appears murky and not using a solidified plan for a brand new stadium.
An absence of a robust fan base in all probability 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 inquisitive about bringing within the Rays. If the stadium deal falls via, they could be taking part in in a type of areas quickly.
