The Tampa Bay area and the Pinellas County Commission appear to be in disagreement over the previously agreed bond funding for a new stadium and the Gas Light District projects, which now seem likely to be reconsidered in December at the earliest. Amidst the uncertainty, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch stands out as one of the few optimists, maintaining a positive outlook that a deal will be reached.
“We believe there remains a path forward,” he said in a written statement. “My administration is prepared to bring a modified plan back to City Council for their consideration. However I want to make it clear that this plan will not include additional funds from the City.”
The statement came after hours after initially approving a proposal to spend $23 million to repair the Tampa Bay Rays’ ballpark, the St. Petersburg City Council rejected the plan Thursday.
The decision comes more than a month after Tropicana Field’s roof was torn apart when Hurricane Milton made landfall just south of Tampa on Oct. 9. The stadium also suffered heavy water damage. The city estimates the renovation will cost $55.7 million.
The Rays and Major League Baseball made plans to play their home games next season at the New York Yankees’ 11,000-seat spring training ballpark — Steinbrenner Field — in Tampa. But city documents reveal that the repairs to Tropicana Field will not be ready in time for the 2026 season, leaving the club’s long-term plans in limbo.
Concerns about the Tampa Bay Rays’ 2026 home venue surfaced when President Brian Auld questioned the feasibility of repairing Tropicana Field in time for the season, just prior to the funding vote. Auld expressed doubts that the dome could be renovated by 2026.
“I believe it’s going to be next to impossible for the Trop to be repaired in time for the 2026 season,” Auld told council members, “and given that that’s the case, efforts to try to repair it in time for that will cause us to have to have a parallel path for some other alternative for the ’26 season, and that feels to me like a bad use of funds across the entire group.”
The decision against funding The Trop occurred two days following the Pinellas County Commission’s vote to postpone the allocation of tourist bed taxes for a new stadium. This measure, which initially passed 5-2 in July, has been deferred to December due to the recent election altering the composition of the county commission.
Auld said the team is willing to sit down with both boards to renegotiate what had looked like a done deal until the hurricanes swept through the region. THe team said in a letter sent to Pinellas commissioners hours before their Tuesday vote that a delay in allocating bond money for the project “would result in significantly higher costs that we are not able to absorb alone.” Under the deal, the Rays are responsible for cost overruns.
The team has expressed readiness to develop “a new solution” to stay in St. Petersburg. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred also addressed this issue earlier in the week, advocating strongly for the Rays to remain in the region and finalize the agreement.
“I can’t continue to move forward based on what I’ve seen from the county and so I am open to any and all discussions that will get us there,” Auld said. He also apologized for the tone of the letter, which essentially held the Pinellas commissioners responsible for rendering the agreement unfeasible due to the postponed vote.
“I want to state for everyone that our letter was not intended in any way to be threatening, but I’ve gotten the feedback,” he said. “I understood that it came across in a way that we didn’t intend, and I’m very sorry for that. I apologize for the tone with which it was received. Our intention was never to threaten, it was to in a straightforward way be the bearer of bad news.”
Perhaps level-headed individuals can successfully conclude this deal. Once again, both city and county lawmakers need to consider the bigger picture and think long-term. Meanwhile, the Rays should reduce their threats and devote more time to finalizing the deal.
