The Tampa Bay Rays secured their future in west-central Florida as county officers authorized a vital bond sale for the staff’s proposed new stadium.
The Pinellas County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to inexperienced mild greater than $300 million of bonds, a key a part of the $1.37 billion venture in St. Petersburg’s Historic Gasoline Plant District. The Main League Baseball staff, led by financier Stu Sternberg, has agreed to contribute $700 million for the stadium and can be on the hook for all price overruns.
“All eyes will now be watching to guarantee that the Rays uphold their a part of the deal,” mentioned Rene Flowers, one of many commissioners.
The 5-2 vote caps Sternberg’s lengthy quest to determine a everlasting residence for the Rays on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The stadium will anchor a mixed-use space that features inexpensive housing, retail, and inexperienced areas. St. Petersburg additionally plans to promote roughly 65 acres (26 hectares) of public land at below-market worth to facilitate the event, which is a part of a broader technique to spice up financial progress within the area.
Whereas county commissioners agreed in July to commit funding for the venture, they confronted mounting stress in current months to finalize the deal. A number of delays, together with setbacks associated to wreck brought on by Hurricane Milton in October, had raised worries concerning the timeline and the price of the venture.
These considerations fanned hypothesis — together with throughout the Rays group — that the venture would fizzle. However two commissioners flipped their votes late Tuesday after having opposed the deal in July.
Milton ripped the roof off the Rays’ present stadium, St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Subject, rendering it unplayable for the 2025 season. The staff introduced it’ll play subsequent yr at Steinbrenner Subject in Tampa, the spring-training residence of the division rival New York Yankees.
The Rays’ lease at Tropicana Subject ends following the 2027 season. Whereas the St. Petersburg metropolis council lately voted to approve funds to start the method of fixing the venue, it’s unclear whether or not it is going to be prepared in time for the 2026 season. The brand new stadium is projected to debut in 2028.
Photograph: Christopher Morel of the Tampa Bay Rays at bat in opposition to the Boston Purple Sox at Fenway Park on Sept. 28, 2024. (Photographer: Maddie Meyer/Getty Pictures)
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