Rays Facing Critical SUNDAY Deadline for New Ballpark Commitment

[@brodiebrazil]

*Some other videos you might like:* Did Las Vegas F1 draw HALF attendance in 2024? 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXqwc32ufZKioM0 A's relocation WAS GREAT (for Kansas City) 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5_bZaZneqqJosk Joe Thornton gets 19 RETIRED by San Jose Sharks 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/mImzYZapi7aKe80 Some thoughts on my life, lately 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oH-tmp6nmKmrgZI Tropicana Field repairs VOTED DOWN & Rays say new stadium is GONE 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/paXMq6h7i9aahpI NBA close to announcing Seattle & Las Vegas expansion? 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/apvdaJqZpd51pKM River Cats move to Oakland, while A's in Sacramento? 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJXdmqhner92fMk Rays imply stadium plans DONE after 2nd Vote Delay 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWXVdaV4rJuLndU Will Candlestick Park FINALLY be replaced with new plan? 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKm1fHidrL2Jbck Josh Reddick kept some Coliseum grass [Let's Go Oakland E03] 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/anakZnylfNGiY7c Rays RELOCATION just became real possibility in Tampa? 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZ2bYWiciMdqnNU MLB is NOT close to expansion, anymore? 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJiWYZSVdpZrgcU Did MLB lose fans, customers over Oakland A's move? 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqm7qIV_bJKegZI Astrodome could go from ABANDONED to revived 📺 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWqlcqejmdmsfpY

[@robertmcnearny9222]

Time for them to move.

[@greg33770]

I wish the County could sell bonds to help fund repairs on local home owners and business's before they attempt to for the rebuild Rays Stadium.

[@RichWiands]

FEMA will help you... if you voted the right way!!!!

[@greg33770]

@@RichWiands FEMA won't do shit !

[@sebastianponce9658]

Time to sell. Get a better city and better fans

[@ccdogpark]

Yeah but then you would use the funds to rebuild in the same place and the same thing would happen again in 5 -10 years.

[@greg33770]

@@ccdogpark thats exactly what the Rays ownership wants the County to do, sell bonds to rebuild the Rays stadium.

[@Jason_Maier]

Brody, 1. Usually, teams have the locality "bending over" as far as stadium deals go. This is an inverse. 2. Billionaires should pay for stadiums, not taxpayers

[@Kalbuir66]

people like you who just spew "billionaires should pay for stadiums" are so clueless it's ridiculous. Billionaires don't have cash just laying around. Building stadiums is a complex situation. It's not like a person buying land and building a home on it. The city and the team are usually in it together, so they should share the responsibility.

[@metal4ever516]

​@@Kalbuir66The county has to deal with hurricane damage to other infrastructure. They don't have the money to deal with this BS.

[@dootuss83]

@@Kalbuir66 I mean, they are BILLIONAIRES after all. They can afford it themselves.

[@vincesmith2499]

​@@Kalbuir66Then they should find investors or get a loan. Duh.

[@adan7182]

Let teams pay for stadiums. Simple as that. Bye bye mlb

[@1p4g]

There called the Tampa Bay Ray's, the city should buy the team, make each resident a shareholder in which they can sell there share if they want, the city will own the team 51% only residents can own shares,

[@cityhawk]

That’s actually not a bad idea. How would you set it up?

[@GDavis49]

Sounds like a logistical nightmare and the upfront cost to purchase the team (2 billion?) would be prohibitive

[@ArizonaHotSauce]

Good idea. Sternberg heard you and is selling the team for $10B. ....... Not such a good idea now.

[@tobi3799]

Never let a crisis go to waste. They're moving this team.

[@dagobert1234321]

As soon as Utah offfered $900M in bond subsidies.. it was going to be used as leverage for every team. Rays got an opt out clause

[@scotttild]

@@dagobert1234321 Everyone is taking free money.

[@McShibby10]

@@dagobert1234321 Utah? Lol well they won’t be able to keep the name “Rays” then. Lol Imagine thinking baseball would be more popular in Utah than Florida 🤣

[@dr.davidenglish778]

PORTLAND OREGON WELCOMES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@dootuss83]

@@dagobert1234321 The Utah Polygamists has a nice ring to it.

[@The_Zilli]

sad part is that all of this could had been avoided if they didnt change the insurance plan in hopes of trying to save a few bucks....

[@sarahlachman1349]

It has NOTHING, Repeat NOTHING to do with it. The Rays wanted an OUT because St. Pete is a BAD Area for MLB & they likely have likely a better deal in the works out of Fl, like in Nashville or Salt Lake. The insurance likely wouldn't cover the outdate and expired dome anyways. Roof was over 30 years old.

[@NewNomics]

Yep. City Counsel should be held responsible at the very least. Saving 250k to later have to possibly spend 26 million to fill the gap they left in coverage.

[@RichWiands]

We'll see if the insurance even pays off. Didn't the roof manufacturer say it was 9 years past its expected lifespan? Insurance covering aging roofs is a hot topic in Florida.

[@HHSGDFootballJPD]

I think there'd be a $100 million fight to get a check applied to the new stadium as opposed to fixing the roof in the old one so they can play indoors for two years...

[@bradkay4794]

​@@NewNomics The agreement for a new stadium does not include being able to play in Tropicana Field. There was always going to be a deductible for damage to Tropicana Field. If you're going to blame the city for taking a chance on their not being damage, then you need to blame the Rays for taking a chance I'm not being able to play there. Do you think Lloyd's whatever at the policy for the Rays for loss of income do the stadium damage? Damn right they would have. The company insures singers voices in athletes legs. This is exactly the sort of thing they would do.

[@BlackSaiyan24]

Just move to Orlando or Tampa.

[@alexanderscavello6253]

Salt Lake City

[@BlackSaiyan24]

@ rearranging the divisions would be hell. It’s best if it’s an east coast team.

[@BlackSaiyan24]

@@alexanderscavello6253 the divisions would be so out of whack. It needs to be an east coast team.

[@BlackSaiyan24]

@@alexanderscavello6253 besides, Orlando is more than twice the population of Salt Lake City, is a much larger market than SLC, is growing faster than SLC, and gets 10 times more visitors than SLC. It’s not even close.

[@frankisfunny2007]

​@@alexanderscavello6253no.... besides tons of Mormons, heat, and red rocks, nothing goes on in Utah

[@russellforthofer3049]

The move to Orlando has never made more sense. When it comes to courting a team, Orlando has been ahead of every other prospecting city. Orange County already has voted on $975m towards their domed stadium and they had 12,000 season ticket requests in one day.

[@GDavis49]

The Florida MLB experiment has been a total failure. Time to move on and relocate the Rays somewhere else.

[@davidlasdon457]

So Pinellas is asking the Rays to commit to the agreement but they aren't willing to do so.

[@ricahrdb]

It sure sounds like it. And the county is trying to use their own failure to secure the previously agreed bonds as a negotiating tactic. Very curious.

[@McShibby10]

Na Stuart Sternberg is a wall street billionaire he’s all in this for himself he’s the sole problem and always has been

[@bradkay4794]

The county has till March to issue the bonds. They are doing what they are obligated to do. But the Rays stated publicly that by their choice the deal was dead. And the reasons they gave are not permitted by the contract. It is the Rays who are trying to intimidate. Additionally if the county issues the bonds that doesn't change any of the Rays reasons for wanting out. The Rays have wanted to leave St Pete for a long time and only agreed to stay because there was enough money involved to compensate for the inconvenience of moving. Money to stay, we should rename the team the Tampa Bay Melanias

[@MCHammer79]

Just move the team. The trop was a dump long before the roof collapsed

[@MikeStAubin-k6s]

As a rays fan living in Orlando, I hope they move to Orlando. Orlando has the ability to build them a new stadium

[@kingmo8789]

The biggest problem with that is it could be the next Marlins situation. A new stadium with a subper product. And does Orlando really need a baseball team? They're better off bringing back the Orlando Apollos in the UFL.

[@trclark7689]

Orlando has a lot of problems when it comes to the Rays. For starters, Orlando has never shown a desire to have MLB. The guy that was trying to get expansion in Orlando (former Magic owner Pat Williams) died a couple months ago. Secondly, the Rays lease in St. Pete ends in 2028. There's no time for Orlando to get everything together that it'd need to have put in place by that time. Thirdly, I doubt Orlando would be able to provide a shovel ready project with as much public money available as Utah can at this point. Fourth and finally, MLB has witnessed professional baseball become a trainwreck in both of the markets in the state that it's in. I honestly don't see MLB giving Florida a 3rd shot. MLB talks the talk about wanting to keep the Rays in the Tampa Bay Area, but they're chomping at the bit to get them the hell out of St. Petersburg. Remember, in 2016 Rob Manfred said that MLB wanted to stay in Oakland and that 10 years down the line, they'd look back and regret leaving Oakland. Where are they now? I say all of this as a Rays fan that was born in Orlando and raised in the Tampa Bay area.

[@vinnydiaz6959]

I’m a rays fan. At this point just move. I’m 24 and all I’ve ever known is this stupid stadium

[@colbycole871]

Yeah life long pinellas county resident and rays fan. I'm done rooting for the braves now. My anger is more towards the rays and sternberg though.

[@rayspooner1982]

The new stadium design sucks too. It's so bland and is basically a better version of the Trop. I would have liked to see something with more of a retro vibe, with hints of Camden Yards, Fenway, Petco etc. You need the stadium to be a bigger draw then the team, cuz clearly the team doesn't draw even when they are good. I've been to the Trop, had a great time, but once you've been there, there's no reason to go back. I went to PNC in Pittsburgh 2 years ago and can't wait to go back.

[@crab1]

Move the team to Orlando.

[@b1air77]

Wow the county commission coming back with the receipts.

[@davidbakerscuba]

Tampa is a much better location for the team than St. Petersburg. It would be much easier for them to sell a high quantity of tickets to people from Lakeland and Orlando who don’t want to have to cross the bay. It would be especially good to put it out near the Seminole Hard Rock.

[@pugmalley]

The argument that those in Tampa don't want to make a 40 minute drive across a bridge is out there so why would anyone in Orlando and Lakeland want to make the drive to Tampa? Still wondering if Big D is going to step in and build them a stadium on Big D property.

[@davidbakerscuba]

@ I live in Orlando personally know several baseball fans who go to several games a year. They have all said they would go to many more if the stadium were in Tampa.

[@S_Over_Street]

@@davidbakerscuba I went to vacation last summer to DisneyWorld & during that trip, went to a Rays game in St Pete for the first (& probably) only time. The drive was too long, especially from Tampa to St Pete. Just having a ballpark in Tampa would definitely generate more attendance than it would in St Pete.

[@HHSGDFootballJPD]

​@@pugmalleyBig D?

[@tampajay1]

@@pugmalleytons of people from Orlando and Lakeland go to a ton of bucs games in Tampa but not nearly as many for the Rays in St Pete

[@stevem-h5e]

I love watching billionaires beg for bucks. It's so ... gauche.

[@EdwardRiveraSr]

Owners who don't want to spend their own money to invest in their own stadium and team, should never be owners in the first place!

[@bradkay4794]

Owners are in it to make money. Rich teams do it by spending what it takes to win. Poor teams do it by not spending money it takes to win.

[@riggler2]

Finances don't make sense for the Rays to be in Pinellas County because fans have showed they don't want to travel to that hell hole to attend games. The wider region will travel to the East part of Tampa. But to have to travel THROUGH Tampa, onto the inaccessible, dilapidated downtown St. Pete, is a pain and depressing.

[@thomasritter1503]

I see two distinct possibilities: The Rays management decline to commit and begin the process of relocation, or the current Rays ownership places the team up for sale amid hopes another potential owner can infuse money to keep the team in Tampa and persuade Pinellas County to either level the current Trop site or find a more suitable location. I've been to Rays games and travelling to the stadium which is in short located on an island is slow, inconvenient and troublesome. It's a HUGE reason with all the recent success of the Rays the past 20 years or so they've been unable to draw. Personally, I'd like to see them move to Orlando if there is room to place a needed retractable-roof ballpark. The traffic infrastructure is already in place.

[@brantuga9915]

They should relocate to Orlando or Nashville

[@katemoo9581]

Orlando relocation or the Tampa side

[@michaelleroy9281]

Neither one has a ballpark

[@ArizonaHotSauce]

Relocation fee is around $1B and then they have to figure out how to get a new stadium. That's another $1.5B. St. Pete option with all its warts is the best business decision. The Rays owners are also not billionaires.

[@lawrencefalk8714]

This is an excelent letter by Pinellas County. Histroically, sports team owners have assumed that they have all the leverage because they believed that politicians were afraid to be the person that "let the team move away" and therefore, they would agree to any stadium financing. However, it appears that Pinellas County has a binding agreement with firm dates that they are able to meet and the Rays seem to want something else. The Rays seems to be using the court of public opinion to try to get something else than what they already signed. Pinellas County is having nothing to do with this and is (rightfuly) demanding clear answers. They won't be bullied by the owners, won't waste all of their time with endless 'negotiations', and have seized all of the leverage. Sending this type of letter does have risk because the team could leave, but better to know now. Bravo Pinellas County for honoring the sanctity of contract law!

[@DrRiley01]

I laughed at this. there was a 100 million dollar hurricane policy out which WOULD have covered all the costs but Pinellas county cut that to 25 million this year- even when years before there were close calls. just to have 275k a year. they abrogated their responsibility to maintain the facility when they have a contractual obligation to maintain it. I hope the Rays move and the business owners move with them- it will help to crash the tax base and make them look even more worthless than having the Rays in St Pete to begin with.

[@ozzmoises]

Just move the team out of Florida if they wont put the new ballpark in Tampa Bay not st Petersburg

[@robertmcnearny9222]

Why would they put the stadium in the Bay? Wouldn't Tampa be better?

[@RobertHarridge]

@@robertmcnearny9222 a floating baseball stadium would be unique.

[@pjjones2235]

Tampa bay is St Petersburg.

[@jasonfire3434]

Just move them out regardless because Tampa Bay has shown they aren’t a good baseball market. Just like Arizona with the NHL

[@HunterMaggiacomo]

@@jasonfire3434smh, don’t speak on this topic homie. If you knew the history and statistics why they’re low in attendance you’d be asking like every rays fan has asked, to put them in Tampa. Tropicana fields 30 mile radius is 70% water. If it were IN TAMPA it’d boost attendance numbers. I live in Tampa. I’ve asked my non baseball watching friends if they’d go to rays games if they WERE IN TAMPA. Astronomical amounts of people said yes. Only reason they’re in st pete is cause they were jealous of Tampa getting attention with the Bucs. Tampa is open to making a deal as you heard in the video if you were listening. NHL is not going to gain traction in the fucking desert bro. The lightning have a die hard fan base and that same fan base (some are) could be die hard rays fans. You obviously don’t know shit.

[@MrBlazemaster525]

Screw Pinhead County - deal with Hillsborough County instead

[@beycheeks9441]

"Who you calling Pinhead?"

[@bradkay4794]

Call us what you want. If you want to take on a money pit of a team go right ahead.

[@Bk6346]

@@bradkay4794 You have the ugliest cheapest stadium in baseball.

[@bradkay4794]

@@Bk6346 Call it ugly if you want. It lacks only some age to have the charm of artifacts like Wrigley and Fenway. LOL. Again, call us pinheads all you want. But we eventually figured out the Rays are first class grifters.

[@TrocarSlushWeasel]

It sounds like the Rays want the County to break up with them instead of telling the County that this relationship is over.

[@mikes7446]

Goodbye Tampa hello Utah

[@joelrobinson4497]

Thanks for doing this bro. I am a rays fan who lives right out side of St Pete. And it’s only guys like you who bring the truth. Most of our local guys are forced to side with the Rays or they will be fired. I have pretty much given up on the newspaper and local sports radio

[@SaberToothBicycle]

Do Floridians really want to deal with heat, humidity, weather and horrible traffic, to hang out with DJ Kitty--at The Trop--or anywhere? Or do they get their fill of baseball during Spring Training? Assuming that the local government is representative of The People, we can also (sadly) assume the answer to those questions. And poor DJ Kitty still needs a Forever Home.

[@sarahlachman1349]

Beaches over Baseball! The Rays are a cheap broke team, and they ask too much of taxpayers. Our Beaches Come FIRST!

[@catlitterbox1]

Sounds like a Clash song “Should I Stay or Should Go”

[@trclark7689]

The Rays know that this was a bad deal from the get go. If I had to guess (knowing Stu from all of his actions and inactions over the past two decades) the Rays received a MUCH better deal from someone else, be it Tampa or Salt Lake City. I don't believe that any other locations are players for the Rays at this time due to ownership groups and local municipalities and their desire NOT to fund a stadium (Nashville, Portland, Charlotte, etc.) Though, judging by Rays social media and their politics, I believe that Stu would be happy in Oakland or Portland.

[@MarcSonnenberg300]

My opinion is that the current deal is dead. Either Hillsborough County figures out a deal with the Rays for a new Stadium in Tampa, or the Rays will look further East to Orlando.

[@obibaddad1991]

I just got back from driving from North Tampa to St Petersburg and back. I left at 11:50 AM. The trip down 275 was a traffic mess. The road construction is hit and miss as to where crews are working. I didn't ever attend many Rays games because the trip to and over the bridge and then get to the Trop is a nightmare. This area is not built for anything close to good traffic flow. The poor driving habits of a great many of the commuters is also very problematical. Sorry this area is not ready. Spend your tax dollars on things that enrich your citizens not just a handful of millionaires and billionaires.

[@RichWiands]

I think St Pete has clearly shown they cannot support a MLB team. And now Pinellas County wants to play blame games. They also clearly don't support the team, but don't want to be held responsible. Time for the team to move on.

[@jcookster74]

At this point the best option is to pay repair Tropicana Field for 2026 and play there at least 6 more years and work on a new stadium deal for the farther down future in Tampa or St. Petersburg. At least the cost of repairs would be more justified for 6 years as opposed to just 3 years of usage. I'm sure even after they move, the stadium can be used for other events like concerts, etc, to bring income.

[@moose2021]

They're gone. Is their lease at the Trop even valid anymore since a hurricane severely damaged the place? Within the next 2 or 3 years at most, they're leaving Florida. Tampa won't be in play for a permanent ballpark (although it should be). Neither will Orlando or any other city in Florida. The only question that remains, IMHO, is to which city they'll move to. My money is on either Nashville or Charlotte.

[@michaelmarkowski204]

Letter from Ms. Peters to the Rays was very well written IMO. Appears the Rays have decided they do not want to stay in St. Pete, but also don't want Rays fans in that city to stop supporting the team if they up and move to Tampa. Thus, Rays reps may be trying to make it appear like they are going above and beyond to keep the team in St. Pete, so if they move to Tampa, they can place the blame on the county officials. This letter strikes a real blow to that strategy.

[@dr.davidenglish778]

Relocate to Portland. We already are planning on building the stadium.

[@bradkay4794]

The County has until March to authorize issuing the bonds for the new ball park. The Rays can withdraw from the new ball park deal merely by sending a notice of withdrawal. The city has decided not to repair Tropicana. This is a violation of the lease agreement so the Rays can walk away from the Tropicana lease right now and immediately move to any place there is a ball park they like. Like Montreal.

[@jasontstein]

The fact that the Rays appear disinterested in the process of staying local says volumes. I hope the Rays franchise folds and exerts maximal pain on the owner. If MLB wants a better franchise, find an owner who is interested in producing a great product, rather than one interested in stealing tax and public funds.

[@feoman]

See, THIS is what bugs me: the Rays ownership's attitude.. but the Counties are not bending the knee this time. See also: the Arizona Diamondbacks and Maricopa County.

[@Bk6346]

News flash: half of the MLB owners are cheap and not interested in subsidizing their franchises. Tampa, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Seattle, Cincinnati, Miami are among those teams. They can’t compete against the wealthy teams like the Dodgers or the Yankees.

[@Neckrollios18]

Think about it from their perspective though. They are, at the end of the day, a business in which the owner wants to maximize profits. They have a deal in place, but that deal becomes upended due to the disaster. Suddenly, they have to find a different place to play. The city wants them to stay in Pinellas county because they are a source of tax revenue (not because they are actually interested in them staying in the region), and for the Rays, they can play in small minor league ballparks in decent locations, or they can play in the largest ballpark in the state (and the fourth largest in all of baseball) in a perfect location... Because no matter what they are going to take a hit in ticket sales, revenue and the ability to attract free agents. Time is of the essence, and the landlord is delaying things continuously and suddenly two new commissioners who are opposed to funding this project enter the mix. They decided they want to spend money to fix the Trop, but what's the point? Why waste money on that when you can just start the process to make a new stadium - but they are clinging to an old deal, so it's time for a new one. Rays have the vast majority of the leverage here and the city knows that and is continuously stumbling to the point you aren't even sure this is a great partner. Now, what I will say is that the Rays communication in this has been off-putting at times, which I think is your concern. On the one hand, they haven't inspired much confidence in wanting to work with the city, but on the other, they have been pretty efficient in their communication in terms of where they are at and what they want. They think the deal is dead, and it's past time to renegotiate for a new one. Where, at this point, the Rays can try to get more if they want. The city is trying to cover their butts, but ultimately had they not delayed things in the first place, there would have been no problem... Or, if they did need a delay, they shouldn't have delayed it as long as they did when there was an election cycle coming up.

[@Bk6346]

@@feoman Have you seen Tropicana Field? It’s the worst stadium in MLB baseball. The City of St. Petersburg owns the stadium and they are responsible for the roof. Same thing with Chase Field which is owned by Maricopa County. The Rays and Diamondbacks are only tenants in those stadiums.

[@feoman]

@@Bk6346 I understand business dynamics. I just don't agree with them. The owners should get whatever passes as a mortgage for sports facilities, assume all the risks while obviously reaping all the rewards.

[@Chudley716]

How long have they been planning for a new stadium? Since 1998? And this is where it is?

[@10VINSANITY]

I will be there for the Rays home opener in Tampa but first I will be there for the potential site survey. 3:02

[@McShibby10]

Stuart Sternberg showing his true colors

[@billdapp2491]

Time to move to Montreal and revive the Expos!

[@michaelleroy9281]

They can't move to Montreal, jump off the Montreal bandwagon, no place to play, forget the Big Owe, it's shut down

[@204trebor]

What about moving the team (temporary) to Omaha, Nebraska? I believe Charles Schwab Field (in Omaha) is currently the largest ballpark (not including Oakland) in the USA without a MLB team. It seats 24,505 (and is expandable to 35,000) . Right now George Steinbrenner Field seats 11k, while Oakland's temporary home at Sutter Health Park in Sacramenta seats 14k. The smallest regular MLB park is Progressive Field in Cleveland that seats just under 35k. Charles Schwab Field does host the College World Series for about 2 weeks in June. They have hosted a MLB game back in 2018. However Omaha would the smallest MLB market, with a metro of just under 1,000,000.

[@ArizonaHotSauce]

MLB picks markets and then lets the team figure out the rest. MLB won't approve Omaha.

[@jeromehoward1249]

I think that Tampa would be a much better alternative for a ballpark site without having to beat up a dead horse dealing with Pinellas County.

[@cityhawk]

I put Nashville as the favorite and Salt Lake City as the dark horse. If it weren’t for geography and possible division realignment, I’d have them as the favorite.

[@EPiche09]

These emails are crazy. People talk like this?

[@wittynclever]

Doesnt sound like the Rays want to stay in TB to me. Looking to open the bidding war with other cities it appears..... Lame

[@ArizonaHotSauce]

Yes, with Tampa. They want to jump over to Tampa and away from St. Pete. MLB will not grant the Rays a free relocation either. So that'll roughly be $1B to relocate.

[@S_Over_Street]

So what’s Montreal up to these days?

[@GDavis49]

Renovations on Olympic Park won’t be finished till 2028

[@dannyboy34677]

They are not relocating so let’s get that out of the way now. MLB has made that clear. Now as for Ken Hagan he first broke that to JP Peterson last week that Tampa has a plan ready. They have the Ybor site ready now. This is gonna be done with a new Rays owner as Stu is going to be forced to sell the team now. Is it a done deal? Absolutely not.

[@morpheus3190]

Pinellas county is dragging their feet to kill the deal. The Rays negotiated the deal with the city and now the county is playing legal games. My guess is that the county wants to make a deal with developers. Hope they move to Tampa asap.

[@possumpower55]

Best options as of now 1 build in Tampa Bay not St Pete in an area that's easy to get to and has ample parking 2 sell or move team to Nashville, Charlotte,longshot Orlando ,bigger longshot Oakland.Best of these is Nashville. 3 I don't see a third option

[@Gallalad1]

2 is the only real option. Al the problems existing would only be 100x worse if they take option 1

[@SuperGalaxy]

Don’t forgot longshot of Salt Lake City

[@GDavis49]

Zero chance Oakland gets another MLB franchise

[@michaelmarkowski204]

If the team relocates, SLC would be the most likely option as they are the only city that has fully-funded MLB stadium plan in place right now if MLB allows the Miller Group to buy the Rays from Sternberg.

[@dallasolson4731]

They need to move spring training grapefruit league to puerto rico to give baseball in Florida a chance. You can watch half the teams in the league for a month, any team you choose. Maybe take a vacation 2-3 times a year and see them anywhere. It definitely cuts into rays amd marlins fan following, etc.

[@RichWiands]

No chance. Small cities in Florida make a lot of money off of tourists coming to Florida to watch spring training. Teams invest a lot of money in their facilities here too. Its not just used for spring training and minor league teams. It also used for rehabbing players and working with players not currently on rosters.

[@michaelmarkowski204]

The smart move would have been not to grant MLB teams in Florida and just keep the spring training facilities. It worked well as teams headed north before storm season.

[@KingTone510]

Somebody call Joe Lacob, Jaylen Brown, Marshawn Lych, and the AASEG!

[@stevenpoint822]

Rays Ownership Screwed Their Relationship With Pinellas County by Moving Games to Steinbrenner Field in Tampa INSTEAD of Brighthouse Field Off US 19 in Clearwater - KEEPING TAX REVENUE HERE - Why Should PINELLAS COUNTY TAXPAYERS Pay For a Team Playing Their Games in HILLSBORO COUNTY ? ? ? ? ?

[@georgehand]

When it was our Oakland I defended city officials despite the many many flaws of the administration at the time but in the case of Tampa I’m on the Rays side as how does the county expect the team to have something concrete this side of christmas

[@anthony_rivera4735]

Let's keep the only Tampa Milwaukee rivalry in sports

[@michaelleroy9281]

No since there isn't one

[@meddyven]

The reason the Rsys have such poor attendance, is the poor infrastructure, leading to traffic jams, that cause delays getting into the ballpark area. They should abandon St. Pete, and work with Hillsborough county, to build a stadium in Tampa.

[@michaeldavisnj88]

Let's be honest here. As a Yankee fan, I'm grateful we could lend a helping hand so the Rays won't even HAVE to leave Tampa this year. But I'm not entirely sold Stu Stenberg even WANTS to fully commit to keeping his team there with his fans giving him pushback before because he previously tried to leave Florida.

[@ddddirge]

Sunday deadline? I guess relocation announcement by Saturday then Very messy situation that a reason a team got relocated (moved market) is because of natural disasters

[@louiscypher4186]

People need to stop making excuses for politicians. It's always politicians they are horrid creatures. This time they cut the insurance cover on the existing stadium and now they can't afford to fix the stadium they are legally obligated to fix and the new stadium. They need the Ray's to move due to their financial mismanagement, but are too pussy to be honest about it.

[@Barrett619]

Plot twist, rays move to Tampa and change their name to the “Tampa Rays” and put “Tampa” on their away jerseys just to spite St Pete.

[@chrisiannuzzo6896]

I'm retired and live in Tampa half the year and New York the other half. I've been hearing rumors about the area near the Seminole Hard Rock, possibly even being part of the casino complex. Anyone else hear this?

[@SKS8080]

Yeah. I heard this. More of the Fairgrounds area.

[@vinnydiaz6959]

Haven’t heard that one yet. But who cares it not gonna happen

[@boltyourselfin]

It's been an idea floated around for at least a decade but I've never seen any concrete plans like they had with the Ybor stadium. I think the Fairgrounds would be the best location, especially with all the I75 infrastructure improvements they are currently doing

[@SKS8080]

@ but Ybor has the trolley system. The city can just expand it and that would help to get fans to the stadium rather than fighting downtown traffic.

[@JeffBezosIsSanta]

The Rays have no legal obligation to submit this letter, do they?

[@jimsmerbeck4049]

No, but they just won't get the bonds.

[@mikeh1242]

It looks like they aren't getting the bonds either way

[@ArizonaHotSauce]

@@mikeh1242 But this back and forth bickering may get them out of their obligation to St. Pete and can formally talk with Tampa. They'll settle on a divorce and let them walk. Tampa can finally and legally work with the Rays without restrictions or deadlines from St. Pete.

[@brenth6723]

This sucks .. keep the Rays. I love going to games.

[@marioq8395]

In the coming weeks you will see publicized reports of the Rays taking meetings from representatives from places like Nashville, TN and Salt Lake City, UT. Either to force a deal or make plans to begin a move with MLB.

[@caseycieslikowski2929]

Florida failed the Rays lol can’t even sell out a playoff game. Move this team to Nashville.

[@BlackSaiyan24]

Orlando or Tampa. Still both better markets and tourism draws than Nashville.

[@jeffc1347]

@@BlackSaiyan24 I keep reading on youtube comments everywhere that the Rays should move to Orlando that Orlando has a stadium deal ready to go. This is NOT accurate. There was one guy that wanted MLB in Orlando, Pat Williams, who proposed the idea of using TDT revenues to build an indoor ballpark on I-Drive next to Sea World. The Orange County Commissioners and both mayors of OC and Orlando basically said "nah" and didn't even bother to take it up for a vote. They instead voted to spend massive amounts of money (over a billion when all added up) to expand the OC Convention Center, renovate Camping World Stadium, renovate the Kia Center, renovate the UCF football stadium, amongst some other things. The money is already allocated and there is no money left for a MLB stadium. And Pat Williams has since passed away. So please stop this "rumor". It is true that Tampa/Hillsborough/St Pete/Pinellas taxpayers do not want to spend taxpayer money on a stadium for the Rays. They keep sending that message over and over again for two decades. Its just like the Coyotes situation in Arizona...the overwhelming majority of voters do NOT want tax money going to a new ballpark. So unless Pinellas County and the Rays kiss and make up they are going to move somewhere out of state.

[@acebragg5559]

They aren't going to Nashville. Nashville is already in the process of building a now $2.2 billion dollar stadium for the Titans. They ain't building another one.

[@michaelleroy9281]

What's with this moving the Rays to a city without a ballpark, that's essentially the same situation they are in right now in Tampa

[@BlackSaiyan24]

@ what would be your suggestion? Oakland?

[@danielrodriguez-ky2bk]

Im a fan of the Rays and I live in Orlando. Just put them in Tampa instead of St. Petersburg. There called the Tampa Bay Rays not St. Petersburg Rays.

[@BrandanTheBroker]

Just go up to Spring Hill and get some cheap land or go to Lakeland

[@ArizonaHotSauce]

Spring Hill is the same problem as St. Pete. Nobody wants to go there.

[@lRaf_1]

Rays need to come to Vegas! Not the horrible team of Oakland

[@bradkay4794]

Even though they have no place to play the only question of the Rays would be will you pay us more than you would pay the A's.

[@metal4ever516]

No one should go to Vegas. Vegas is a horrible place for an MLB team.

[@bradkay4794]

@@metal4ever516 Vegas may be a terrible place, I don't know, but the relevant question is whether it's better or worse than Tampa Bay or Oakland. Frankly, MLB is running out of places suitable for expansion and creating more low revenue teams in small markets merely increases the disparity in the league. Contraction is what is needed.

[@SaintSpire]

In unrelated, related news: USF just broke ground on their new stadium.

[@vinnydiaz6959]

They’re paying for it 100%

[@vinnydiaz6959]

From alumni donors and the schools own money

[@raytaylor6412]

@@vinnydiaz6959 Since USF is a public university, who is paying for some of the cost of the stadium?

[@vinnydiaz6959]

@ no it’s paid for with the revenue the school makes

[@vinnydiaz6959]

@ sponsorships, tuition, current revenue from the football team etc.

[@marko813FL]

Let the Rays go. If not on the tampa side, then let them move. Plenty of room on the tampa side

[@joebecht5554]

If the Rays move to Tampa, the Fairgrounds area would be the best location. They could draw from the entire Tampa area and parts of the Orlando area.

[@JumpmanJames]

MLB in SLC. I didn't want it to happen this way, though.

[@dannyboy34677]

They are not relocating so let’s get that out of the way now. MLB has made that clear.

[@cg5968]

Manfred said the same thing about the A's

[@dannyboy34677]

@ totally different situation

[@michaelleroy9281]

​@@cg5968The A's are not the Rays , the only thing they have in common is that their names sound alike

[@HHSGDFootballJPD]

​@michaelleroy9281 And the fact that they both draw less than 20k per game, and they play in stadiums that are widely considered to be the worst in baseball for the last 10 years. I'm going out on a limb-- they might also be the 2nd team in their respective markets...

[@dannyboy34677]

@ they are not relocating major league. Baseball has made that clear, especially with the money they make in Tampa from the TV deal.

[@BoulderCityBlues]

Even if the Rays do decide to relocate what do they do for a stadium in the meanwhile. The Yankees are allowing their spring training field this season but only this season . But even that is better than the A’s situation where free agent Dodger pitcher Walker Beuhler told the A’s he won’t play in a minor league park and the Yankees are perusing Mason Miller who would jump as a chance to get away from the A’s if possible . No MLB player wants to be on the A’s now stuck in a minor league park in Sacramento where it’s over 100 defers in the summer ..Manfred is doing to baseball what Fisher has done to the A’s only on a bigger level , he’s destroying the entire league instead of just one team

[@stphinkle]

1) They could lease one of the other stadiums for the next season (Charlotte Sports Park, Baycare Ballpark, JetBlue Park, Joker Marchant Stadium, LoanDepot Park, Disney World Wide World of Sports, Al Lang, etc) 2) It is possible that the lease on Steinbrenner Field could be renewed another year if Hal Steinbrenner and the Yankees okay it. Sometimes leases for one season have option clauses for additional seasons if needed. 3) They could temporarily relocate out of the area to any open stadium that is MLB certified that can accomodate their scheduling.

[@dennisud]

To me, the Rays management are being called for this bluff or bullying. Either way the MLB Commissioner has said they will still have Baseball in the Tampa bay area! So, will they Rays man up or get into bigger trouble dawn the road!

[@mmcgahn5948]

Move to Nashville

[@zcvxs]

City doesnt want to help keep baseball in tampa but too many hurricanes, this is a good time to leave florida

[@KWally]

Force a sale

[@jaywilliams8608]

Move to Nashvile

[@NewNomics]

For the last few weeks it realy seemed like the Rays were trying to get out of the agreement to play in Tampa... But now with Auld's and the commissions statement it seems more like the Rays wanted the overuns covered and were getting cold feet.. they just want more... As they always have ... if that didnt happen they would go to Tampa. But surprise to the Rays, Tampa isn't going to play thease types of games. Infact they are seeing this playout in real time and probabaly want to stay as far away as possible. Infact Aulds most recent statement sounds like MLB stepped in and said "work it out, we want this market, you have a deal, do it or prepare to sell the team"

[@markzimmerman6517]

How to bring them to Tampa where do they belong🎉

[@stevenbauer4799]

on monday an announcement on move to montreal should come.

[@michaelleroy9281]

It won't, where's the ballpark in Montreal where they are going to play?

[@stevenbauer4799]

@@michaelleroy9281 go find jarry park.

[@Angus-Johnson-8334]

Move to North Carolina or hopefully we get an expansion team soon, that would put all 4 major sports that I care about in this state. MLB,NFL,NBA,MLS.

[@lilremylote]

I live in Tampa and all the majority of the fans live here, St. Pete barely got fans that visit the park, on top of that nobody wants to live in St. Pete. There have been time that tickets are 15-20$ and I don’t buy them because we Tampa people have to drive 40min to go and comeback plus the traffic to St. Pete at 5pm is horrible.

[@alesitercrimson24]

No excuse. You guys didn't even show up for the last time they made the playoffs. If you truly cared you would have all gone

[@mikeh1242]

Nobody wants to live in St. Pete you say. Well, it's obvious you are stuck in Tampa because St. Petes real estate/ building high rise condos has been on absolute fire the last 6 or 7 years and shows no sign of slowing down. So yes, people do want to live in St. Pete. You are fake news. You Tampa people stay where you are at, please. You don't even know what bad traffic looks like.

[@lilremylote]

@ last year I attend at least 50games and what trigger you ? The “nobody want to lived there part”

[@michaelmarkowski204]

Get the county to vote for enough taxpayer funding to build a new ballpark and you'll get the Rays.

[@pjjones2235]

Pinellas county isn’t telling the truth either. Latava has given 3 different reasons why they delayed it. One of the new commissioners ran on killing the Rays deal. Why have a vote which was 5-2 in favor. Just to delay a decision until later. Isn’t that what the vote is. The money for the stadium has nothing to do with the hurricane. It can only be used for tourism.

[@kenreighard5071]

The deal, like Franco, is still dead.

[@craigphillips3154]

Building a nice new stadium on the same bad location doesn't now make that a good location. You can bet that multiple municipalities outside of the Tampa-St Pete area have been contacting the Rays about a relocation package.

[@ArizonaHotSauce]

Tampa has been in talks with the Rays too, just not publicly. Tampa is willing to take a desperate team away from St. Pete.

[@TheSonicsean]

But why did the county wait to see where the Rays would play in 2025 before voting on the bonds? It was obvious they were going to a temporary home in the area, since we knew the Trop could not be ready in 2025. They delayed the vote, raising costs for the team, because they're butthurt the Rays picked the best option in the Bay area (no not that Bay area) and not the inferior one in their county. Frankly if Hillsboro county offer something as good or better the team probably should jump there.

[@reesejabs1895]

They should just move to Nashville. Baseball in Florda isn't working. Moving to Tampa might be a way, but it isn't doing well in Miami.

[@michaelmarkowski204]

SLC is ready anytime. Nashville still doesn't have a fully-funded stadium plan in place.

[@ddddirge]

SLC is totally ready But I think Manfred and MLB in general don't want Rays to relocate too far away it could trigger realignment They only want realignment with the expansion So the relocation sites are limited

[@michaelmarkowski204]

@@ddddirge Good point. If you move SLC to the AL West, what team would you move from that division to the AL Central (Rangers?), then move an AL Central team to the East (Tigers?). Would be awkward an ruin some division rivalries. Ideal solution is Tampa, so hope they get it done.

[@DrRiley01]

the 100 million dollar windstorm policy they had would have covered it, not the Rays fault they cut the insurance to 25 million a month before the storm because they were short sighted about saving 275k.

[@landonspeares]

Call me crazy, but I remember seeing something about a combined Rays-Lightning stadium complex in downtown Tampa. Maybe revive that?

[@vinnydiaz6959]

😭😭😭

[@HHSGDFootballJPD]

I think the Lightning are all set at Amalie Arena.

[@boltyourselfin]

There was a Channelside stadium idea many years ago but that was before a lot of that land got developed. They wanted to put it right across the street from Amalie, sandwiched between the Crosstown

[@WildWabbit3122]

Having MLB teams in Florida just doesn't make sense from an economic standpoint. If the Rays stay in Florida and they should build the new stadium in Tampa or Orlando.

[@bradkay4794]

I didn't know till now that Tampa and Orlando aren't in Florida

[@WildWabbit3122]

@@bradkay4794 I said "If the Rays stay in Florida" which they will no doubt do and wll not have the revenue to compete with the top teams.

[@bradkay4794]

@@WildWabbit3122 You said they should build a ballpark in Tampa or Orlando which are in Florida after saying MLB doesn't make sense in Florida.

[@noelleelizabeth9991]

It kinda seems like Tampa does not want this team anymore

[@vinnydiaz6959]

St pete

[@ArizonaHotSauce]

Tampa does. St. Pete does not.

[@nopnj]

That place was a dump from the outset. I am sorry that you are likely to lose your team.

[@supacrazigamer]

ORLANDO! Stadium is already in place - kzbin.infoIXovDpeOxWY?si=UWwlCytyMkzrdCU2 (go to 3:40)

[@GDavis49]

The Florida MLB experiment is a failure, time to move on and relocate the Rays

[@michaelmarkowski204]

Need to have a fully-financed new ballpark ready to be built as soon as they are granted a team. Don't have that yet.

[@ivandragomiloff2356]

Deadline? More like Blackmail don’t you think.

[@tonygoochafanchi578]

St Pete and Pinellas County are trying very hard to put the blame on the Rays when they and they alone are at fault.

[@bradkay4794]

You didn't watch the video did you

[@jimmybonez8928]

So MLB wants the Rays to stay in Tampa where people don’t go to games in droves!!!? Screw you Manfred, and the greedy MLB owners!!!! Talk about corporate HYPOCRISY!!!!!😤😤😤😤😤LONG LIVE OAKLAND!!!!

[@curtis1997]

Baseball is dead in Florida, move the team.