When we talk about the future of the Tampa Bay Rays, we are talking about shared custody between Montreal and Florida. At this level, among our neighbors to the south, we seem to be wondering where the club will play.
According to the plans that seem to emanate, it is really towards Tampa Bay (and Montreal, obviously) that we want to head. Leaving Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg appears to be the training plan.
And in light of the latest information on the file, it seems more and more clear.
As reported by the QMI Agency, in St. Peterburg, the idea of building a stadium seems more and more to be secondary… and the idea of using public funds really does not seem to be the most popular. We want to avoid adding more to taxpayers.
The outgoing mayor of the city, Rick Kriseman, is in his last miles as mayor of the city, but he still chose the project of revalorizing the site of Tropicana Field, whose lease expires in 2027. And for this to do so, he chose the project with the least public funds, in order not to increase taxes for a ball stadium.
It is important to note that the chosen company, Midtown Development, will therefore have the mandate to approach the Rays to see if an agreement can be found for a stadium in St. Pete. What is interesting is to note that the project has several versions. The first has a stadium, but the second does not, which only has projects unrelated to baseball.
So there is indeed a world where we understand that the future of the Rays in Florida does indeed go through Tampa Bay.
The Rays will see what they think, but don’t put your head in the sand: baseball in St. Petersburg is over.
