Hillsborough Commissioners Shift on Rays

After Hillsborough Co. Commissioners voted 5-2 to invite the Rays to come discuss their future this fall, it appears several commissioners may have drifted from the stances they took during the 2010 campaign.

Victor Crist cast a vote to meet with the Rays despite saying in 2010 that trying to lure a resource from one Tampa Bay community to another is like "competing against yourself." He also said then that Hillsborough commissioners should strive to help keep the Rays in Pinellas Co.

Read more here.

Coverage of Hillsborough/Rays Discussions

Thursday brought the expected "invitation to talk" from Hillsborough Co., but the real news of the day was the Rays' indication they'd accept it, despite the threat of legal action from St. Petersburg.

While much of the Tampa Bay broadcast media covered the predictable, WTSP's Adam Freeman did a nice job explaining St. Pete's reaction and advancing the story to "what next?"

"Hopefully this will alow us to start to break the log jam that has not moved in over three years," Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan told Freeman, who also questioned Hagan how St. Pete's contract could be bought out when he said the Rays a "200- to 300-million dollar economic engine." Hagan said he only expected a buyout to cost in the "tens of millions," but didn't elaborate.

Hagan, who had previously told the Tampa Bay Times that he was willing to cause the "divorce" between the Rays and St. Petersburg, has now advanced the Stadium Saga to the regional conversation the Rays have so desperately longed for. But he has also given the team the leverage it needs to potentially pit one side of Tampa Bay against the other. The Times editorial board applauded the move as a "smart decision."

But nobody is willing to yet address the issue of how to pay for a $600 million stadium (St. Pete's mayor once said, "Am I worried about people assembling land in Hillsborough and Tampa?...no. I've seen their budgets."). The ABC Coalition already summarized years ago that the Rays would be better off playing near the Howard Frankland Bridge or Downtown Tampa.

Still, this could be an important step toward addressing the elephant in the room: that any new stadium in Tampa would likely have to be financed by some sort of a multi-county tax. Pinellas County, by comparison, has more funding available for a stadium, which is why Gateway remains very much in the mix.

Hillsborough County and the Rays are taking cautious steps toward a fall public meeting (with guidance from all of their attorneys), but as Field of Schemes' Neil deMause best summarizes, "is just looking OK?"

Hillsborough Ready to Talk Rays...and Media Mistakes

With Hillsborough County commissioners due to take up the Rays' Stadium Saga today, it's worth taking a look back at some media misfires the last few days:

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board chimed in again, commenting that the Hillsborough developments were long overdue.

But in-between some valid points, the editorial assumes that "The Rays want to talk." Yet, St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster has contended that if the team doesn't like it's contract, they should suggest a fix to him....and they haven't jumped at that opportunity. So aren't both parties just as much to blame?

Plus, am I the only one who realizes the Rays are still bound by the iron-clad contract and won't be able to accept Hillsborough's invitation to talk?

UPDATE: A day later, the Trib editorial board echoed the Times and blamed Foster for inaction. It's certainly not the first time the Tampa-based paper has lobbied for a move across the bay. But suggesting the Rays could be contracted or that the team doesn't owe it to the region to actually prove financial struggles is irresponsible.

The Trib even cites White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf as an influential leader who wants to contract teams - the same Jerry Reinsdorf who made St. Pete look foolish before admitting "a savvy negotiator creates leverage. People had to think we were going to leave Chicago."

Contraction ain't happening. Period.

Also worth pointing out: WTVT in Tampa took Hillsborough Commissioner Ken Hagan on his word that the Rays are "a $200 to $300 million a year economic engine."

Aside from the number being rather arbitrary, and aside from the fact that you'd never find a reputable economist to back up those numbers....I don't even think the Rays would agree with those numbers. If they did, and they one day broke their contract with St. Pete, the buyout and/or damages to the city would be in the billions.

Ken Hagan and the rest of the Hillsborough Co. commission will discuss the Rays Thursday morning at 10:30.

Attorney: Hillsborough Can Talk to Rays About a Tampa Stadium

Attorneys for Hillsborough County have given commissioners permission to talk to the Tampa Bay Rays about future stadium plans, despite the threat of legal action from the City of St. Petersburg.

The attorney reasoned the risk of lawsuit was low since Hillsborough Co. isn't a party to the Rays' use agreement. But since the franchise obviously is, there's no indication yet if they'll be willing to speak to outside municipalities about breaking the contract.

Also, none of the news addresses the single-biggest issue in the Stadium Saga, which is funding, but it does open the door for more dialogue between elected leaders and the franchise.

Read the opinion from the county attorney here, or continue reading more about the implications of the decision on WTSP.com.

New York Times on Stadium Saga

Last week, it was Stu Sternberg. Today, it was Mayor Bill Foster's turn to appear in the New York Times.

In a recap of the last three years of the Stadium Saga, the Times quotes the typical voices on the debate without the typical cliches:

“Everyone has an opinion, but not one of the people running their mouths are paying the freight on the stadium, and they were not here when the team was the laughingstock of the league,” Foster said in his office not far from Tropicana Field. “I put a lot in contracts, commitments and loyalty. All I’m asking is for them to abide by the contract.”

Hillsborough Co. Commissioner Ken Hagen was also quoted:

"If they left our region, it would have a devastating effect on our community from a quality-of-life and economic perspective,” said Ken Hagan, a Hillsborough County commissioner who has pushed to speak directly to the Rays. “To stick our heads in the sand and hope the stadium issue resolves itself is shortsighted."

While losing the Rays would be a huge emotional blow to the region, I'm not sure how much it would hurt Hillsborough Co. economically. It might even help since Tampa residents would be a little more likely to spend their disposable income in the county.

One other paragraph jumped out at me from writer Ken Belson:

The concession stands are buried in rotundas far from the seats, the scoreboard is tiny and the surrounding neighborhood is about as far from Wrigleyville as possible. On occasion, the stadium’s catwalks have deflected balls hit high in the air, making the whole stadium — it is the only one in baseball with a roof that does not open — feel like a Rube Goldberg contraption.

I guess I try to see the cup half-full: the Trop has plenty of concession stands near the seats; the scoreboard is visible from most seats; and the neighborhood around the Trop provides countless more options than even the MLB's newest park in Miami. (Personal guilty pleasure: ordering Taco Bus pre-game then bringing it into the stadium - they allow it!)

It's another tired knock on the Trop and the Stadium Saga from a national news outlet. But at least this story acknowledges the arguments against a new stadium while pointing out all of its flaws.

Hagan, Hillsborough Move Forward with Rays Talks

It may be a long way from affecting the outcome of the Rays' Stadium Saga, but the Hillsborough Co. Commission voted Wednesday to ask its legal counsel if it can speak to the team about the possibilities of a new stadium.

While Commissioner Ken Hagan made new stadium talks one of his campaign promises, it may not get the county very far. St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster told Bay News 9 that Hillsborough Co. lawyers will likely come to the same conclusion the City of St. Pete lawyers did: it's a $100 million mistake for any municipality to "tamper" with the Rays' existing contract.

"I would take it to the (City Council) and ask to sue them, individually," St. Pete's lawyer, John Wolfe, told the Tampa Bay Times.

Hagan then told the paper that a loophole may exist for the county to speak to the team "about ways to ensure the Rays remain in the region." He added that his concern was diminishing municipal leverage as time goes on.

But Hagan made no mention of the possible diminishing leverage he could be influencing by playing into the Tampa-vs.-St. Pete fight: a tug-of-war the Rays need to push the stadium conversation forward. Because without it, the team is staring at a seemingly-ironclad contract with a seemingly-endless (2027) expiration date.

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.