TAMPA — A key meeting is coming up in early May as the Tampa Bay Rays continue their quest for more than $1 billion in taxpayer subsidies to build a new 31,000-seat baseball stadium in Tampa, across the bay from the St. Petersburg ballpark they have called home since 1998.
The total price tag of the proposed stadium, next door to where the NFL’s Buccaneers play, is estimated at $2.3 billion by the Rays ownership team. After the Hillsborough County Commission got a first look at the financing plan, the Tampa City Council will get its chance on Tuesday, May 5.
The Rays, recently purchased by a new group of owners, say they will foot about half the cost. The rest, they say, should come from Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa.
The ask from the team, according to a letter to the county from Rays CEO Ken Babby, is $750 million from Hillsborough County, $251 million from Tampa, and another $64 million in public money yet to be identified.
There was skepticism raised at a recent Hillsborough County Commission meeting on the issue.
“I would love to be able to vote yes on this,” said commissioner Harry Cohen at that session. “But I can only vote yes on it if I’m absolutely convinced that it’s the right thing for the community and the taxpayers.”
No votes have been scheduled yet.
The Rays and their consultants say it’s a win-win. They say the new ballpark will bring 7,400 jobs to the area with $19.8 billion in wages over time. The plans also include apartments, retail, bars and restaurants, a hotel and office space.
Given the location, which is also next to the New York Yankees’ spring training home, the Rays are calling it the “Stadium District.”
What does Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis think of public money for a new Rays stadium?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who played college baseball at Yale, has pledged to support the plan even though he has not always been a fan of public financing for sports stadiums.
“As leaders in Hillsborough convene to forge a path that will keep MLB in Tampa Bay, I hope the commissioners keep an open mind and consider the potential of the full-spectrum vision for the site that goes beyond baseball—and which can enhance the economy and culture of Hillsborough County for years to come,” the governor said on the X social media platform.
MLB is also on board, at least in theory. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said this year that the league wants the Rays to stay in the Tampa area. There has been talk of the team moving to Orlando, or even Jacksonville.
“I do think we’re at a point in the history of the club that something needs to get done, but I would be hesitant to characterize it as it’s this or never again,” Manfred said.
How much longer will the Rays play at Tropicana Field?
The Rays have been here before. Discussions on the location of the team have often centered on the somewhat paltry attendance at Tropicana Field, their domed home in St. Petersburg. The idea of Tampa, some would say, could bring in more fans and is closer to other population centers.
Meanwhile, the Rays play on. They are obligated under a contract with St. Petersburg to play at Tropicana Field for three more years, including this season. The team had to abandon that site last year, when Hurricane Milton ripped off its roof and the Rays wound up playing home games at the Yankees’ smallish Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
They are back at the Trop, as it’s known locally, for this season and so far the team is in second place in the American League east division.
Despite their lagging attendance and small overall player salaries — it’s a fraction of what a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees pay — the Rays have been successful on the field. They’ve been in the playoffs more often than not, and in 2020 went to the World Series but lost to the Dodgers.
There was an effort to build the Rays a new ballpark in St. Petersburg along with a smorgasbord of other amenities such as a Black history museum, hotels and retail, bars and restaurants, and so forth. But that plan, pushed by St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, fell apart just before the Rays were sold.
It’s not surprising there is some skepticism about this latest effort. The Rays insist the financing plan should be in place by June 1 so they can get the stadium construction done in time to open the 2029 season.
“Should this commitment ultimately not be achievable, we would have no choice but to evaluate alternatives,” the team CEO, Ken Babby, said in the letter to the county.
Curt Anderson is the Policy and Politics Reporter for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY at https://tallahassee.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Key meeting upcoming in Rays’ wish for $1 billion in stadium public money
Reporting by Curt Anderson, USA Today Network-Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
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