Rays Reportedly Asking For $1B to Build Tampa Stadium

31 comments

1. I hope this all falls apart and they end up in Orlando. I would become a season ticket holder.

2. Don't fold Tampa!! The rays are penny pitchers on the feild. They will never give you back your money.

3. this deal is getting done why do yoiu keep bashing it.

4. MLB should Suspend both the A's and Rays Franchises. 28 teams. Special draft to send their players, including MiLB, elsewhere. When things get sorted out with new owners years later, then they can be brought back.

5. They're following the Expos blueprint. They just cut off the games on cable too. Loria and Sampson clones.

6. Tampa resident here. I'm also wondering how the cost is higher than the proposed St. Pete venue. The Rays' new owners sure are asking for a lot. I think they'll need to adjust in the coming months because that's a lot of public money to ask for and time's of the essence.

7. The Rays are tweakin

8. This is a hard ask …

9. It's Brodie "Rehash" Brazil ! The Rays owners will chip in up to 75% of the new stadium funds at the HCC site in Tampa. To bridge the funding gap, the team has suggested several "visitor-heavy" options:

   – Tourist Development Taxes (Hotel/Bed taxes).
   
   – Car rental fees and ticket surcharges.
   
   – Community Redevelopment Funds (CRA property tax revenue generated by the project itself).
   
   – Special Taxing Districts (Special assessments on the new businesses within the development).

   There will not be any taxpayer dollars. It's optimistic that the deal will get done for the stadium to be built by the 2029 MLB season.

10. Move them to Orlando already!!!

11. Get them out of the hood in St Pete. Bring em to the City. We Yankee fans want them here in Tampa. We outnumber Rays fans when Yankees come to town anyways. Rays fans can keep mementos like the Wander Franco Statue! LMFAO!!!!

12. Just say no. This is insanity.

13. Give it to them. Tax money it is.

14. Should've waited for the press conference before doing a video.

15. Did you watch the desantis press conference?

16. Seems like this project could cost a whole lot less if it didn’t involve tearing down a whole college. A one-billion-dollar ask seems pretty outrageous.

17. This is so disingenuous. They are going to Orlando. Just go.

18. They want tax payer money to build a stadium for a team the owners won't invest money in to make it better… naaaaaah

19. Yeah they’re going to Orlando

20. BUH BYE NOW!

21. It doesn’t matter who the owner is, billionaires are gonna be billionaires 😭

22. I'm not expert at this, but it seems to me that they key to making this work will be the entertainment/shopping district. The Rays are going to need buy-in from the Yankees, Bucs, city, and county. They'll all obviously want a piece of the pie, so the Rays portion of the ballpark village pie will be small, but they're getting nothing from that concept now. Maybe include a buy-out clause for the Yankees and Bucs? I still foresee Orlando in their future.

23. Sternberg asked St Pete to donate 600 million with them contributing 700 million. No way the local Tampa government will allow this. If they do they are organized crime at this point. People there are still recovering from the hurricane.

24. Its all because of the Chiefs New Deal

25. Nice overview Brodie, but one question that I hope someone will ask is what's the potential return for the city, county and state? I'm not talking about the usual nonsensical "multiplier effects" thrown around by teams and then forgotten once the shovels hit the ground, but real benefits. The stadium itself probably would be tax exempt, but could the ballpark village bring in new revenue from what has essentially devolved into a red-light district? I"m not dismissing the value of having high-profile sports teams the way some economists do and converting Drew Park into something more…wholesome? might add some value to the tax roles.

26. wasnt orlando a better deal for the team more privately funded (granted it wasnt openly discussed)

27. Mlb keeps letting these teams have cheap owners smh

28. Tampa not paying that! Get ready Orlando! Here come the RAYS

29. Jap from the GP Peterson show has been way ahead of this and the Tampa bay time has been very bias in their reporting on this. I live in Tampa Bay. I trust the GP peters and show.

30. Love these new so called better owners. Oh you rays fans where excited to get rid of Stu.

31. From a Tampa resident who wants the ballpark to happen: let the billionaires pay their own bills