Here's the Information on the Tampa Bay Rays New Ballpark Deal
After years of battles within the state of Florida, and the threat of splitting a season between Tampa Bay and Montreal, it appears that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to get a new stadium done in the St. Petersburg area after all.
The above MLBTradeRumors article cites the reporting of Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, which can be read by clicking that link.
Here's the report on the new stadium agreement from the above article:
The stadium itself will cost $1.3 billion but is part of a larger redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District site, where Tropicana Field is already located, which will cost $6.5 billion overall. Despite the announcement, the financing hasn’t quite been finalized just yet. The Rays are covering more than half of the $1.3 billion price tag for the stadium, approximately $700MM. That leaves $600MM to be covered by the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County.
That structure has been agreed to by the Rays, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch and Pinellas County administrator Barry Burton, but it still needs to be approved by the city council and the county commission. Assuming that comes to pass and everything gets rubber stamped, the Rays will sign a 30-year lease that starts with the 2028 season. The stadium will seat around 30,000 under a fixed roof, with artificial turf on the field and “operable walls to bring the outside in.”
Assuming this all gets greenlit, it will put to end the yearslong saga and allow the Rays - and their fans - to move forward. While the new ballpark is essentially on the same site as the current one, team officials say that recent development in the area should aid attendance and make the Rays more desirable to watch than they have been.
Team President Brian Auld said this:
“One of the things I’ve said multiple times is we’re in the same location as we were five years ago, but I really do feel like we’re in a different city,” Auld said. “There are so many (new condos and apartment buildings) all across the city, and all across this region, that I do believe it has fundamentally changed this region’s, and this city’s, ability to support our team.”
On the field, the Rays have already clinched a playoff berth this season. They are 2.5 games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East race.
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