This much we should all be able to agree on. The Tampa Bay Rays should remain here. And by “here” we mean Tampa Bay. And by “Tampa Bay” we mean the best possible place in this multi-county, metro market of 3.2 million residents. The best possible place for a viable stadium in this asymmetrical market with demographic sprawl and no mass transit (yet).
Would that common sense and enlightened self-interest were enough. The most modest estimate of the Ray’s economic impact on this area is in excess of $130 million annually. And on a more visceral level, how cool was it that the hometown Rays made it to the World Series in 2008?
Not that we needed reminding, but the ABC Coalition, the Pinellas-skewed committee of savvy business leaders charged by former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker to assesses the Rays’ stadium status, formally said downtown St. Pete won’t do. An ill-suited cat-walk house located on the market’s western fringe has no big league future. Even though the Rays have contractual obligations to play at Tropicana Field through the 2026 season.
No one with a credible opinion, however, believes that will happen. With a competitive team and a well-regarded organization, the Rays ranked 23rd of 30 Major League Baseball franchises in attendance last year. Big marquee series with the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies and perennially contending Boston Red Sox, for example, averaged less than 20,000.
There are a number of factors – dearth of corporate headquarters, surfeit of lifestyle options in the summer and relocatees’ competing allegiances – that are Tampa Bay reality and ongoing challenges. But an obsolete, misplaced stadium can’t be one of them. Not for a regional franchise.
That’s what ABC, after 18 months of study, duly noted. Moreover, it highlighted the three best Trop alternatives, two of which – West Shore and downtown – are in Tampa. Proximity to population base and better demographics had everything to do with it. That, however, was not a finding that met favor with St. Petersburg officials.
But they more than simply disagreed. Neither City Council nor new Mayor Bill Foster – seemingly channeling former candidate Kathleen “Honor the Lease” Ford – were even willing to listen to an ABC presentation.
In effect, they are unwilling to listen to reason. Before 2027 rolls around, the Rays will be long gone from the Trop. That’s a given. The operative question is: will they be the Gateway-based Tampa Bay Rays, the Tampa-based Tampa Bay Rays or the San Antonio or Portland Rays?
The provincial, counterproductive, head-in-the-sand response by St. Pete officials is disturbing. Somebody in authority over there needs to take one for Team Tampa Bay. If parochialism wins, the region loses. And the Rays are out of here.