Public money is now available for a Rays’ St. Petersburg stadium-village.
If someone just handed you $312.5 million to help fund the construction of your stadium-village, you would think that person would be grateful. If someone said I am going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars that can help your municipality develop a parcel of land, you would think that person would be grateful. But in the saga of getting a baseball stadium-village built in St. Petersburg, Florida that is not happening. One member of the Pinellas County Commission reluctantly said yes to giving money to Tampa Bay Rays’ owner Stu Sternberg because he was afraid Sternberg would develop the area without a stadium if he said no. Chris Latvala approved the expenditure, which is in the form of backing bonds for the project, because he is of the belief that Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred will keep Sternberg in line. But the commission member wants to see Sternberg sell the baseball team to some warm and fuzzy local citizen who will take care of Rays’ customers.
Meanwhile, Sternberg is miffed because delays in approving the bonds means the new stadium will not be available until 2029 and with construction costs going up, his ownership group is on the hook for much more money than originally budgeted. Rays’ President Matt Silverman put out a statement seemingly with his pockets hanging out of his pants signifying that Rays’ ownership is cash strapped. “As a result, the cost of the project has increased significantly, and we cannot absorb this increase alone. When the County and City wish to engage, we remain ready to solve this funding gap together.” The question now is this. Is you is or is you ain’t my baby? Because it seems the way Rays’ ownership views Pinellas County commissioners is this. The way you’re acting lately makes me doubt. The Rays stadium saga continues.
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Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
