Two hurricanes and an election could alter the stadium plan.
November 19th was supposed to be the celebration day for the owners of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays franchise. The Pinellas County Commission was going to approve the issuing of bonds to finalize the financial part of the deal and a new baseball stadium-village would be on its way. But mother nature and an election may scuttle the plan. Hurricane Milton left an enormous amount of damage in Pinellas County which included the Rays’ home baseball park which had its roof blown off. The November 5th election changed the composition of the Pinellas County Commission with two yes votes losing to two candidates who have some questions about the cost of the project and Pinellas County’s ability to pay down the bonds because the method of payment depended on a tourism tax. Two major hurricanes have left the area in shambles.
The agreement between the Rays’ owners, the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County includes the $1.3 billion baseball stadium, with the city of St. Petersburg throwing in $287.5 million and another $312.5 million from Pinellas County tourist taxes. The Rays ownership is supposed to put in more than $700 million and cover any cost overruns. The city and the county are supposed to issue bonds to cover the stadium debt. If the two new Commission members Vincent Nowicki and Chris Scherer vote no, the deal will fall apart. There is one Commission member, Chris Latvala, who is not happy that MLB and Rays’ ownership will be using Tampa’s minor league stadium as its home base in 2025. Latvala voted against the Rays’s stadium deal during the summer. St. Petersburg’s city council will be different in 2025 and that might be a problem down the road. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred thought the St. Petersburg stadium issue was settled. That was before two hurricanes and an election.
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