#Rays Prez Auld to Econ. Club of Tampa: "Truth is, MLB in #TampaBay has been challenge from beginning, when MLB begged #StPete not to build.
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
#Rays Prez Auld to Econ. Club of Tampa: "We are 100% committed to (#TampaBay). There is nowhere else we want to be."
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
#Rays Prez Auld: We’re still an organization in its infancy...franchise will take off...when the children who grew Rays fans have children.
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
Auld: #Rays "seeking to sign contract extension w/#TampaBay. Right now, we're under contract @ Trop until 2027. Nobody disputes this fact...
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
Auld: "But just as Evan Longoria signed long-term extension w/us long before reaching free agency, (#Rays) want to do the same w/Tampa Bay.”
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
#Rays Prez Auld to Econ. Club of Tampa: "We are not missing by 1,000 fans a night. We are missing by 5-10k fans a night."
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
#Rays Prez Auld: "Right now, I can’t tell you that Downtown (Tampa) is a panacea…but we cannot afford to play at Trop until 2027."
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
#Rays Prez Brian Auld to Econ. Club of Tampa: New stadium might mean $15-20M in payroll, but all depends on debt service.
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
CLARIFICATION: Myers points out Auld indicated 5,000 fans per night might mean $15-20M in revenue per season; the profit, and thus payroll influence, would depend on the cost of the new stadium.
#Rays Prez Auld to Econ. Club of Tampa: "We aren’t trying to profit off our Trop departure”…but chalked up #StPete vote to misunderstanding.
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 9, 2015
I'd call this a good start to my New Year's wish for the Rays: increased transparency.
These comments are aligned with what Sternberg said in the past 12 months. Sternberg is not the one that will move the team.
ReplyDeleteOnce that said, at least 5K-10K more fans per game is a big challenge considering that St. Pete is out of question in my mind. So St. Pete council must accept this fact and facilitate the search of a pitch perfect site with mass transit. Sternberg will not wait 5 years. 2-3 years maximum to get a new stadium agreement and a clear plan.
Otherwise, Sternberg will sell partially or completely the Rays.
Funny that all the comments from MLB (Selig and other) in the past 2-3 years are no longer mentioned. Does that mean those comments were not real ones or serious?
If the Rays do move to Montreal, it is a given that Sternberg would sell part of the team to a local (preferably French) business partner. He'd be foolish not to.
DeleteClarification:
ReplyDelete15-20 million in increased revenue - no guidance from Brian Auld in how or if that translates to increased payroll.
My understanding is that a new stadium with higher attendance will increase revenues by 15-20M, so payroll will be higher 15-20M because of that. Once that said, depending on debt (payment for rent/paying their portion of the stadium), it may be lower than 15-20M.
DeleteSimple math
ReplyDelete$600 million cost for stadium = $38 million per year for 30 years at 5% interest. Rays will be looking for major bailout from taxpayers.
Especially if attendances are lower and lower in the next 2-3 years.
DeleteFor every dollars the Rays will invest into a stadium, they need some kind of warranty that there will be more money at the gate to compensate the additional cost
Even worse, what Auld said is that it will take a generation (20-25 years) before young fans will have kids and will show up at the new stadium so attendance will stabilize and revenue stream will be more stable.
This is why Montreal is way more appealing for MLB. With more than 100 years of baseball tradition and history, the story is completely different and no need to wait for a complete generation.
Based on the very very low number of news on this event over internet, just wondering how many journalists attend the event and how many people were attending the event too?
ReplyDelete0, 1, 2, more than 2?
Does such appearance by Auld at this stage of the negotiation process was generating any hype or expectations?
I have the feeling that the word apathetic is back again. Maybe I'm wrong.
Approximately 100 folks attend the weekly Economic Club of Tampa luncheons
DeleteGreat crowd. So how many journalists in the room? I assume you were the only one taking notes to relay the information, right?
DeleteNo journalists. ECOT members are business folks including bankers, lawyers, health care, accountants, real estate, a political person or two, etc.
DeleteStatement 1: Our attendance assumptions when we invested in the team in the current stadium were wrong. Statement 2: But here are our attendance assumptions for the new stadium we need you to purchase. Inference: Although our first assumptions were wrong, we need you to bail us out for our first assumptions and bet $600M that our second assumptions are right.
ReplyDeleteAnd Auld obviously knows the MOU compensates St. Pete ZERO DOLLARS in exchange for the Rays exploring Tampa. The vote was a NO to an unfavorable deal. It was not a misunderstanding.