TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa Bay Rays officials, along with city and county lawmakers, are scheduled to hold a news conference Friday afternoon.
The meeting, being held at Tampa’s City Hall, will be about the memorandum of understanding agreed to Thursday by the team and area officials.
Rays CEO Ken Babby, Hillsborough County Commissioner Chairman Ken Hagan and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor are all expected to be in attendance at the 1:30 p.m. news conference.
County Commissioner Joshua Wostal confirmed to Spectrum News on Thursday that the memo of understanding is in place, but he said the MOU has “severe material deficiencies” and says the Rays have still not made clear how they arrived at a stadium cost of $2.3 billion.
The MOU sets the terms for how much money the county would contribute to the stadium — a public-private partnership between the team, Hillsborough County and Tampa.
Next week, Hillsborough College will hold a vote on a ground lease for the Tampa Bay Rays. The college approved a non-binding memorandum in January.
Since then, the two sides have been negotiating the lease.
Details of the lease were not included in next week’s agenda.
The county and City of Tampa are also scheduled to hold meetings next week. The state may also funnel some money to the effort, but that money would focus more on impact around a new stadium. It would not pay for the build.