Posted on 06/15/2024 2:23:17 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Who's picking up the tab for the new Tampa Bay Rays's $1.3 billion ballpark, where’s that funding is coming from, and other lingering questions were answered this week during a seven-hour-long discussion.
On Wednesday morning, St. Pete City Councilmembers, Mayor Ken Welch, and Rays executives hashed out the details of the stadium agreement during a Committee of the Whole workshop meeting.
On Thursday, St. Petersburg City Council preliminarily voted 5-3 to approve a development agreement for the new Rays stadium. The opposing votes came from Councilmembers Lisset Hanewicz, John Muhammad, and Richie Floyd.
Also passed were ordinances that will rezone 24 acres of the Historic Gas Plant District, and modify the Intown West Redevelopment Plan to accomodate the new stadium.
Another Committee of the Whole workshop is slated for July 9th and a second hearing and final vote is scheduled for July 11th.
Designed by architectural firm Populous, the enclosed stadium is set to be the most intimate in Major League Baseball (MLB) with a capacity of 30,000.
The latest renderings presented during the meeting showed a fixed glass roof and large windows and porches spanning across the walls, allowing natural daylight to pour in while keeping the stadium climate-controlled.
Per the current agreement, St. Pete will fund $287.5 million, Pinellas County will contribute $312.5 million, and the Rays are responsible for the remaining $700 million to cover the construction of the stadium that will anchor the redevelopment of the 86-acre Gas Plant District.
(Excerpt) Read more at stpeterising.com ...
If every town/city said NO, we’d still have major league sports, the owners just wouldn’t be worth as much, and they would probably worry a lot less about virtue-signalling and wokeness
Yeah, except some team owners use this as blackmail. “Get us a new stadium, or we move to another city/state.” Amazing how often that works.
St. Pete almost ended up with the Giants.
The real question: What does Ron DeSantis think?
Let em move - I’ve found a peace in divorcing myself from sports over the past 10 years. Only thing I still watch is Army-Navy (Go Navy USNA ‘89)...everthing else including the olympics and college Bball (Indiana native) which I used to really get into has gone by the wayside.
I like fantasy football so the gambling aspect is there if you're into that.
Otherwise, I'm not paying attention. I'm a casual fan, I'll tune into a game occasionally.
P.S. I think the Super Bowl jumped the shark this year with the whole Taylor Swift lovefest.
Every city that has a “—- Rising” theme is ultra liberal.
Couch cushion money for local gubbmints. The Rays are actually a good investment, as opposed to section 8 housing, etc.
The level of payoffs and kickbacks to council members must be astounding.
I do like March Madness for men’s college basketball, but not much else these days.
Does anyone go to the games? What a waste of money, let the owners pay for it.
I imagine a small place that seats about 25,000 will be just right.
Indeed.
I know how you feel.
<>The real question: What does Ron DeSantis think?<>
IIRC, DeSantis denied state funding a couple years ago.
No.
1,000 is just right. Only the Elite can go to the games now. Luxury suites with pools and jazzucis at the stadium.
Being in St. Petersburg is part of their problem. They’d draw better in Tampa.
Of course, an ideal ballpark site in Tampa is already occupied. By the Yankees — and the Tampa Tarpons, their farm club. It’s called Steinbrenner Field.
Bread and Circuses....
Too bad that the Taxpayers are forced to provide the ‘bread’ for the circus venues to keep themselves mind numbed.
Making the seating capacity smaller is a stupid way to do MLB’s business. You don’t encourage people to become fans by limiting the seating and pricing them out of it.
If having a new stadium is so important, then let the fans who go to the games pay for it.
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