Rays stadium deal: MLB commissioner gets involved in stadium talks, meets with Pinellas County officials

Rays plan for Steinbrenner Field

Evan Axelbank reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The commissioner of Major League Baseball is getting involved in the Rays' stadium talks and leaning on public officials. He had a meeting Monday afternoon with the Pinellas County Commission Chair, Kathleen Peters, and the County Administrator, Barry Burton.

Details of the meeting are scarce, but the MLB commissioner reiterated his support for the fans of Tampa Bay when it comes to a new stadium.

Last week, he also met with Governor Ron DeSantis about the situation.

As far as 2025 goes, Rays fans don't need to be worried about seeing lots of Yankees stuff at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa at games next season. A document released by the team on Monday has 42 bullet points that detail what the team can and can not do as part of their tenancy at Steinbrenner Field.

The Rays will be allowed to put up their own branding around the stadium to cover up the Yankees logos. The one thing they can't touch is the statue of George Steinbrenner at the front of the ballpark.

Otherwise, the Rays can set up their own team stores, take over the locker rooms and even take in revenue from tickets, parking and even some of the ads placed around the stadium. It said no decisions have been made about whether any changes will be made to the big Yankees letters at the top of the stadium or the mural on the back of the scoreboard.

But, it said the Yankees vendors – Legends Hospitality – will handle all the food and beverages, but will explore employment opportunities for employees of the Rays vending company.

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The Rays will have to pay to upgrade a secondary field to meet Minor League standards for the Tampa Tarpons season.

When it comes to the future of the Rays, however, it is highly likely the Steinbrenner Field arrangement only covers 2025. FOX 13 has learned that reports saying the Rays could play at a stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, are premature.

Several sources said anything beyond 2025 is still being worked out, and that other local options are still being considered.

Pinellas County commissioners have been focused on getting the team back into their county as soon as possible, and an effort is underway to see if that can be arranged at one of the stadiums. They're planning to discuss the situation at an agenda workshop meeting on Thursday.

Last week, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch described efforts to get Pinellas commissioners on board with approving bonds at a meeting scheduled for December 17.

READ: Tampa Bay Rays suspend new stadium plans, blame county for not securing bond money in October

"We're meeting with commissioners almost every day," he said. "Our staff is briefing commissioners. I'm speaking with commissioners just trying to deal with the issues that they are focused on. And so, we do want to have that vote on December 17."

The document from the Rays also says parking will mostly be across the street in the Raymond James lots. It also said law enforcement will be done by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Tampa Police Department.

Yankees front office officials will remain in their offices at Steinbrenner, but players on rehab assignments will have to use visiting or secondary facilities. It is up to the Rays to make improvements to Steinbrenner to make it Major League ready in the camera wells, press boxes and other game day facilities.

It's not clear as to where the Rays will play postseason games should they make the playoffs. The document said that is still up in the air.

The Rays will take over as soon as spring training ends, and after that, all Yankees players will be relegated to visitor or auxiliary facilities.

The Rays also announced Monday that they're moving 2024 Opening Day back by a day to March 28, just to give them time to do the changeover from the Yankees to the Rays. Opening Day will be at 4:10 p.m. the Friday in March against the Colorado Rockies.

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