The Rays are poised to make an announcement tomorrow regarding a deal to construct a new stadium in St. Petersburg, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
Not all of the details have been revealed, but Topkin relays that the new stadium will be built near Tropicana Field as part of a redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District site. It is expected to have a fixed dome roof, seat around 30,000 people and open for the 2028 season, just after the club’s lease at the Trop expires after 2027. It is believed to cost around $1.2 billion, with the exact breakdown unclear at this time. Owner Stuart Sternberg previously stated that he expected the club to pay “half or more,” with other contributions coming from St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and investors who would contribute in exchange for shares of the club.
The future home of the Rays has been an ongoing issue for years now, due to various concerns with Tropicana Field. The club has considered moving from St. Petersburg to Tampa and also toyed with a more creative plan that involved splitting the home games with Montreal, though the latter plan was eventually nixed by Major League Baseball.
The move to Tampa was seen as desirable since one of the issues with the Trop is the St. Petersburg location is less accessible. But attempts to secure financing for a stadium in Tampa never gained much traction, which is what led to the Montreal plan. Once that path was cut off and the financial situation in Tampa didn’t change, the club pivoted back to St. Petersburg.
In December of last year, the Rays issued a press release about their proposed stadium, which was said to feature “more than 5,700 multifamily units, 1.4 million square feet of office, 300,000 square feet of retail, 700 hotel rooms, 600 senior living residences, a 2,500 person entertainment venue, and various civic uses.” It went on to say that it would include “more than 850 affordable and workforce housing units on-site” as well as other features.
This plan received the approval of St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch in January, though with still many steps to come. The club had to finalize the financing with the city, the county and new investors. Though those details still aren’t publicly known, it seems they have been resolved enough that the club will be able to make an announcement of a deal tomorrow.
Staying in St. Petersburg won’t solve the location issues that the Trop had, but the new facility will hopefully be an upgrade in other ways. The Trop has been seen by many around the industry as outdated and unpleasant in terms of fan experience. There were also awkward on-field issues, with the various catwalks in the roof interfering with balls in play and leading to complex ground rules unique to that field.
It’s unclear what the future holds for the Trop, but its run as the home of the Rays will seemingly come to an end after 30 years, having been the club’s only ballpark since their first season in 1998. It was actually opened in 1990, with the area hoping to attract an expansion major league baseball franchise for 1993, but they lost out to Denver and Miami. Other sports franchises used the facility at times, including the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League and the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League, before the area was finally awarded an expansion MLB franchise.
Fans of the Rays can now look forward to a new era of the club’s history, hopeful that the new facility will be a significant upgrade over the Trop, though the location concerns will persist. This news will also be significant beyond just its impact on that club, as the potential for future expansion now seems more viable than ever before.
There hasn’t been a new expansion franchise in Major League Baseball since the Rays and Diamondbacks joined the league in 1998. The issue has come up in recent years, with various groups hoping to get new clubs into places like Nashville, Portland or Salt Lake City. Despite that strong interest, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has repeatedly stated that the Athletics and Rays needed to resolve their respective stadium situations before expansion could be considered.
The A’s seem destined to relocate to Las Vegas, with owners set to vote on their proposed plan in November. Now that the Rays seem to have a new stadium plan in place, it seems the table is set for expansion discussions to pick up in earnest. A timeline for future expansion isn’t clear, but details should continue to emerge as time goes on. New franchises will lead to extra intrigue around the league, with fans able to look forward to an expansion draft. For the owners, it will also be desirable from a financial point of view as the new clubs would have to pay to join the league, with that money dispersed among the existing teams. The Rays and Diamondbacks each paid $130MM back in 1998 but it has been suggested that the next expansion club might have to pay something closer to $2 billion, given the rise of franchise valuation in the interim.
Cool!!
Ariana – Not really, should have been retractable roof like Miami.
Oh well, better than moving.
Rays already outdraw Miami and their retractable roof
Rings – The goal is near capacity crowds, not just beating the Marlins attendance.
That is like saying the A’s will win more games than the Royals. Both stink.
1.2 Billion for a fixed roof? They have a fixed roof now. What a waste. Just bite the bullet for a retractable roof for gawds sake. Their already effing it up.
Near capacity crowds will do very little for them with only 30,000 seats available. Looking like a decent crowd on TV won’t help their actual attendance revenue that will be guaranteed to be lousy.
30k is plenty not being in Tampa. Likely struggle to fill that on weekends. Weekdays forget about it. If baseball becomes a hit then supply and demand you raise prices. Fixed roof sounds good. Baseball season is heat and rain season. If I had to pay for half in a bad location I would go cheap as possible.
Raising prices enough to make up for that tiny capacity would just drive away many of the fans you just got back. This isn’t Fenway where the fans will show up no matter how expensive tickets get.
A retractable roof is worth it just to get rid of the artificial turf.
So they’ll finally get out of that dump they play in now, that’s great for those that actually care.
I care Capt.
@leftykoufax- And you should care. Congratulations! I feel about 10 years too late, but it’s something well deserved.
Thank you Capt.
Yeah, a roof that is barely open.
No, moving out of Florida would’ve been the BEST thing they could’ve done!
Why dont you move out of florida, that would really be the best thing.
Most likely only lived here 15 minutes anyway
15 minutes too long.
Thankful its not a retractable roof. Outside of a power outage game delays never happen at the Trop due to weather.
Jay – Umm…pretty sure they would close the retractable roof if bad weather was on the way. That’s kinda the main reason why it’s retractable.
Plus, it’s worth it just to play with real grass for a change.
Marlins open their roof 14% of games. Rays saved 150m by not building a retractable roof. If there’s one thing about the trop fans loved, it was the air conditioning and not being poured on.
Cool, indeed. I do wish they figured out how to move them to Tampa, but am glad they are ultimately staying in the Tampa Bay area. A few more months of negotiations and I think Stu would’ve sold the team to someone that would’ve relocated. Also, St. Pete is actually a cool town to kill time in when you don’t have to worry about getting home for work. Great restaurants, museums, and beaches.
ArianaGrandSlam — Is it? I don’t know the area in question, but wasn’t one of the major reasons for Rays’ poor attendance it’s location? I understand they tried to find a stadium site in Tampa and were discouraged. But isn’t this new deal just bandaging over the old problem? Are the Rays going to draw many new people just because of the stadium? How long will it take for that to wear off?
are they planning to build a new highway to the stadium too
They are building alot of new roads
Judging by the Marlins’ new ballpark, just one year. Face it, MLB just doesn’t work well in Florida aside from Spring Training.
It’s not just MLB actually, several sports have struggled in Florida markets.
The Trop has nothing around it to draw in crowds so having the new stadium built within a housing, retail & entertainment district should draw more people on game days.
Location, location, location….
I love the Trop and its grinder style. I only approve the new stadium if they relocate Ferg’s and give us a quality space to discuss Wade Boggs getting 3,000 not on the BoSox or Yankees, but in Devil Ray blue.
Now that Tampa and Oakland are settled, it’s time for expansion.
Good idea, let’s further weaken the quality of players and play. Then we can have more than half the teams be in the playoffs and make the 162-game schedule even more meaningless.
@astros_fan_84
In no way shape or form is Oakland settled. Firstly John Fisher doesn’t seem to have the finance and secondly I don’t see the rest of MLB ownership being willing to provide funding to the Las Vegas A’s (in terms of shared revenue) ad infinitum.
Would you? As an Astro’s fan – be happy to help underwrite and pay for another franchise? I certainly wouldn’t and why should you pay (as part of your (season) tickets)) for somebody else?
It is wrong. Utterly utterly wrong. Even as an A’s fan I find it embarrassing that we send round the begging bowl.
We’ll learn in November just how willing the other 29 owners are to underwrite the A’s. And genuinely I hope they realize that Vegas will mean EVEN more of the same in a smaller market.
Take care,
Peter in London
What about Moving the White Soxs out of Chicago for once?
Is half the stadium going to be in Montreal?
If it’s essentially the same thing as what you already have, in the same location, why not just try refurbishing?
I just have a bad feeling this might get 10 years before calls to build something new, again, come out.
Refurbish? Have you been there? The problem is more the location than the ugly stadium, and that’s saying a lot….and the location won’t change.
IMO, you are correct that the location is the problem. And the problem with the location, is that it’s located in Florida.
But the new stadium is going to be built near Tropicana Field, so that won’t really solve the location problem.
Since getting to the park is one of the bigger problems, why not just dig up the roadways and have the streets go directly to the stadium? Surely these billionaire owners have the influence to get something like that done.
It isn’t a matter of just digging up roadways. To get to the stadium from Tampa you have to go over water (bridge). They need to find a creative solution to overcome this bottleneck.
Why not compromise and have it built in a less busy area that is more centrally located? What’s the area around Plant City – or thereabouts, like? If that’s a good idea, I’ll move down there and run for governor.
On behalf of Florida, I deeply apologize for wanting a winning team to stay in a terrible location in a rapidly growing media market.
And I apologize that too many of your richest winter residents aren’t actually there to watch that rapidly growing media market during the summer.
@Avenger, Dan Gilbert had actually did something similar when he owned one of the casinos in Detroit. He foot the bill to have an exit ramp built off of I-75 to provide easier access to Greektown, which is main entertainment area of downtown Detroit and where casino located. Although it benefited him financially, logistically it was long overdue.
I’m all for allowing these billionaires to foot the bill for infrastructure upgrades, as long as they are mutually beneficial and it benefits the area as a whole not just their business interests.
It’s a 5 minute bottleneck at rush hour on game day. I’ve been there a couple times now and the commute is not bad, AT ALL. It’s become a fans excuse for why their city doesn’t support their team. The distance from downtown Tampa is about the same as the distance from downtown Dallas to globe life, and the traffic is no worse at all.
Want to see an actually congested rush hour bridge try driving the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in Virginia, and they don’t even have a sports team.
People don’t live in downtown Tampa and its an hour at a minimum from there. You have to cross bridges and a tiny wreck on any of them means backed up traffic. Have never been to a weekday game when it took less than an hour and many it took an hour and a half or more.
Then there is little to do around the ballpark.
No way people from Orlando and Pinellas make the drive to Plant to go to games regularly? If they were to centrally locate, it would have to be between Tampa and St. Pete. The only place that may have made sense and had the space would have been the gateway area. That’s maybe only 15m difference for Tampa fans so the same excuses would probably be used.
You mean like Ybor City?
You are right in moving further east maybe not as far as Plant city. The fairground area would have been better.
Stu wants an urban spot though. The building up of the St pete site appears to appease him. That and the City/county kicking in half.
haha so true. That’s why Tampa was the better choice. The coast ( st pete) is all snow birds.
Only way to refurbish the Trop is with dynamite
Yes, you start each inning with a runner in Montreal.
Wow, so runners will not only have to beat the throw home, but also get past border patrol?
Got to draw in the younger viewers.
unpaid: Screw the younger viewers. If they don’t like bb, then they can continue sticking their gaming devices. I don’t understand why we have to have our game changed just to attract younger people who only care about BB if it’s on their PlayStations. If they want to become bb fans, fine. If not, who cares? The game will go on without them and even that idiot manfred.
@Monkey, if the runner claims asylum, the 3b ump will buy the runner a bus ticket. The runner can drive home plate, and be dropped of at the dugout.
LOL! We have a border patrol?
Another f’ing dome…please MLB move this god awful franchise!
avenger, that’s a nice theory, but I suppose baseball might struggle to survive long-term if it doesn’t appeal to the kids. Besides, baseball is always changing. It changed when you were young too.
Old man yells at cloud.
deepseamonster: It hadn’t really changed until Manfred decided to make our national past time his own little toy. The only changes I can think of is the DH, which should go away; Lowering the height of the mound so that no pitcher will ever win 30 games again after Denny McClain did it in 1968(?); The Ohtani rule that lets him stay in a game as a DH after being taken out of a game as a pitcher; and the debate over how many balls and strikes were allowed each batter which was settled sometimes in the early 1900s.
@JoeBrady, yeah, you probably missed the Border Patrol as they are busy making border arrests, two to five times what happened under the previous administration (depending on year) as opposed to having photo ops. statista.com/statistics/329256/alien-apprehensions…
Baseball is trying it’s best to not die when the boomers die.
That’s all.
Baseball would survive just fine being 1% as popular as it currently is… it just wouldn’t fund $1.2 billion non-upgrade stadiums or $2 billion expansion fees or $5 billion franchise valuations. And I think I could live with that. Admittedly a lot more of the athletic talent would go to other sports but I can live with that too, the games would still be fun to watch.
sea monster – The changes that Manfred has imposed have changed the game fundamentally: pitch/batter clock, ghost runner, bigger bases, etc. Everything has been done to shorten the game for the sole purpose of attracting younger fans who will never suddenly become a loyal fanbase just because the game is 20 minutes shorter. At the same time he has alienated his diehard fanbase because all of the subtle nuances of the game are gone.
Baseball needs one more change: Automated Balls-Strikes. Let’s get those calls consistent!!!!! Human’s obviously aren’t capable of doing that.
dogbone – Nope. We already have replay. Expand it to balls and strikes. We can’t take all human factors out of the game. I don’t think batters should be tossed for questioning a strike call either. Keep the humans but hold them accountable with technology like we do with replay now in other areas.
Nope!!! It would take forever to complete a game. Umpires miss on average, 3 or 4 pitch calls per HALF inning. Get them right.
Nah. You limit those challenges just like everything else and impose a penalty if you lose. Managers would be careful to only challenge the calls that could change the course of a game like a 2 out rally. Tennis has done it very efficiently with line calls. It works.
All calls in tennis are made by an automated system and players can only appeal a certain number of those.
BBlife – They are heading towards automated but two of the grand slams and many other tournaments have line judges with the players’ ability to challenge line calls. That’s what I believe should happen in baseball with balls a strikes. Baseball traditionally has a human element all throughout history. Tennis does not share that same nostalgia.
All WTA tournaments are automated. As are the US Open and Australian Open. Players can challenge only a certain number of calls per set.
The ATP is automated in all but 6 tournaments in ATP 500 and ATP 1000 and has announced all will be by 2025.
Only Wimbledon and the French Open have not gone automated of the majors.
That’s pretty much what I said with less specificity. My point is not to debate tennis, but to opine that balls and strikes can use a similar format that tennis has used for years with great success and efficiency.
Same fundamental problems but a new shiny stadium!
…and a brand new problem of a tiny seating capacity. They’ll probably keep the artificial turf, as well.
Thrilled for Rays fans!
I’m waiting for the usual….Rays fans? You mean both of them? Shouldn’t be too long.
Such a simple fix to put in Tampa, but they decide to essentially put it on an island in St Petersburg. Yes, the stadium sucks currently, but traveling to do the stadium unless you live in St Petersburg sucks more
There really is no perfect solution considering fans reside in both sides of the bay. Be grateful the team is even staying in Florida
The large majority of fans reside outside St Pete because barely anyone actually lives in St Pete at all. I live in Florida and would gladly go to games if they had a better location.
Laughable, over 250K live in St Pete and 1 million in Pinellas County. Hillsborough has no $ to build a stadium.
They had a student discount for University of South Florida students. It was like $10/ticket to sit near either bullpen on the first deck
“Why won’t students come watch us play? We’re good!” Because with traffic, it’s an hour and a half drive one way across the bay….
Unfortunately, Pinellas County is more amenable to stadium building than Hillsborough…..
You are correct. This doesn’t solve the main issue, the one way in from Tampa Bays population base. Theyre taking the funds and ignoring common sense.
the population of Pinellas County (956,615) is more than double the population of Tampa (387,050) and is also closer to Sarasota & Ft. Myers
The population of Hillsborough County (Tampa) is over 1,500,000 is almost 6 times larger than the population of St Petersburg is 260,000. The Lightning draw more than the Rays. Also, it’s closer to Orlando
City population is irrelevant. Metro population is what matters and Tampa is 3.175MM.
Did you just compare an entire county to one city???
Hey slash, that number includes PINELLAS county. Also need to include Manatee and Sarasota Counties…those folks are much closer to a St Pete based stadium. Anyway, its all irrelevant now…
The population in the Tampa metro area is 3.22 million. The population in Pinellas County is 950k. That means 2/3 of the possible fans come from outside that county.
Hillsborough county where Tampa is located has a population of 1.5 million. More than 50% larger than Pinellas County.
To get to the area where the Trop is located is hard from anywhere in the region except if you live within 5 miles of there. It takes crossing bridges that at rush hour are a mess. Only on weekends is traveling to the park reasonable and even then a single wreck can make it interminable.
The main issue is that they’re still in the Snowbird State.
Just like a politician, to ignore common sense.
it’s not an island, it’s a peninsula
Not an island lol
Would be nice on the water. Maybe they can use that clear roof they demoed a few years ago. Opening it doesn’t make sense.
Nick Cannon: That would be great! People with boats could easily get to the stadium and also charge people who don’t have a boat to take them to the games. It’s the American way!
May be on the water or even in the water by the time the lease is up.
Tampa hasn’t shown any serious interest.
Interest? Absolutely. Actual money? There’s the problem.
I said “essentially” an island bc I was trying to make the point that there’s no easy way to get to it.
At 1.2 billion, not many would be interested.
No, the simple fix would be to move them somewhere like Nashville or Charlotte.
Why dont yOu shut the the hell up, you make non stop negitive comments, whats wrong did the rays sleep with your wife? Why not im sure everyone else has
A little salty.
And if there is a good give-away. At Nats Park, they go crazy for bobble-heads.
Every stadium has traffic and parking issues. It’s a big city, what do you expect?
pretty cool
Wasnt this one of the hurdles manfred said needed clearing before hed start considering expansion teams? The other being the Athletics new stadium or relocation?
Comgrats! You can read!
Congrats. You can’t spell.
And still they won’t expand. Anyone who pays an expansion fee under this current system is an idiot anyway.
Idiot move. Despite being one of the better teams in the MLB , the Rays consistently rank in the bottom 5 in attendance. You think they’d at least build it in Tampa this time. I don’t know what ownership is thinking here.
As Billy the Kid supposedly said about robbing banks, that’s where the money is, that’s why St Pete is getting it built at the same basic poor location. Tampa never came up with the money.
Attendance is vastly overrated and will become less important as time goes by. New stadiums are going to be smaller and smaller.
abc: In terms of money, that’s true. A team could play in front of an empty stadium (which they did in 2020) and the owners would still make money. Commercials, radio and tv rights, corporate boxes, that’s where the real money comes from.
The difference in attendance between StL and TB, for example, is about 22,419. Over 81 games, and let’s say $75 a pop all-in, that is an additional $136M a year.
Joe Brady: PO jet change for these wealthy owners.
No, the owners LOST a lot of money in 2020! That’s why almost every team was forced to cut payroll for the next year or two to make up for those losses and why the 2020-21 free agent class was vastly underpaid compared to previous years.
Attendance revenue may not be quite as important as media revenue, but it still makes up a large chunk of a team’s overall revenue.
Besides, what would be the benefit of smaller stadiums becoming a trend when most teams can actually draw much more than 30,000 for many games each season? If they will come, you might as well build those extra seats.
All stadium related revenue accounts for 30-35% of total revenue. But continue to drink that koolaid.
Tampa has never shown more than casual interest.
Ownership is thinking about the $600M it looks like Pinellas County may pony up as well as the Rays’ share of $$$ from the redevelopment of the 86 acre Tropicana field site. Short term and mid term $$$ over the long game.. Easily available money and political will just was not there in Tampa.
The ownership has been bad mouthing the population in Hillsborough and the surrounding area for years. Then on the other hand has cried “why won’t you vote a big tax hike to fund a billionaire a new stadium!” No wonder voters in Hillsborough said screw you.
So how is this going to be any better than what they already have? Still in the same location and still a fixed roof dome… and still crowds of only 10,000.
knocking down the old stadium and playing on a little league field would be an upgrade
Uh…the team isn’t going to move. That’s better, eh? Teams just have to accept that new stadiums or major renovations renew your existence 25-30 years.
If you think of MLB teams as less like efficient businesses and more like fun art projects for the ultra rich it all makes more sense. So long as the team value continues to increase, owners don’t care all that much about seats being filled. It’s nice, but not the main thing.
No, it would be much better if they did move to a new market that would actually support them properly.
The associated 86 acre redevelopment project of the Tropicana Field site should help a little although parking is going to be much worse.. Also not balls off the catwalks. Definitely not an ideal situation.
St Petersburg must be giving the Rays a hell of deal. Don’t underestimate why they would not move 45 minutes north.
they’re paying half and have the real estate available for the new park
Taxpayers are getting hosed
Is DeSantis hiding under a table on this issue, LOL!!!!!
Dogbone: On A LOT of issues!!
He’s busy embarrassing himself on the campaign trail.
Not nearly as much as Uncle Joe every day.
LOOKOUT go4two: Here comes another one of those increasing # of hurricanes – which you believe have nothing to do with fossil fuels, nor human activity. LOL, how’s your home insurance rates heading?
My insurance went from $6k when we bought 4 years ago in Jupiter to over $60k this coming year. Thinking of moving back to Connecticut.
They don’t. Next subject?
BaseballisLife: It might be a good idea since that’s where the next expansion team might be. Better than Salt Lake City.
You must be a very wealthy person to say that.
Taxpayers arnt paying, to bad you are to stupid to read where the money is comming from
It’s never good to insult others when your spelling is so bad.
Mrbeeninthesunsolongyourbrainisfried
Of course taxpayers are paying. Government gets its money from taxpayers. 100%.
The city is taking out bond issues.
The county is issuing a TOT tax increase.
Both paid by taxpayers.
35 minutes from downtown Tampa to St Pete. And yes, the Rays are getting a good deal. The team will get 1/2 of the development pr0fits for the entire development. Easily a billion dollars
1 plus hours on a weekday to the Trop from Tampa. Every weekday. Longer if there is a wreck.
Maybe on a Sunday its 35 minutes. But only maybe.
It’s a long commute from the suburbs to the Mariners stadium. The traffic around Seattle is worse than St. Pete/Tampa. People go by light rail, train, ferry and drive over floating bridges. My point is if people want to see a game they will no matter how long the commute.
None of those are an option in St Pete. You drive or you walk.
Its 20 minutes from Bellevue to Tmobile. 30-40 minutes at rush hour. About half of Tampa to the Trop.
Still takes over an hour! Since you apparently live in Tampa area when was the last time you were up here?
August. Stayed in Bellevue. Its why I used that example.
We bought a little place near our youngest daughter on W Morrison and Oregon a couple blocks off Bayshore earlier this year. Before that we stayed with friends in Clearwater. Same time to get to games on a weekday. Over an hour.
Doubling down on the failed location? Sternberg is not a financial idiot. All we’ve heard from the beginning is the location is killing the Rays attendance. So now the two sides will spend $1.2B to stay in the same location?
Should be a curious press event.
The Rays have a major vested interest in the land $$$
Good for Rays fans. The Trop is a dump.
I have a question for Rays fans and I’m being serious and not trying to be an ass. I’ve never been there so I don’t know. There is always the complaint/low attendance excuse about the location of the stadium. Yet when the Yankees or Sox come to town there is a decent attendance bump that says the location can’t be that bad. What gives?
@Joe says… Snowbirds and fans who have moved to FL in prior generations.
Brian, I understand why there is a lot of Yankees and Sox fans in the area. My question centers around if they can get to the stadium, why can’t Rays fans?
Because the out of town teams only play there a handful of times a year so their fans show up. Speaking from a personal perspective, I hate going to Yankee or Red Sox games because it’s like a 50/50 fan split and that sucks at your home park.
Rusty thank you for your reply. That makes a lot of sense.
The local saying is something like: your grandparents live in Tampa, and their grandparents live in St. Pete.
The older snow bird fans (grew up with Yankees and Sox) reside closer to the stadium, and have less travel time.
The roads in the Greater Tampa Bay region are so stupid that I spent time 10 miles east of the gulf coast and it took 60 minutes to get to a beach… and we had to take off by 5pm to get to the Trop for a 7pm game due to bridge traffic.
Can’t work a 9-5 in north Tampa and make it in time for the start of the game, and going to the game is a 6 hour commitment with travel+game time.
Stop it. The demographics of Hillsborough and Pinellas are virtually identical now. And 60 minutes to travel 10 miles to the beach?? Stop it.
2 hours to get to the Trop? That’s ridiculous unless you live in Orlando. I’m a Bolts season ticket holder. My drive from St Pete to Tampa is 35 minutes.You gotta lose the stereotypes and drop the provincial Tampa attitude
Rantucky
1 second ago
The answer Joe is that the Rays hardly have any fans. The franchise would have been great if the owners would have let the Giants move there in 1992. The history of the Giants and the many New York transplants would have made for a successful franchise but nobody gives a crap about the Rays or Devil Rays. Giants owner in 1992 was Bob Laurie and the move failed by one vote. cbssports.com/mlb/news/photos-remember-when-the-gi…
Because they’re not actually residents, or if so, they’re taking advantage of the chance to see their beloved Yankees and Red Sox.
*Lurie.
What a whirlwind of emotions the fall of 1992 was. From the Giants being one foot in St. Pete’s to the owners voting down the move to Peter Magowan’s group buying the team to the free agent signing of Barry Bonds, it was a wild ride.
Good answer. I don’t live there, but have vacationed in the area for over forty years. I have been to a number of games over the years and Tropicana is a terrible place for baseball. In addition, parking is not easy. I am not sure a new stadium will fix their attendance problems but it should help some.
The snowbirds live hundreds of miles away during most of baseball season, so your point is mostly moot.
I’m assuming 60 minutes to get 10 miles to a beach is accurate… in February. Down here in Fort Myers we get bumper to bumper five lanes in the same direction in February. July there seems to be less cars than lanes.
The most important demographic is population growth. Pinellas County is contracting. Hillsborough County is growing.
You could live in the house we bought in Hyde Park and still not get to a weekday game at the Trop in 35 minutes and most people in Tampa are not as close to the stadium.
Snow Birds in July?
It isn’t the heat, it’s the humility.
because a lot of the population of that area moved from New York / New England or are on vacation from New York / New England
Not a Rays fan, but I did take a vacation to Sarasota once. I met more people originally from Boston and New York than from Florida.
As an aside, was just the worst vacation I have ever had. I will never set foot in Florida again.
Awesome! Tell ALL of your friends, thanks.
Thank you! No-one more obnoxious than Northeasterners. Please tell your friends.
That’s why you go to the theme parks (and maybe a Spring Training game) when you vacation in Florida.
The Tampa area is *FULL* of transplants from Baltimore, NYC, Boston, even Detroit and Chicago. They come out and cheer on their childhood teams.
Day of the week. Specifically weekends.
This is a myth. In 2023 the Rays hosting the Tigers produced the 3rd highest attendance of the year.
mlbrun.com/rays-attendance-by-game
The factors that actually drive attendance is marquee times: weekends and nights. Yankees just get that marquee slot more often than other teams do because the broadcasters influence the scheduling. So it’s not that the games get more views because of the Yankees, it’s that they put the Yankees into the games where they expect to get more views.
Tigers were the opening series of the season and on the weekend. 1st 3 games. Which is the highest drawing series for nearly all teams.
The factors that drive attendance are days of the week and yes, they normally schedule the two biggest draws on weekends. But not always. My wife and I were at the Red Sox games there earlier this month on M, T, W and they drew around 9-10k per game on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday was the holiday.
I went to my first game at the Trop recently on a trip to Florida. That was the quietest stadium I’ve ever attended, It had the feel of a AAA team. The dome is the worst feature. It had the feel of the old Seattle Kingdome. Personally I think the team and MLB would be better off moving the team to the Oakland/Bay Area than to stay in St. Petersburg. At least there you don’t have to dome the joint and you don’t have hurricanes incessantly. Even Sacramento CA would be a better location.
This still doesn’t solve the location problem. Strikes me as a foolish move. But better than playing in a mausoleum.
the location is only a problem for people in Tampa without a car
So you’re confirming the Rays don’t have fans in Tampa.
It takes an hour or more to drive to the Trop for 2/3 of the population of the region. They are guaranteeing that the attendance stays poor by building in that location.
As long as it’s a grass field not astro turf, it’ll be a massive step forward.
Oh, and enough lighting that hitters will see the darn ball (or will the Rays keep their home field advantage and make the new place dim-ly lit too)
@O’sSayCanYouSee
It’s a expected to be a fixed dome so no grass.
— Old York
There are ways to allow sunlight in w/o needing a retractable roof. Most green houses don’t have retractable roofs, so, depending on the design, it’s not a for gone conclusion that it’s turf. Maybe that’s more hope than science at this point, but with the costs of players, and MLB asking teams to leave turf behind….I thought there was a chance. We shall see ..
@O’sSayCanYouSee
I doubt it given it’s a fixed dome not an opening dome. Would be tough to grow grass. Milwaukee is the only dome that grows grass but they can open the lid.
Agreed. We have travelled to the Moon and Mars. We should be able to figure out how to grow grass indoors
@Old York: in some stadiums, they can roll the surface in or out. See Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It’s a domed stadium and they grow the grass next door and roll it in:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=XnKyplWI8tg
Then again, that stadium cost $1.9 billion pre-COVID, so expense is probably a limiting factor here.
Remind me, how did that manned mission to Mars turn out?
and get rid of the fish tank in CF so the place doesn’t smell like an aquarium
Dome equals astroturf.
Most artificial turf these days isn’t actual AstroTurf. For example, Tropicana Field currently uses Shaw Sports Turf.
So glad to hear for the fans. 30k tho? Rather low capacity
I thought the same thing. My initial reaction to 30k was it was a cost savings to build it a little smaller, but 1.2? ouch
I think the small size is because teams recognize that ticket sales have become less important than things like tv and MLB media deals.
The local TV deals is what makes or breaks a payroll in MLB in this fouled up system.
Lower capacity, or more appropriately, correct capacity, can be an advantage. RS fans buy tickets early because their is always a chance of getting shut out for you favorite games. If you spend more money to build a 50,000 seat park, and only expect to draw 30,000, you guarantee there will always be tickets available. So no one feels compelled to buy early.
Seems insane to me. St. Pete is a terrible location. They should have moved to Tampa or relocated somewhere else entirely.
Lipstick on a pig with the pig being the location. For 2/3 of the population of the region its 1 hour plus to drive to that location regardless of how awful or nice the stadium is. They won’t do it now unless the Yankees are in town and they won’t do it to a new stadium.
Baloney. 35 minutes from downtown Tampa to downtown St Pete, so long as you avoid the nasty Tampa traffic
BS. I attend 15 games a year there and its not 35 minutes on a weekday. Its over an hour. At 5pm today go punch it into Google Maps.
I don’t get it. If you really want to see a game plan accordingly. I go to at least six Mariner games a year and the commute to the game is over an hour. I know that and put up with it because I like baseball.
What you are not saying is you live Everett or in Bremerton and have to take the ferry.
The other thing you are not getting is its a great area around Tmobile and Lumen Field. Its not in St Pete. It’s getting better but its still bad.
Most fans are not going to put up with an hour plus commute to an area where all you can do is sit in your car until the ballpark opens and then go into a terrible stadium. Especially not the casual fans that make up 2/3 of attendance in most areas.
“There were also awkward on-field issues, with the various catwalks in the roof interfering with balls in play and leading to complex ground rules unique to that field.”
Meanwhile many absolutely love the Green Monster, Triples Alley, the ivy, and any number of field-specific quirks.
So, you guys are happy that St. Petersburg and surrounding communities paid up their share for the stadium yet blame John Fisher for the A’s situation?
The bad faith arguments on MLBTR regarding stadiums and stadium funding is getting old. Pro sports is a dirty extortion game and as sports fans, we know that. So make up your minds about how you want to deal with it. Just because a team isn’t moving doesn’t mean it’s all ponies and roses.
Majority of the comments section seem to note that this doesn’t solve the problem. Difference between Fisher and Rays ownership is Fisher is a talentless scumbag that seems to be purely about the extortion. The Rays are world-class in just about every way except the stadium, and are able to sustain long term winning within their means.
I blame both franchises for coming up with absolutely terrible stadium deals. The only upside in either case is that the new parks will at least be in much better shape than the Colosseum or the Trop.
This is great news. Now people just need to show up. I hope it includes a shopping restaurant district on the outside to help draw people to the site.
Yay! Another empty stadium the Rays can begin crying about 2yrs into their deal.
“Oh, we just can’t compete with this stadium so we’ll just have to continue collecting revenue sharing and keeping our payroll low… oh, woe are we…”
I’d like to see them build a stadium like the Polo Grounds.
I’m pretty sure the dimensions of the Polo Grounds are no longer legal.
Most of me doesn’t care, but the part that does is happy for all the fans that will go to games to cheer for the visiting team. Just kidding.
This is the one team I truly feel sad watching on TV. Such a good run of excellence for so long on such a shoestring budget. The team deserves better, as well as their dozens of fans. If this works out, I am happy for them.
It pisses me off when people overestimate the size of the Rays fanbase as you did in your comment.
Its so old and tired isnt it? There are plenty of comments in this thread that illustrate the problems with travel from the main population area to St Pete that the ill informed fan can understand what the issue is; yet they choose to be ignorant. The fan base is there, it shows in the TV ratings. We just have an issue making a 6 hour round trip on a Tuesday for a game. This is coming from a season ticket holder for years, btw, who lives in Hudson.
6 hours to Hudson??? You must travel by bicycle. I can drive to Miami in 5 hours!!! Bottom line, a Tampa stadium would not make your ideal any shorter
Yankees fan, what do you expect? I’m sure that the Orioles appreciate you booing Hicks out of town.
If you are talking about leaving at 5pm to make a weekday game then its:.
About 2 hours each way from Hudson to the Trop taking the 19
About an hour each way from Hudson to Ybor City taking the 52 to the 589 to the 275
With no traffic right now it’s 75min to the game. To make an evening game, plus park and get into the stadium on time, book 2hrs. 2hrs home. 2.5hrs game. 6.5hrs.
maps is your friend.
LordD99 — I’m an outsider, but why are you pissed at William for stating what’s fact?
It was sarcasm.
@William, I suppose they wouldn’t get my joke if they didn’t get yours initially.
I don’t have the numbers for attendance for the rays franchise or any Florida based baseball team for that matter but it never seems from the outside looking in that there is high fan attendance. Its definitely not for a lack of consistently good teams in the rays case. I don’t know if it’s just because the ballpark is pretty terrible, or if its the location or if its a general lack of interest in Floridians. Or maybe I’m just imagining the lack of attendance, I’m pretty far removed from Florida lol.
It’s definitely the location. I am a Rays fan in Florida and I know tons of other Rays fans in Florida. We don’t go because the location is truly awful. It’s out on the furthest edge of a tiny island-like area (it’s technically a peninsula, but it’s a peninsula only accessible via narrow bridges… so in essence, it is an island).
It’s not even only the commute time, it’s also just so far isolated and removed from anything else relevant or useful. If it was in Tampa it would still be a 2 hour commute to me, but then I could spend time in Tampa before/after the game. Lots of bars, restaurants, etc… St Pete doesn’t have that environment. Maybe that is the approach the Rays and city are thinking of with this new stadium deal. If they add more things to the surrounding area the location would still suck, but it would certainly suck less.
I think that could be the plan. Build the new stadium and also develop the surrounding area with restaurants, bars, shops, etc. I think the Braves did this when they built Truist Park.
It’s because the people with the most money in Florida don’t actually live there during most of baseball season, while another large chunk of the demographic are retirees mostly living on fixed incomes.
From what we’ve been told, the team did want to move to Tampa but there were only a couple of spots that had the space needed to put in a ballpark. Of course once word got out that the Rays were shopping for the land, the price was too high and would have more than doubled the cost of the stadium. Even with lower attendance it still makes more sense($cents) to stay in St Pete when you are talking about saving a couple billion.
I defer to people living in the Rays area, but i don’t understand how building a stadium in a place you know is difficult to access helps solve their attendance/support problem. If the everybody with the team openly acknowledges that the St. Pete location is part of the problem they have with the Trop, how does it help to build another stadium essentially next door to where they already exist?
Since you don’t live here, you have been relying on the national media. Listen, 35 minutes tops to get from downtown Tampa to downtown St Petersburg. Easy access by interstate from Tampa and to the south where Rays fans in Sarasota and Bradenton travel to the trop.
The city is booming with development, so much so that people travel from Tampa to St Pete for the nightlife. You need to see for yourself sometime !
Found Sternberg’s burner account.
If you take the 275 and there are no wrecks on the Frankland its 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes at 5pm. If there is a wreck, which its rare there isn’t at that time of day, its an hour and a half or more.
If you take Gandy, its typically an hour and a half.
I rely on family living in Clearwater who tell me they avoid the Trop because on game days it has taken them over an hour to travel less than 20 miles to get there. They also tell me there isn’t a thing to do around the Trop besides going to the ballpark.
The ownership is happy with the model they have. Spending dirt. Collecting revenue sharing and saying “woe are we”
Can’t wait to see the expansion draft. It’s been decades since MLB last did one.
What cities get the next teams? Portland and Nashville get brought up most. If MLB does a repeat of the 90’s and expand twice in a decade, or even the 60’s with 3 rounds of expansion. We could see cities like Charlotte, San Antonio, Sacramento, Salt Lake, OKC, and Montreal get teams.
I think it’s a certainty that any expansion adds a team in either Charlotte or Nashville. Those two parts of the country have been growing and growing and either city ought to do well. I would then assume somewhere in the western half of things brings the second team — Portland, Vancouver, Oklahoma City or even Mexico City all seem viable.
If the A’s actually move, which is not a certainty at this point because of the lawsuits in Nevada, Oakland has an approved waterfront site with hundreds of millions in approved taxpayer funding for infrastructure and a $12 billion, 55 acre development project ready to go. All the lawsuits are already completed and all they need is someone that can get funding to develop the area.
Other than Oakland, the next two cities are Portland and Nashville.
Stu loves a bargain! Everyone should know that by now. The Rays fit perfectly in the elitist aesthetic of St. Petersburg, which is why they’re staying. Everyone knows the location is terrible, that a “domed” stadium openly displeases the baseball gods and will lead to residual punishment, that Longoria should’ve never been traded, and that there are only 24 hours in a day to talk about the stumblings and bumbling of that “forward-thinking” organization.
Marie Antoinette would be proud of them.
A non-domed stadium just isn’t at all viable in Florida. The rain is far too frequent and unpredictable.
The rest of what you said is true though.
Whoa!! “elitist” St Petersburg?? Tell that to the provincial Tampa dwellers who just refuse to drive across a bridge to St Pete to save their lives. “Terrible” location?? Perhaps in 1986, but for the past 6-7 years the downtown area has exploded with development; Bars, restaurants museums line every street without the gridlock of downtown Tampa.
Longoria was the face of the franchise but he was on the downward side of his career. He has never matched his numbers with the Rays. Even the baseball Gods understood the trade.
As a Giants fan I can tell you the Rays got rid of Longo at just the right time., Except for his last two years in SF (when he was frequently injured) he really wasn’t an asset to the team. Despite those last two injury plagued years, he was a plus those years. But only then.
Well it appears they’re accepting the NHL Coyotes plan (temporarily for hockey) and take poor location at all costs; build it to 15000 fans (mullet in Phoenix sits less than 6000) & bump up tix prices. Then threaten to move to Oakland/Raleigh every few years to keep in the paper
Stop all the whining, please. So many comments on here from people who haven’t been to St Petersburg in 20 years.The city is booming with development and surprisingly without the gridlock that strangles downtown Tampa.
Bars, restaurants, museums, all on the shores of Tampa Bay..just terrible !!
As far as the location, it is no more than 30 minutes from downtown Tampa to downtown St Petersburg – you just have to avoid the awful TAMPA traffic. Interstate 275 runs right past the stadium, giving access from both the north and south.
Listen, a Tampa stadium would have been fine with me. Hey, as a Lightning season tixholder I drive ALL the way from St Pete to Tampa to support the Bolts. Just doesn’t seem to be the chore Tampa folks describe.
Tampa’s problems have never changed: NO money and NO land. The Rays got tired of waiting. Those who dreamed of a Tampa stadium just need to lose their provincial attitudes and suck it up. Fans in 90% of other MLB teams would trade their commute in a heartbeat. Imagine having to make your way across Tampa Bay, where dolphin sightings are common, just to go to a brand new stadium in the heart of a booming downtown filled with entertainment options???
What a nightmare !!!
I was literally there a couple of months ago. It’s not that nice. Also most Rays fans aren’t in Tampa. The argument of moving to Tampa isn’t about accommodating Tampa residents, it’s about accommodating residents across the rest of Florida, all of whom can get to Tampa much easier than they can get to St. Pete.
For example, I live in Orlando. I can get to Tampa in 90 minutes but it typically takes me 2.5 or sometimes 3 hours to get to St. Pete, due to heavy traffic on much narrower roads. There’s a lot of Rays fans in Orlando who abstain due to location. I also know some in Clermont who feel the same.
come on. another 90 minutes from Tampa to St Pete?? Narrower roads??? 275 runs straight thru Tampa to St Pete. You have zero credibility
275 goes across the Frankland Bridge to get to St Pete and if you have ever driven it at rush hour, which is when you have to leave Tampa to get to the Trop by game time. you know that if there are no wrecks its at least an hour. If there are wrecks, which are a daily occurrence at that time of day, it takes at least an hour and a half.
I used to live in New Tampa, about 8 miles north of USF. We had to leave at 4:30 to make it to the Trop by 6:15-6:30. Rush hour traffic is bad in Tampa.
Hey genius, how do you propose the people in Tampa avoid the awful TAMPA traffic at rush hour? I don’t know if you’re aware but the 275 stretch from north Tampa into downtown/I-4 is one of the top 10 worst congested interstates in the country. This is a problem because anyone who lives in north Tampa (aka half of the population with money) won’t get home after work until ~6 to pick up their kids for a game. It’s simply not feasible
First, I hope this works. I hope an improved ballpark will solve the attendance problem. The Rays have been very competitive, with poor attendance. What if this continues through the end of this decade and the attendance doesn’t improve significantly. If the attendance can’t surpass 25k regularly, this is a waste of money.
Don’t see the need for expansion at all — would probably be better to subtract 2 teams (Canada and Colorado would be my choices for that). I do know that any consideration of Portland, OR as a new location is totally absurd. That city is a mess, to say the least.
Portland would be fine for expansion. Every city (big and small) has problems. If all you know about a city is based on a fearmongering, then I understand why you would think that.
But nobody is saying St Louis shouldn’t have a baseball team because of its murder rate
Anyone who thinks Portland is alone in its issues isn’t well travelled. Every us city is dealing with homelessness and unrest. These are issues that show up when the economy slows. Late 60’s, late 70’s, early 80’s and early 90’s as examples.
Rural America and other major cities aren’t in better shape to support a major league baseball team. Whatever issues Nashville and Portland have, they’re the best two positioned cities to get expansion teams so it doesn’t really matter what we think.
free agent — I have no dog in this fight, but Portland is a wonderful city. They’ll have to consider a retractable roof because of the rain, but otherwise it’s ready for MLB.
The part about all the housing is funny.
can’t wait until the Rays raze the trop.
The new stadium will be nearly done before the Trop is leveled obviously. That’s 4 years away.
Over a billion dollars to build another dreary fixed roof dome?…Fixed roof, FAKE grass domes are outdated in the year 2023.
It’s complete INSANITY to think building a new stadium in the same location is going to magically fix attendance problems. It will not!
Bring the Rays to Tampa, and the issue will improve.
GO RAYS!!!
Not up on the Rays as well as others. Why is attendance so low especially with a very competitive team? Is it because of an ugly domed stadium? Seems to me having a retractable roof would be essential for a new stadium. That would to me be the only point to building/ investing in a new stadium. Not sure on the whole cost thing.
Location Location Location
Expansion. OK, so Nashville is a virtual lock but who joins them? Portland, Charlotte, San Antonio? Sacramento? Salt Lake City is kinda small. Doubt they’d go to northern New Jersey. Indianapolis, Buffalo? Outside the USA, there’s Monterrey, Montreal and Vancouver.
Whoever loses out should be well prepared as soon as Las Vegas needs to move again.
Don’t rule out Charlotte over Nashville. I think Nashville is “in the lead” but I would not count out Charlotte with the way it’s been growing the last decade or more.
Yeah, I would put my money on Nashville and Charlotte
Another largely taxpayer-financed, billionaire-owned real estate development that uses a baseball park as a carrot. MLB is increasingly a front for rich developers who need a hook. It is pathetic how MLB’s reason for being seems to be subordinated to its evident muscle with state and local governments and Rob Manfred’s willingness to shill for people so much wealthier than he.
At least this team ownership seems actually to have an interest in baseball, too, unlike that in Oakland.
Climate change, rising sea levels, hurricanes, invasive species, radical politics, incredibly small fan base (mainly just fans of the visiting team), miserable location, and the inevitability of the team moving within 10 years for all of the above reasons, after wasting billions on a new stadium doomed to failure… Brilliant!
I’ve been there many times to root for the Red Sox or root against the Yankees. Parked in a gravel filled field near the park that should have been paved long ago. They need to make more effort from 2024-2027 to improve the experience for fans. Maybe allow vendors and food trucks out in the field/parking lot. Maybe some restrooms and encourage tailgating. Get it together, PLEASE.
Wealthy climate activists have beach front homes — they don’t seem concerned about rising sea levels why should the Rays?
I’d wish they move but stay on east coast, Carolinas, Montreal hell even Buffalo
Great news for us Rays fans, just interesting it will stay in st. Pete.
Good they are staying in the area, bad that they didn’t go to Tampa. Interesting to see if a new stadium pulls the support magic. My guess is not!
Stu most know something we don’t know. Building in St Pete is something I wouldn’t try again.
Sounds like he’s got about 600 million good reasons to stay.
Can’t somebody grow the cojones to say that summer baseball in Florida is a failure? Pull the plug and spend the government money on schoolbooks. Stadiums NEVER pay off for anyone except the owner…when he sells. Short term construction jobs don’t make it worthwhile. Put the teams in places where the owner would have to pay for everything (sorry, lost my head there…forgot that they’re all billionaires by having other people pay for their toys…).
There IS no “government” money. it’s money that a too big government confiscates from taxpayers. So if you think that funneling more to the schools which rarely makes it to the classroom, you’re mistaken.
Stadiums are a big expense on cities for benefit of owners primarily.
Tropicana 1990-2027 (37 years) – to get return on investment – it seems they would need 50 years – now the new one is in the billions, I wonder the longevity for that will be..
2 expansion teams in 2026 now that As and Rays are sorted.
So, they’re staying in Florida, staying in St. Pete, and only getting a tiny 30,000 seating capacity?! (Well, they’ll have trouble filling even that many seats after a couple of years, but they should at least open the possibility for better attendance than that.)
I haven’t seen a new stadium plan this terrible since, well, earlier this year with the A’s plan for Las Vegas. But just because they happened to coincide in the same year doesn’t mean they aren’t still absolutely terrible plans.
Well, once the new stadiums become official for the A’s and Rays, at least that means that expansion is finally back on the table. Maybe they can even time it for 2028 to watch the new expansion teams each outdraw the Rays in their new ballpark.
Maybe they’ll get the people living in the 600 senior residences to attend games.
Wow…there’re senior citizens living in Florida. How astute you are!
Can anyone share exactly what the accessibility issues are with the Trop and St. Petersburg?
Here is an interesting article about it from Fangraphs: community.fangraphs.com/the-importance-of-the-30-m…
But basically, the stadium is located on a peninsula where the only access points are 3 bridges across the ocean (2 from Tampa, 1 from Bradenton/Sarasota to the south of st Petersburg). These bridges are extremely congested during rush hour as Tampa is a commuter city with no mass transit. So the vast majority of the affluent populations have to travel the farthest distances to actually get to a game.
You should get your facts straight. Its 4 bridges, 3 from tampa,and they can also take Hillsbourgh/tampa rd( no bridge. Plus people driving from the north (pasco county) have no bridge
There are 5 bridges. If you are coming from north Tampa you are likely taking the 580 to the 19 which means you go across a bridge.
If you are in Hillsborough county, you are going across a bridge. To take Hillsborough Ave you go north to the 580 and across a bridge to the 19 south. More likely you are going to go south and across the Frankland.
Well, I guess you could continue another 5 miles north, the wrong direction, to the 19 and only go across a short bridge over the canal.
Thanks for the info. That sure sounds like a great place to put a 30,000 seat stadium! I wonder if the proposal includes any infrastructure agreement to handle accessibility? No indications from what I read, though.
Being late to the party, and only reading the first paragraph…..
Isn’t this exactly like putting a bandaid on a severed limb?
If the new ballpark is in the exact same place every one complains takes 3 hours to drive to from anywhere of significance in Florida, will it attract enough fans just because of the new car scent mystic of the brand new state of the art ballpark?
After a few seasons the luster wears off and it’s time to talk about the proposed stadium in Montreal
Yeah because that worked out so well for the Marlins. What a waste of money.
Florida has and will always be a terrible place for sports teams.
Another “fixed” roof stadium is not what MLB needs. Is a retractable roof not feasible in Florida?!?
The Marlins stadium’s roof was only opened for 14% of it’s games. Supposedly they’re going to put those costs into revitalizing the area around the stadium.
Still worth it just to play on real grass.
Lol why would they build in st Petersburg again. May as well make it a 10000 seat stadium, they might have a chance of selling out 70 percent of their games then.
The Rays have a great organization. This seems like a wasted opportunity to move to a place that could support them, making them one of the premier franchises in baseball.
Not a good location. Had to be in/near Tampa.
Evergreen headline
I’m happy that the Rays are staying in the area. Can MLB look at adding a couple of cities to the mix (Montreal, Portland, Nashville, Charlotte. etc.)?
I am going to miss that dented tuna fish can of a stadium.
Building a new stadium, especially with a fixed roof in the same location as the old stadium is like rebuilding a mobile home park where numerous hurricanes have previously devastated the previous mobile home park. Insanity is what that is. Insanity!!!
The team used to be the Tampa Devil Rays but it evidently scared small children. Will they change their team name to the Saint Petersburg Rays now?
kws the last thing MLB needs is to add more team when literally every mlb roster has 3-4 guys that should be playing above AAA.
Both teams need to be relocated out of Florida.