A new city could compete with Montreal for the Tampa Bay Rays, because Nashville would be interested in the Florida formation.
According to Tampa City Councilor Charlie Miranda, the Tennessee municipality which already has the Predators in hockey and the Titans in football, would have pointed the tip of its nose in this matter.
• Read also: The Blue Jays look to Buffalo
• Read also: Rays don’t slow down
“They mentioned Nashville,” Miranda told the Tampa Bay Times on Friday, recounting what was told to her by Rays president Brian Auld and vice president of public affairs and corporate communications, ” Rafaela Amador. They said Nashville wanted to do it. ”
“They’re looking at different possible cities, but they would like to stay in Tampa,” Miranda added. The latter also said that Auld would have praised Nashville, mentioning that it was an “attractive destination.” They love sport ”.
Businessman John Loar, head of a group that would like to bring a major league baseball team to the “country music capital”, poured some oil on the fire during an interview with the newspaper “The Tennessean”.
“I do not think that [les Athletics d’] Oakland are changing time zones, the 60-year-old said. The South is a great market, Nashville is one of the better markets, in my opinion. It just shows that if a city is not ready to support a team, the latter risks going into a market ready to do so. “
Montreal still privileged
Despite everything, the concept of sister cities, along with Montreal, remains the preferred scenario for the Rays.
“During the conversation with Councilor Miranda, I explicitly mentioned that we were not having any conversations with other cities,” Auld said in a statement Friday. However, several cities, including Nashville and Charlotte, have shown great interest in Major League Baseball. We’re only focused on the sister city plan and keeping the Rays in Tampa for generations to come. ”
The last week of the Florida organization has been rather hectic. She also had to contend with a lawsuit brought against the club’s majority owner, Stuart Sternberg, by a group of minority Tampa Bay Rays shareholders. They allege that he has put in place a “relentless scheme” to take control of the concession and that he has initiated secret negotiations with Quebec investors aiming to bring back Major League Baseball to Montreal. Due to this situation, the mayor of St. Petersburg broke off negotiations with Sternberg over a new stadium.
.
