"I really thought we had it": Disappointment inside city over Rays deal collapsing
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Rays owner Stuart Sternberg talking to the media last year. Photo: Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Tampa Bay Rays are backing out of plans to build a new baseball stadium and surrounding housing and retail development in downtown St. Petersburg, team owner Stuart Sternberg announced Thursday.
Why it matters: The deal approved last year by local officials for a $1.3-billion ballpark that would anchor a redeveloped Historic Gas Plant District won't move forward.
- It also leaves the Rays' future in Tampa Bay in limbo.
Zoom in: St. Pete and Pinellas County elected officials reacted with disappointment Thursday that a plan that all parties agreed to with much fanfare in September 2023 had so unceremoniously fallen apart.
- "Today is a disappointing day for the city, for the county, for the fans, for Major League Baseball and for the region," county commission chair Brian Scott told Axios.
- "We did everything. We checked every box," St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch told reporters Thursday afternoon. "I really thought we had it."
- He added that as far as going back to the drawing board with the Rays, "I have no interest in working with this ownership group. That bridge has been burned."
Between the lines: Sternberg has faced pressure from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to sell the team. Several local investors have indicated they'd be willing to take over.
State of play: Thursday's announcement settles months of uncertainty over the team's position on a once-promising deal that took a nosedive in the wake of last year's back-to-back hurricanes.
- Team leaders have repeatedly said a delayed vote by Pinellas commissioners had ballooned the project costs beyond what the team could afford, although the team has been mum on the details.
The fine print: The Rays' announcement doesn't formally kill the deal. As of Thursday afternoon, the team hadn't sent the letter of termination required to do so, city and county officials said.
- In lieu of that, the contract will terminate March 31, the deadline by which the Rays have to meet several criteria to access the $600 million in public funding approved by St. Pete and Pinellas elected officials.
What we're watching: The city is working to repair the Trop, where the Rays have an agreement to play until at least 2028.
- Beyond that, Sternberg said the team will "continue to focus on finding a ballpark solution that serves the best interests of our region, Major League Baseball, and our organization."
Welch said he intends to see through the "equitable economic development" of the Gas Plant District.
- The city demolished the historically Black neighborhood in the 1980s based on promises to rehabilitate the community with jobs, industry and affordable housing.
- City leaders later changed course and built Tropicana Field on the land instead in a move that betrayed many of the district's displaced residents.
What they're saying: The team's decision "is not going to put on hold the other development that we've been waiting for for 40 years," Welch, a former Gas Plant resident, told reporters on Thursday.
- Whether the redevelopment includes baseball depends on the Rays, Welch said.
- "If in the coming months a new owner who demonstrates a commitment to honoring their agreements and our community priorities emerges, we will consider a partnership to keep baseball in St. Pete."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with the latest news.