Buckhorn Creating Leverage for Rays

It usually takes a well-timed trip to a rival city. Just ask the Chicago White Sox. Or San Francisco Giants. Or Mario Lemeiux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pro teams in search of new stadiums typically "explore" a few rival cities to drum up leverage in their current market...something I predicted the Rays would do eventually. But while owner Stu Sternberg has indicated there may be "at least five" baseball-less markets better-equipped for the Rays than Tampa Bay, he hasn't started naming any of the cities he might consider down the road.

He hasn't had to.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who has been the region's most vocal stadium supporter since taking office, has - on several occasions - named potential threat cities.

"We're not going to let that team go to Charlotte or go to Las Vegas or go anywhere else," he told the Tampa Tribune Friday. "That is our team, and we intend to keep it our team, and however that works out, wherever it works out has yet to be determined."

Forget the fact that Charlotte is having trouble supporting its basketball team and nobody has suggested a baseball team in a region that lacks disposable income.

Forget the fact that baseball has made zero indication its interested in a move to Las Vegas, a metro even more driven by tourism than Tampa Bay. And that the city draws just 4,400 fans a game to its AAA stadium and cannot put an arena/stadium deal together to save its life.

And forget the fact that even Hall-of-Famer Peter Gammons admitted that Major League Baseball has run out of new cities to "blackmail" current cities.

Preparing for a next generation baseball stadium in Tampa Bay is responsible; but pulling competitor cities out of thin air may be counterproductive.

Buckhorn: "We Need to Start Looking at Other Options"

In one of his most direct comments on the Rays' Stadium Saga since taking office, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told WTVT today that "we need to start looking at other options" after Commissioner Bud Selig once again criticized Tampa Bay's attendance.

"If the business model doesn't work in St. Petersburg, if the fans are not attending, if the corporations are not buying tickets, if the stadium is outdated, then something needs to change and something will change, whether we like it or not," Buckhorn told the station.

However, as I've said countless times, we still have no evidence that "the business model doesn't work." As WTSP's Adam Freeman reported today, the Rays are one of the league's most profitable teams and the franchise is worth double what it was when Stu Sternberg purchased it.

"Nowhere in our agreement with the Rays has the city accepted responsibility for attendance at the Trop," St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster told WTVT. "Per our agreement that runs through 2027, we build the house. We pay for the house and you play baseball."

Buckhorn acknowledged that he's "got to be careful because they have a contract," but added that "I can't see the Rays continuing to play in that environment with that type of fan support."

Buckhorn Says St. Pete Can't Sustain Rays

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told the Tampa Bay Business Journal this week the Rays' relationship with St. Pete has to change "sometime."

"The reality is," Buckhorn told the TBBJ, "it’s not a business model that will work.”

The Rays and MLB have both made it clear they aren't satisfied with the team's current business model, which relies heavily on revenue sharing. But it's worth re-emphacizing neither has done much to demonstrate an actual financial strain in Tampa Bay.

Buckhorn may not be wrong about a stadium in St. Pete, but talking about Tampa's superiority is doing his counterpart, Bill Foster, no favors.

More Backhanded Jabs at Mayor Foster

The Tampa Bay Times sure isn't letting up on it's new favorite punching bag, St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster. Even when they aren't directly slamming the mayor for his approach toward the Rays' Stadium Saga, they're taking backhanded jabs at him through an editorial praising his Tampa counterpart, Bob Buckhorn:

Buckhorn has been looking at institutions throughout Tampa Bay as regional assets, from the Tampa Bay Rays and the gulf beaches to the area's colleges and universities...that sort of open discussion and brainstorming is how leaders in metro areas should work together to preserve and enhance shared assets.

Then, former sports columnist John Romano penned his own story criticizing Foster's leadership on another topic:

This is what a bureaucrat does:

Works within the system. Says please and thank you. Follows rules, avoids independent thinking and, above all else, protects the status quo.

This is what a leader does:

Leads. All the time. No matter the consequences.

Which brings us to the embarrassment that is the St. Petersburg Police Department's headquarters. The place is a dump. It is too small, too antiquated, too dangerous.
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So if you're not going to fight for this cause, what will you fight for?

In other news, you should take a few minutes to listen to an interesting Biz of Baseball podcast from Field of Schemes' Neil deMause on the Rays' and Marlins' stadium issues.

Hillsborough Commissioner Out to Fulfill Campaign Promise

Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan tells the Tampa Bay Times that he's finally ready to take action on one of his campaign promises: keeping the Rays in Tampa Bay:

"I'm just beyond frustrated at the lack of progress regarding the Rays' long-term future in the Tampa Bay region," Hagan said. "For me, just sitting by idly and hoping issues will work themselves out is counterproductive."

In coming weeks, Hagan said he will ask county attorneys to opine on whether Hillsborough can engage in direct talks with the Rays about their future in the region despite the team's lease at Tropicana Field. If he gets a favorable response, he said he will reach out to the team to figure out what the Rays want and how local government can help.

Hagan went on to tell the Times that local governments lose a little bit of leverage every day because the cost for the Rays to break a contract gets smaller.

However, Hagan neglects to acknowledge leverage is also diminished every time an elected official suggests the team break its contract, as he is directly implying.

On the campaign trail in 2010, Hagan said "It's important to our community and our economy to have a plan...a vote for me is a vote for future sporting events (in Hillsborough County)." He made it clear he was prepared to bring the Rays to Tampa.

Additionally, every year that goes by without new stadium talks also means another year of Rays baseball in St. Petersburg, supposedly worth more than whatever buy-out might be proposed.

Also read: What Mayor Bill Foster is Thinking

Politicians like Hagan and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn have been calculated in describing circumstances that could lead to the Rays leaving Pinellas. And that means a possible 9-figure buyout on top of the $500-$600 million stadium cost.

So regardless of what the Hillsborough Commission decides, the county still can't afford to build a new stadium on its own and there isn't enough money in Tampa Bay to build a new stadium without public dollars, or else we wouldn't be having this conversaion.

Instead, the stadium saga continues to be a political football, much to the dismay of local business and community leaders.

"When the cities start fighting with each other, it just drives us up the wall,"
one influential leader told the Tampa Tribune in January.

The most encouraging "way out" of this saga remains the work of the private business groups researching regional financing options. Stay tuned for their updates this summer.

Buckhorn Talks Rays Stadium...Again

More from Tampa's mayor on the Rays' Stadium Saga:

Mayor Bob Buckhorn said again Friday he has no intention to be the boyfriend in any divorce between St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay Rays.

That said, he keeps mentioning how hot the wife is.

In an interview on WDAE 620-AM, Buckhorn even said the Rays' stadium, if not in St. Petersburg, "needs to be in downtown Tampa."

Buckhorn is consistant. But he's also doing the Rays a big favor.

Maybe he stopped talking about how Tampa is a better home for the Rays, people would stop asking him about it?

Should Tampa Propose New Stadium Sites?

Granted it was written before Stu Sternberg allegedly made his "Tampa is not a panacea" comments, but nevertheless, this sounds like a bad idea: The Gulf Coast Business Review advocating Mayor Bob Buckhorn propose a new Rays stadium location in Tampa:

The conflict over the Trop has been like a chess game; each move has been slow and calculated. For example, the city of St. Pete hired a bankruptcy lawyer while drafting the contract, a strategy to counter the team using bankruptcy as a means to escape its agreement.

But Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn has the power to change that game, by officially proposing a location in downtown Tampa for a new Rays stadium.

Buckhorn often speaks about the benefits of having the Rays downtown, but publically announcing a Hillsborough location for the Rays to call home could give the team’s owners the leverage to broker a way out of St. Pete.

How long can the Rays compete with the bloated salaries of the Yankees and the Red Sox while ranked second-to-last in average attendance? Certainly not for the next 15 years. Especially while serving as a pseudo-farm system for their two divisional rivals.

Mayor Buckhorn says the Rays “can’t start dating” until the team escapes its use agreement at the Trop. But offering a stadium site in Tampa could put the Rays back on the market.

Even though the idea was called a "bold prediction for 2012," one can't help but to wonder how another round of Tampa vs. St. Pete would pan out.

I suppose Tampa leaders would keep talking about how a stadium across the Bay would be better for the team....then the Rays would be able to pit one city vs. another....then some bold leader would hitch his political wagon to getting a stadium deal done....then fans might forget that the Rays still haven't provided any evidence that they can't compete in their current situation.

Or, the local media could simply advocate real regional cooperation instead of pitting one community vs. another.

Foster/Sternberg Summit - No New News

Exactly as predicted, the status of the Stadium Saga is the exact same as it was a few days ago: a stadium stalemate.

As I reported yesterday for WTSP, the mayor of St. Petersburg met with Rays owner Stu Sternberg for roughly two hours at Tropicana Field. Yet, Foster told me he had no comment and Sternberg essentially said the same thing to the print reporters staking out The Trop.

Other reactions include WFTS's Tom Korun chipping in a column about how Sternberg may be Tampa Bay's best owner, but he's probably not getting a stadium in Tampa. And WFTS was also one of several stations to chase down Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn for his reaction, which remains "we'd love a chance to keep the Rays, but we won't interfere with St. Pete's contract."

You could make the argument, however, the more "Tampa" is mentioned in the same sentence as "Rays," the more it interferes with said contract...

Mayor Foster and the Stadium Saga "End Game"

Glad to see the Times' John Romano still providing insight on the Rays' Stadium Saga even after his move to the Metro page. This morning, he made a very reasonable suggestion for Mayor Bill Foster to consider the end game in negotiations with the Rays.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that the mayor roll over. There is no reason for that. He has a
terrific lease at Tropicana Field, and he should use it to his greatest benefit.

But he needs to recognize the lease will be half-over by the end of the year, and the Rays are going to pay less and less to get out of it as the expiration date draws nearer.
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He should tell Sternberg he considers the Rays to be important business partners. And he hasn't given up on the idea of baseball in his town.

But if his business partner wants to look at sites in Hillsborough, the mayor will not stand in the way as long as the Rays make some concessions.

First of all, they need to sign a contract that acknowledges that such a move in no way weakens the lease at Tropicana. Since the Rays signed a similar document when looking at a waterfront site, this shouldn't be a problem.

The Rays also need to put up $1 million in earnest money for the privilege of talking to Tampa. Again, this shouldn't be much of a deal breaker.

Finally, should the Rays eventually decide that moving to downtown Tampa is integral to the
franchise's future, they must agree to allow St. Pete to view their finances to prove this is true. I'm betting that one will be sticky.

Wait, did I say Romano was being reasonable? Nevermind, he suggested the Rays might one day voluntarily open their books.

People don't give Foster (a lawyer) enough credit for paying attention to the end game. He has always known his job is to leverage a buyout number the city can live with. Just like Sternberg's job is to wiggle his way out of the contract with minimal financial penalty.

So while the topic of contract buyout will be discussed next week, you probably won't hear about it in the media. Foster will continue to maintain his lawyer-like approach, while Sternberg will continue to call for a regional remedy.

Meanwhile, Foster's counterpart in Tampa, Mayor Bob Buckhorn, will continue to tout his city's baseball potential while maintaining his statesman status.

Tampa Mayor Talks Downtown Stadium Again

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says he won't "meddle" with the City of St. Pete's contract with the Rays - a contract that has 15 more years on it - he just can't help talking about how much greater a Rays stadium would be in his city:

"We need to be prepared if (a "divorce" from St. Pete) happens to be able to make the case not only to the voters in this community but also to the business community that this is a regional asset, the Rays, that we need to keep. And if that is the case, which I think it is, what is the best location for it. I happen to think it's in downtown Tampa."

Buckhorn acknowledged a point I've made before - that any new stadium outside of Greater St. Pete would likely require a large cash buyout of the use agreement.

But Buckhorn also indicated St. Pete's biggest concern would be $90 million in outstanding debt on the stadium - debt that will be paid off in a few years. I bet if you asked St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster, he would tell you his city has a lot more than $90 million in equity invested here.

Furthermore, every time Buckhorn touts Tampa as a suitable alternative to St. Pete, he is playing into the hands of the Rays, who want nothing more than to diminish St. Pete's bargaining power. The blueprint for a new stadium involves pitting one metropolis against another; but since that hasn't happened yet, a St. Pete vs. Tampa tug-of-war will suit just fine.

Stadium Stalemate is Because Tampa Bay Won't Embrace Multi-County Tax

As I wrote on WTSP.com today, the head of the grass-roots business group, "The Clutch Hitters," met with St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster today. He told me it was just a casual chat, and there's little reason why it would ever be more than that.

The Clutch Hitters are doing a noble thing and encouraging local leaders to think regionally for the sake a new stadium. They aren't advocating location or even revenue streams, just discussion.

But the group isn't telling Foster, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, or anyone else in positions of power things they don't already know (Foster admitted it in 2009). The only way to get a new stadium built is with public money, and it will take a multi-county effort (like in Colorado, Minnesota, Milwaukee, etc) to come up with enough.

So right now, as The Clutch Hitters encourage regional cooperation and the area's two biggest Chambers of Commerce "explore financing possibilities," any discussion of stadium location is taboo. Because as easy as a tenth-of-a-cent sales tax would be to swallow for some people, few in St. Pete would get on-board with the plan if the stadium was built in Tampa. Likewise, few in Tampa would support their dollars going toward another Pinellas stadium.

The Chambers and Hitters both know a regional revenue stream is the first step toward a new stadium, but nobody - including the Rays - know how to get there. Every time stadium financing is raised, stadium location dominates the discussion.

Tampa Learning Lesson St. Pete Already Learned

Much like St. Pete learned three years ago, Tampa and Hillsborough Co. are learning a tough lesson: voters hate it when public deals are negotiated in private.

Similarly to how the Rays' failed waterfront stadium deal went down, officials in Tampa are trying to wipe the egg off their face after agreeing to hand over $1+ million in incentives to a large mystery company "considering" a move out of town.

That business turned out to be PricewaterhouseCoopers, and it turns out it may not have ever been leaving the region in the first place.

My guess is, Hillsborough leaders will ask smarter questions the next time they're presented with a similar situation.

But the jury is still out as to whether leaders will act any different when it's a sports team - the Rays - asking, "please help subsidize our expansion or else we're leaving?"

Buckhorn Echoes What Foster Said Two Years Ago

Times writer Richard Danielson details another episode of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn talking stadium:

Seems like every week Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is thinking out loud about the future of the Tampa Bay Rays in ways that raise people's eyebrows.

Buckhorn said in a radio interview Tuesday that he believes the team will leave St. Petersburg.
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If the Rays do leave St. Petersburg, Buckhorn said, and not for the first time, he thinks the best place for them to land would be downtown Tampa.

But asked whether he thinks the Rays will move to Tampa, Buckhorn said, "No. It's my belief that at some point the Rays will leave St. Petersburg … and I absolutely want to be ready when that happens."

On Wednesday, Buckhorn said it's clear that playing at Tropicana Field doesn't work for the team.

Ironically, it's similar to what St. Pete's not-yet-elected mayor, Bill Foster, said two years ago.

Trib Column on Buckhorn Pitch Misses the Mark

Tribune columnist Joe O'Neill writes that Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn's ceremonial first pitch the other night was much more than a pitch. And he may be right...but he's also very wrong.

O'Neill says, "sooner than later, the Rays will unilaterally opt out of that (2027) Trop lease. It won't come cheap, but it's the cost of (un)doing business in the sports-franchise universe...the Rays will relocate to Tampa or they will move far away."

First of all, the Rays have a use agreement, not a lease. And they can't "opt out," only buy out.

But more importantly, it's wrong to assume all Pinellas locations are off the table.

Pinellas Co. still has the most available money and a Gateway/Toytown venue would still put the team more within reach of more fans.

O'Neill also asserts, "The water may be a 'big divide' when it comes to Trop attendees, but Tampa's mayor and key business interests have no problem bridging the bay."

I get his point, but if the businesses in Tampa supported the Rays in St. Pete, we wouldn't be having this discussion about the Rays moving.