After a nearly two-month delay, the Pinellas County Commission voted Tuesday in favor of a plan to finance part of a new baseball stadium, whose construction, estimated at US$1.3 billion, is expected to keep the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg for 30 more years.
The plan, branded with the slogan “Here to Stay,” was approved by the commission and St. Petersburg city officials this summer, but funding approval was more complicated than expected.
The St. Petersburg City Council approved its share of funding for the 30,000-capacity stadium earlier in December. The county followed Tuesday with a 5-2 majority for bonds that would be funded by a tourism tax that cannot be used for other expenses.
Under the agreement, the city and commission will pay half of the costs, while the Rays will pay the rest, including cost overruns.
“We’re keeping our end of the bargain,” City Council President Deborah Figgs-Sanders said at a meeting earlier this month. We said we were going to do it, and we are doing it. Now what do you do? »
The county’s share of the funding approved Tuesday is about $312.5 million. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred recently met with several skeptical commissioners to emphasize the importance of the project and the circuit’s desire to keep a team in the Tampa Bay region.
“He is committed to this market. Rob Manfred is the reason I’m voting yes today,” said Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala.
The deal ends years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future. Moves to Tampa, Nashville, Tennessee, and even shared custody with Montreal, were considered.
With this new agreement, the Rays have committed to staying in St. Petersburg for 30 years. But the Rays will play next season in Tampa, in the stadium the New York Yankees use for the Grapefruit League, because of damage caused by Hurricane Milton to Tropicana Field.
The Rays have said costs for the new stadium will inevitably increase because its planned opening will be delayed at least a year, from 2028 to 2029. It’s unclear exactly what those additional costs will be, but cost overruns are of the liability of the Rays under the agreement.
Matt Silverman, co-chairman of the Rays, said in a statement after the county vote that the team “cannot absorb this increase alone” and that further negotiations are likely.
“When the county and city wish to engage, we remain ready to resolve this funding gap together,” Silverman said.
