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.
ArianaGrandSlam
Cool!!
showmebb
Is half the stadium going to be in Montreal?
BrianStrowman9
Same fundamental problems but a new shiny stadium!
Lanidrac
…and a brand new problem of a tiny seating capacity. They’ll probably keep the artificial turf, as well.
nevadaO
Thrilled for Rays fans!
alwaysgo4two
I’m waiting for the usual….Rays fans? You mean both of them? Shouldn’t be too long.
RyanD44
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
CubsWin108
pretty cool
True2theBluePNW
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?
stymeedone
Comgrats! You can read!
BaseballisLife
Congrats. You can’t spell.
This one belongs to the Reds
And still they won’t expand. Anyone who pays an expansion fee under this current system is an idiot anyway.
futuregm12
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.
alwaysgo4two
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.
abc123baseball
Attendance is vastly overrated and will become less important as time goes by. New stadiums are going to be smaller and smaller.
avenger65
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.
JoeBrady
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.
avenger65
Joe Brady: PO jet change for these wealthy owners.
Lanidrac
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.
Pads Fans
All stadium related revenue accounts for 30-35% of total revenue. But continue to drink that koolaid.
Steve 34
Tampa has never shown more than casual interest.
Poohbear
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.
Rantucky
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.
clrrogers
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.
28rings
knocking down the old stadium and playing on a little league field would be an upgrade
abc123baseball
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.
Lanidrac
No, it would be much better if they did move to a new market that would actually support them properly.
Poohbear
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.
Groggydogs
St Petersburg must be giving the Rays a hell of deal. Don’t underestimate why they would not move 45 minutes north.
LordD99
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.
Steve 34
The Rays have a major vested interest in the land $$$
CravenMoorehead
Good for Rays fans. The Trop is a dump.
Joe says...
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?
bpskelly
This still doesn’t solve the location problem. Strikes me as a foolish move. But better than playing in a mausoleum.
28rings
the location is only a problem for people in Tampa without a car
LordD99
So you’re confirming the Rays don’t have fans in Tampa.
BaseballisLife
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.
O'sSayCanYouSee
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)
Old York
@O’sSayCanYouSee
It’s a expected to be a fixed dome so no grass.
O'sSayCanYouSee
— 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 ..
Old York
@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.
Bob12 2
Agreed. We have travelled to the Moon and Mars. We should be able to figure out how to grow grass indoors
rct
@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.
Lanidrac
Remind me, how did that manned mission to Mars turn out?
28rings
and get rid of the fish tank in CF so the place doesn’t smell like an aquarium
BaseballisLife
Dome equals astroturf.
Lanidrac
Most artificial turf these days isn’t actual AstroTurf. For example, Tropicana Field currently uses Shaw Sports Turf.
10centBeerNight
So glad to hear for the fans. 30k tho? Rather low capacity
0523me
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
JoeBrady
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.
This one belongs to the Reds
The local TV deals is what makes or breaks a payroll in MLB in this fouled up system.
Luke Strong
Seems insane to me. St. Pete is a terrible location. They should have moved to Tampa or relocated somewhere else entirely.
BaseballisLife
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.
Bob12 2
Baloney. 35 minutes from downtown Tampa to downtown St Pete, so long as you avoid the nasty Tampa traffic
BaseballisLife
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.
elwhaman
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.
BaseballisLife
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.
cheapseater
“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.
ChangedName
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.
good vibes only
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.
Lanidrac
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.
Kruk's Beer League
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.
martras
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…”
Old York
I’d like to see them build a stadium like the Polo Grounds.
Lanidrac
I’m pretty sure the dimensions of the Polo Grounds are no longer legal.
william-2
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.
LordD99
It pisses me off when people overestimate the size of the Rays fanbase as you did in your comment.
RustyCowbell
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.
Bob12 2
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
alwaysgo4two
Yankees fan, what do you expect? I’m sure that the Orioles appreciate you booing Hicks out of town.
Pads Fans
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
martras
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.
Pete'sView
LordD99 — I’m an outsider, but why are you pissed at William for stating what’s fact?
william-2
It was sarcasm.
LordD99
@William, I suppose they wouldn’t get my joke if they didn’t get yours initially.
scruffmcgruff
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.
reflect
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.
Jarred Kelenic's Beer Can
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.
Lanidrac
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.
Dogoutmanager
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.
misterb71
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?
Bob12 2
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 !
Pads Fans
Found Sternberg’s burner account.
Pads Fans
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.
misterb71
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.
martras
The ownership is happy with the model they have. Spending dirt. Collecting revenue sharing and saying “woe are we”
Portland Micro-Brewers
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.
misterb71
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.
Pads Fans
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.
briar-patch thatcher
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.
reflect
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.
Bob12 2
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.
Pete'sView
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.
dano62
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
Bob12 2
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 !!!
reflect
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.
Bob12 2
come on. another 90 minutes from Tampa to St Pete?? Narrower roads??? 275 runs straight thru Tampa to St Pete. You have zero credibility
Pads Fans
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.
denistaylor
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.
yandymania
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
Friarguy19
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.
free agent
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.
deepseamonster32
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
Manfred’s playing with the balls
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.
Pete'sView
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.
CalcetinesBlancos
The part about all the housing is funny.
suntv
can’t wait until the Rays raze the trop.
alwaysgo4two
The new stadium will be nearly done before the Trop is leveled obviously. That’s 4 years away.
mlb fan
Over a billion dollars to build another dreary fixed roof dome?…Fixed roof, FAKE grass domes are outdated in the year 2023.
StPeteStingRays
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!!!
StreakingBlue
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.
StPeteStingRays
Location Location Location
deepseamonster32
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.
misterb71
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.
deepseamonster32
Yeah, I would put my money on Nashville and Charlotte
Mike Rubin
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.
Treehouse22
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!
Treehouse22
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.
Datashark
Wealthy climate activists have beach front homes — they don’t seem concerned about rising sea levels why should the Rays?
Tom the ray fan
I’d wish they move but stay on east coast, Carolinas, Montreal hell even Buffalo
leftykoufax
Great news for us Rays fans, just interesting it will stay in st. Pete.
badco44
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!
theodore glass
Stu most know something we don’t know. Building in St Pete is something I wouldn’t try again.
sonorawind
Sounds like he’s got about 600 million good reasons to stay.
Zippy the Pinhead
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…).
alwaysgo4two
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.
Datashark
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..
benhen77
2 expansion teams in 2026 now that As and Rays are sorted.
Lanidrac
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.
Roguesaw2
Maybe they’ll get the people living in the 600 senior residences to attend games.
alwaysgo4two
Wow…there’re senior citizens living in Florida. How astute you are!
ilikesports
Can anyone share exactly what the accessibility issues are with the Trop and St. Petersburg?
yandymania
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.
Mrsuntan
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
Pads Fans
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.
ilikesports
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.
Jaysfan1981
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
DarrenDreifortsContract
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.
RocknRef
Another “fixed” roof stadium is not what MLB needs. Is a retractable roof not feasible in Florida?!?
alwaysgo4two
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.
Lanidrac
Still worth it just to play on real grass.
jdgoat
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.
Sky14
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.
its_happening
Not a good location. Had to be in/near Tampa.
My Strawman > Your Strawman
Evergreen headline
kws001
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.)?
Yankeesforever
I am going to miss that dented tuna fish can of a stadium.
THEY LIVE!!!
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!!!
Mercenary.Freddie.Freeman
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?
Mercenary.Freddie.Freeman
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.
4thefences
Both teams need to be relocated out of Florida.