Rays’ stadium, development district to exceed initial cost estimates

A report from Florida TaxWatch raised concerns about the real cost of the project to the city and the county, which is estimated to be a total of $2.4 billion, not $600 million, when accounting for parking garages, infrastructure support and lost revenues.....Read More

Opponents of proposed $1.3 billion Rays stadium argue it's 'No Home Run'

The newly-formed "No Home Run" group is pushing back on the proposed public spending for the redevelopment deal, which includes a new baseball stadium.

As talks in St. Petersburg City Council are expected to heat up in the coming weeks, some residents are joining together to push back on the proposed new $1.3 billion stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays and the multi-billion-dollar redevelopment alongside it.

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New Rays stadium deal could end up costing taxpayers more than $1B

The Tampa Bay Rays are here to stay in St. Petersburg, but the new stadium deal might not be a home run for taxpayers — with interest on debt, St. Pete and Pinellas County residents could end up paying more than $1 billion for the development.....MORE

New plans detail finances of Rays stadium deal

Some are already voicing concerns about the new stadium.

“The lie that is being told is that it is more important to build the city’s future around a baseball team rather than around the people,” one community member said.

More HERE

How St. Pete and Pinellas County will fund plans for new Rays stadium

The city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County will be left with a $600 million price tag as part of a deal to build a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium.....MORE

Tampa Bay Rays Announce Historic Development Agreement, Partnership With St. Petersburg

The Tampa Bay Rays announced today that a historic agreement has been reached with the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County to move forward with a new state-of-the-art ballpark and a transformational development by the Hines Historic Gas Plant Partnership on the 86-acre site where the team’s current stadium sits.....MORE

Major announcement expected on new Rays stadium

Rays New Stadium *BIDDING WAR* starting?

Rays fans weigh in on the team's future home as leaders look to finalize a deal

The Tampa Bay Rays are off to a strong start, selling out Tropicana Field for its season opener. But the team’s time at the Trop is ticking. Rays leadership expects a deal for a new stadium to be finalized by the end of this year. If not, leaders said the team may look for a new home outside of Tampa Bay.

Stuart Sternberg, principal owner of the Rays, told our partners at the Tampa Bay Times that the team is in talks with officials from both St. Petersburg and Tampa about a new stadium. He added that he feels optimistic the team can stay in Tampa Bay, which they’ve called home since 1998.

More HERE

Raybor: The Monstor That Won't Go Away

The negotiations to entice the Tampa Bay Rays to a new stadium near Ybor City are still ongoing but now are being conducted by the Tampa Sports Authority behind closed doors and beyond public scrutiny.

This writer wants to know....what is more disturbing, the look of the new proposed Tampa Bay Rays stadium (pictured above) or the hundreds of baseball fans, having no concept of the cultural beauty of Historic Ybor, who will be invading 7th Avenue several nights a week during the baseball season?

In 2018 we came razor close to closing a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays to move to Ybor City  but a concerted public pushback convinced the Hillsborough County Commission to nix the deal. 

Now we are again faced with the looming prospect of the monster called Raybor reappearing in the neighborhood. Will we again see RAYBOR banners hanging from the 2nd floor balconies of Historic Ybor buildings? One of the more prominent real estate developers in Tampa, Darryl Shaw, is gobbling up properties, including the site of the proposed stadium, in and around Ybor City with the clear intent of gentrifying the neighborhood and a major league baseball stadium would be a glaring benchmark of this gentrification.

This stadium would cost over $1 billion and a large portion, perhaps half, of that would be funded by public funds, primarily the county bed tax. This is money that should be earmarked for the benefit of the local economy and not a cashcow for wealthy property owners and investors in the Tampa Bay Rays franchise. Numerous academic studies conclude that major sports stadiums are of little or no benefit to the local economies where they are built. In fact, money spent at sports stadiums that would often be spent in local entertainment establishments ends up instead in the hands of land owners, investors, athletes and other sports personnel, where it has no impact on the local economy at all.

I only hope that I, and others, have the energy to fight another round against Raybor.

From the Devil's Own Mouth

 Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan still thinks it's 50/50 that the Rays end up in Tampa

Ken Hagan says that he was not surprised by the Rays redevelopment deal, and that this is a good thing for the team and the area. Pat (iHeart Radio's Pat and Aaron Show) asks him if this makes Tampa more aggressive, and Ken Hagan says he doesn't blame him and others for thinking that Tampa isn't being aggressive. He says that the Tampa Bay Rays know that they need to be in Tampa, and that they are waiting for all the info from the Pinellas side to come through. He says they won't be able to go into a bidding war with St. Petersburg, and that Major League Baseball and the Tampa Bay Rays know that. He goes on to say that it would be a huge black eye on the area if they were to lose the team.

Listen to the Ken Hagan interview HERE

In this interview, Ken Hagan unabashedly states that Pinellas County would be able to invest more in a new stadium than Hillsborugh County because they collect more in their "bed tax" than Hillsborough County does. This is a clear indication that Hillsborough County would use public funds to help pay for the new stadium.

Rays not ready to commit to St. Pete despite mayor choosing team's own plan to redevelop Tropicana Field site

 

On Friday, Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan said talks with the Rays are progressing. He said Tampa officials met with the team last week and the Rays have chosen a future stadium site in Ybor City.

"Things are progressing," he told FOX 13's sports director Scott Smith. "We met with the Rays as recently as last week. It’s critically important that the Rays remain in Tampa Bay, so I’m confident they will, at the same time, I’m also confident that the Rays will choose Tampa. They’ve hand-selected a site in Ybor City. We’re excited about it and I think the discussions will certainly intensify here in the weeks to come."

That location, according to Hagan, is the Ybor Harbor, a 33-acre piece of land sitting along the Ybor Channel, next to Port Tampa Bay. The property was recently purchased by real estate investor Darryl Shaw. 

Read More HERE

Rezoning application submitted for possible waterfront development around Ybor Channel

5 Tampa Bay Rays players forgo Pride-themed jerseys

Ron DeSantis PUNISHES Tampa Bay Rays

Rays Prop in Ybor City

7th Ave

Ray's Stadium in Ybor $799 Million (Roof not included)

Ray's in Ybor City falling into place

Pieces are falling into place for the Rays to train at a new complex in Pasco County and play 40 home games a year in a new Ybor City stadium. more

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor ($350 million) Corporate Welfare

Mayor Jane Castor is testing the waters on whether the public is willing to use tax dollars (half of the cost, or an estimated 

($350 million)

 to pay for a portion of the cost of building an Ybor City ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays. here

FBI Eyeing Public Corruption Throughout Florida

The guilty pleas entered last week by former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox and a confidante is not the end of public corruption investigations in Florida.

That’s the word from Lawrence Keefe, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, and sources at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Maddox and Paige Carter-Smith have agreed to cooperate with law enforcement authorities about other possible misdeeds in Tallahassee and Leon County.

A sentencing date for the pair has been set for Nov. 19. They could receive up to 25 years in prison on fraud and income tax charges for their role in helping ride share giant Uber get a favorable ordinance in exchange for cash and accepting payments from a developer that turned out to be an FBI front company.

But Lawrence Keefe, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, declared the Maddox investigation should put all Florida public officials on notice.

“A public office is a sacred trust,” Keefe told the Tallahassee Democrat in the wake of the Maddox and Carter-Smith plea deals.

The FBI never discusses its ongoing investigations but the agency should look at Hillsborough County if it isn’t already.

In his 2018 re-election campaign, Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan solicited and accepted donations from real estate interests that stand to benefit from construction of a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays in Ybor City.

St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field, considered antiquated by 2019 standards, has been the home of the Rays since they first took the field in 1998. Despite recent success, attendance has perennially stood at or near the bottom of the 30 major league baseball teams.

Owner Stuart Sternberg has maintained that a new stadium will solve the team’s attendance woes and found a ready and more-then-willing ally in Hagan. Talks between the Rays, Hillsborough County, and the City of Tampa struck out last year when it was determined no public funding existed to finance a $850 million stadium in Ybor, even with Sternberg willing to chip in $200 million.

Ybor City as the site for a new Rays home has always been puzzling. Low and middle income families would be displaced. One of the country’s iconic historic districts would be destroyed. And the rationale for any projected attendance increase never has been documented.

But Darryl Shaw, who acquired thousands of acres around Ybor, and Jeff Vinik, whose Water Street Tampa project is in nearby Channelside, would reap benefits from the increased traffic generated by a new ballpark.

Sternberg’s latest canard—sharing the franchise with the city of Montreal—has not being taken seriously by most observers. St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman did not disguise his disdain for the scheme. His initial response:

“The Rays cannot explore playing any Major League Baseball games in Montreal or anywhere else for that matter prior to 2028, without reaching a formal memorandum of understanding with the City of St. Petersburg,” Kriseman said. “Ultimately, such a decision is up to me. And I have no intention of bringing this latest idea to our city council to consider. In fact, I believe this is getting a bit silly.”

The City of St. Petersburg continues to investigate whether or not Sternberg violated the terms of his lease agreement which decrees he must get permission to discuss relocation with representatives of other geographical entities.

As for Hagan, he continues to promote Ybor City for a Rays Stadium, despite the fanciful prospect of sharing a split season with Montreal. Hagan and Sternberg, at least publicly, are a minority of two in that respect.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the Maddox plea deal, federal law enforcement authorities have put Florida politicians on notice that violations of that “sacred
trust” will be prosecuted.

By Jim Bleyer