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

Rays stadium deal in jeopardy

FOX 13's Jordan Bowen reports on the Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal being in jeopardy after the Rays sent a letter to Pinellas County pausing the agreement over the county's failure to bonds by the necessary deadlines.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rays say plans to build its new ballpark have been halted because Pinellas County didn’t finalize bonds last month.

In a letter to county commissioners, the Major League Baseball team said it has suspended plans to build a new stadium and revitalize the Gas Plant District.

The Rays said they put in decades of work and spent more than $50 million to "bring this historic project to reality – a project that had been approved by the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. Now, that enormous investment of human and financial capital has been jeopardized by the county’s failure to live up to its July agreement."

The MLB team went on to say that it told the county administrator and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch that "the county’s failure to finalize the bonds last month ended the ability for a 2028 delivery of the ballpark. As we have made clear at every step of this process, a 2029 ballpark delivery would result in significantly higher costs that we are not able to absorb alone."

County commissioners were set to vote Tuesday on whether to approve a $312.5 million bond payment to help fund a new stadium for the Rays. However, during the meeting they instead voted to delay it until December 17.

Tuesday's meeting was scheduled amid growing uncertainty over the future of the project. Tropicana Field was badly damaged by Hurricane Milton in October, leading the Rays to play across the bay at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa for the 2025 season.

That decision did not sit well with some Pinellas officials, including Commissioner Chris Latvala, who threatened not to vote for the bonds.

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However, shortly before the meeting began, FOX 13 got a copy of the letter the Rays sent to Pinellas County stating, "At no point were we given any indication that the BOCC might choose to delay the supplemental bond resolution on Oct. 29."

It went on to state, "That resolution was a formality to be adopted by the commission that approved the project in July, and it was known and accepted that this adoption was needed prior to the Nov. 5 election for the 2028 timeline to be met."

The Rays added that while they are focused on preparing for the 2025 season, the team is "ready to work on a new solution with any and all willing partners to preserve the future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come."

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch had been working to save the deal, meeting with fellow leaders and remaining optimistic. He released the following statement Tuesday after the meeting:

"We appreciate the County Commission’s partnership and today’s discussion of their participation in funding a new Rays stadium. We believe the economic fundamentals, and the long term benefits of the agreements approved in July by all parties, remain valid. We are focused on moving forward with fulfilling our obligations under the existing use agreement. Partnership has always been key to this plan, and the success of the plan going forward largely depends on the commitment of our partners to those agreements. We will continue to work with our partners towards that successful outcome."

Rendering of the proposed new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays. (Courtesy: Populous)

How did we get here?

Back in July, commissioners agreed to give the Rays $312.5 million in bonds from tourist tax revenue to pay for a portion of the new $1.37 billion stadium's construction.

The ballpark is also part of a larger $6 billion redevelopment plan for the Historic Gas Plant District.

After the storm ripped off the Trop's roof and caused serious damage to beaches, however, some commissioners began saying the county's portion of the funding needs to go elsewhere.

Destruction inside Tropicana Field after Hurricane Milton. (Courtesy: Tampa Bay Rays)

Another sticking point among leaders has been the apparent lack of communication from the Rays, with Latvala saying he hasn't spoken to team officials since July. The team has not responded to that criticism.

Since the bonds don't technically have to be approved until the end of March, Latvala advocated building a new deal that could either generate more revenue for taxpayers or lessen their contribution in favor of hurricane recovery.

The Rays' decision to play in Tampa could help lessen the county's burden, as well, since the team can generate more revenue at Steinbrenner Field compared to the smaller minor league ballparks in Pinellas County.

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