Could/Would/Should Rays Consider Leaving?

Despite all the talk of the Rays possibly leaving Tampa Bay, it seems like an incredible long shot given the legal implications, the fact that the Rays don't really hate the area, and the possibility that Pinellas Co. will eventually build the team a new home in the Gateway area of St. Pete/Clearwater.

For more, continue reading here.

Rays Aren't Small-Market

It's sometimes hard to listen to fans and analysts call the Rays a "small market" team. Sure, it looks that way when you compare them to their "large market" division foes, the Yankees and Red Sox.

And sure, there's simply no comparison between the number of people that live in Tampa Bay and the people that live in the New York or Boston area. The Yanks and Sox have more people to sell tickets to and they make more in TV revenue with more people watching. But to blame the Rays' limited payroll on Tampa Bay's limited market size is deceiving.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=113050

Rays Have New Ways to Fill Trop

The Rays may still be searching for a way to sell-out their 81 home games, but they think they've come up with a solution to filling the stands on some non-game-days.

Their new subsidiary - the Sunburst Entertainment Group - will look to open up business opportunities for the team outside of baseball. That includes bringing more events to Tropicana Field like football games, concerts, and community events.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=113166

ABC Coalition Starts Building Final Report on Rays

For the first time, the ABC Coalition - the group studying the best way to keep baseball in Tampa Bay in the long term - started forming some initial conclusions at its Thursday afternoon meeting.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=111901

And find the final report here.

Can Hulk Hogan Slam Property Taxes?

Hulk Hogan is letting everyone know about his new tag-team partner, GuaranteedLowerPropertyTaxes.com.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, has been hired by the Fort Myers-based company that claims it can lower your property taxes by appealing the appraised value of your home.

"I'm in the same boat as you guys," said Hogan at the campaign's kick-off event in Estero, Fla. this past weekend. "But I bet your bottom dollar that we could look at your situation and take a quick check on where you're at with your history and what's going on with your home, and we can save you money."

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=111778

Derek Jeter can go ahead with plans to build a six-foot concrete and wrought-iron wall around his Davis Islands mansion after a City of Tampa board unanimously voted (7-0) to provide him an exception to city code, which limits solid structures to just three feet.

The home has drawn the ire of his future neighbors, many of whom spoke out against the exemption request.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=111361

Yankees Star Wants to Build "Great Wall of Jeter"

Derek Jeter's attempt to build an outfield-sized wall around his new 30,000-plus-sq. ft. Davis Islands home has, well, run into a bit of a wall.

The Yankees star is looking for an exception to the city's three-foot-tall limit on solid walls, citing privacy and security issues at the waterfront mansion. His request for a six-foot-tall concrete and wrought-iron fence will go before Tampa's Variance Review Board on Tuesday, August 11.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=111092

Mayoral Candidates Re-Debate Rays Stadium

Several months after we first asked the frontrunners in the St. Petersburg mayor's race for their thoughts on a new Rays stadium, the same candidates were asked to react to the initial findings from the ABC Coalition and - once again - what steps they favor in keeping baseball in Tampa Bay long-term.

We compare the leading candidates to each other and compares how some platforms have changed since May.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=110625

Sarasota Will Build It, Orioles Will Come

After a marathon meeting featuring pleas from dozens of passionate residents, Sarasota County Commissioners approved a "memo of understanding" with the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.

The agreement - signed by the county and team - is essentially a rough draft of a lease. It will bring the Orioles' spring training to Sarasota in 2010 and preserve an 86-year tradition of Major League Baseball in the city.

For more, continue reading here.

Research Says St. Pete Among Worst Options for Rays

The private group commissioned last year to ensure the long-term success of baseball in Tampa Bay suggested Thursday that Downtown St. Pete is not a suitable long-term home for the Rays.

As it continues to release its initial findings, the Stadium Options committee of the ABC Coalition said that it studied five possible trade areas in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, and Tropicana Field's current location near downtown St. Pete was too remote for most baseball fans to get to conveniently.

For more, continue reading here.

Group Releases First Findings on Rays

Nearly a year after it was created, the ABC Coalition - a private advisory board tasked with keeping the Rays in Tampa Bay - began releasing its initial findings on Monday.

Although the findings came with the disclaimer that they were preliminary and completely non-binding (the group has no legislative authority), some of the numbers discussed were staggering.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=109480

Fans Launch Campaign to Move Rays to Tampa

With new reports from stadium-search group "The ABC Coalition" due next week, fans in Hillsborough County are launching a grass-roots effort to land the Rays a new home in Downtown Tampa.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=109345

How the Rays Stadium Saga Will Go Down

A tug-of-war - first between two local communities, then two communities separated by hundreds or thousands of miles. Blogs, petitions, editorials, and maybe even a full-page ad or two. Anger. Heartbreak.

These are all the things we in the Tampa Bay area have to look forward to in the next couple of years as the Rays lobby for a new state-of-the-art baseball stadium.

Disclaimer: this is pure conjecture. By no means do I have a crystal ball that can predict the future. However, I've covered a number of professional sports teams' attempts to get new stadiums funded by the community (Red Sox' failed attempt for a new Fenway Park, Red Sox' successful attempt for a new spring training park in Ft. Myers, Reds' failed attempt for a new spring training park in Sarasota, Marlins' fleecing of Miami for a new park, etc.) and while the results differ, the steps teams take to get their way are almost identical. So, I'm pretty sure how this is going to go down.

Every time a team wants a new ballpark, it starts planting seeds that it cannot field a competitive team in its current digs (Rays got this out of the way in the 1990s).

When people start believing the team actually could be competitive at its current site - both on-the-field and at the box office - the team drops more hints that attendance could/should still be better (see Rays' 2008 campaign).

When people start believing that a new ballpark could make a difference in attendance, the team commissions a study to "analyze" the feasibility of staying put. The Red Sox did it, the Marlins did it, and the Rays did it this June.

The study - predictably - concludes it's not feasible to stay at current location long-term.

That takes us to the present point in time, where we await a new study from the ABC Coalition that will analyze where a new stadium would be best-placed. There really isn't much suspense here...the foregone conclusion is that a stadium in - or very close - to Hillsborough County will draw more fans than the current location in somewhat-remote downtown St. Petersburg.

Disclaimer #2: I love watching the Rays play. I think they've grown a great base here and need to stay here. I think they mean a lot of money to the local economy...but I don't think anyone knows exactly how much that is.

Once the ABC Coalition releases its findings on location, the Rays may finally admit that they don't hate The Trop; they hate playing in downtown St. Pete.That's when things will really get fun.

The team will continue to drop hints that it needs a new home at a new place. Grass-root efforts will pop up. Fan groups - on both sides of the bay - will start rallying the troops.

Since the team's current contract with St. Pete doesn't expire anytime soon, Tampa may not happen. However, since St. Pete and Pinellas Co. could work out a deal to tear up the current lease and sign a new one long-term, the Gateway area (near the bay bridges) will start to become the most realistic location.

The public will scoff at the cost ($470M?). The team will become more poignant that it needs help from the community to survive. Execs will "remind" us that they aren't so much a private business, but an integral and beloved part of the community. The Red Sox did it, the Marlins (hilariously) did it, and the Rays will do it.

The team will re-affirm its commitment to stay in the area, but it won't be shy about its need for a new park.

The public will still scoff at the cost.

It will be right about that time a high-ranking team executive (Stuart Sternberg? Matthew Silverman? Stadium Czar Michael Kalt?) will take a trip to Charlotte. Or Portland. Or some other MLB-starved city.

A trip like that would normally go under-the-radar, but a well-placed call to someone like Peter Gammons or Rob Neyer will drop the tip that the Rays are exploring other communities.

Why? Because teams don't get free stadiums unless two cities are competing for their services.

The blogs, editorials, and letters to the editor will fire up again. Local politicians will get nervous. One leader - maybe a Pinellas Co. Commissioner or a St. Pete City Councilman? - will decide his/her legacy will be keeping the Rays in Tampa Bay.

He/she will fire up more grass-root efforts to save the team. Expect more petitions, rallies, and forums.

Fans in Charlotte (or Portland, etc.) will launch similar grass-root efforts to show their interest in a team.

The Rays will kick back and let the scenario run its course.

Baseball fans will fight stadium-haters. City leaders will battle their counterparts in other municipalities. Columnists will stir the pot with provocative headlines. The war will be waged on newsprint, on the airwaves, and of course, online.

And while it will be a war of public opinion, the Rays - mark my words - will NEVER let the issue go to public referendum. After seeing a public stadium vote fail (for a modest $16M price tag) in Sarasota, they won't risk letting the people of Tampa Bay decide their $470M fate. (The Bucs won their referendum in a different era - there is no comparison.)

Private investors will join the fight, offering up their money, land, and services to help the area keep the team.

The "donations" won't be nearly enough to cover the cost of a new stadium, but it will be enough to give the impression that the people of Pinellas County are willing to buck up to keep the economic engine in-town.

When the public still scoffs at the cost of a new stadium, the team casually reminds fans that while they are a beloved part of community, they could be a beloved part of someone else's community.

More trips to the second city follow. The Rays will acknowledge publicly that they are talking to another city. After all, the owners aren't from here - they aren't committed to staying in a town that's not committed to them.

More local politicians start feeling the heat and get legitimately scared the team will leave.

That's where the blueprint ends.

What happens from here? Tough to say.

Every professional franchise uses these steps to try and leverage a new, free stadium. The results vary but often depend on two things: the economy and the volume of the voices of the stadium cheerleaders.

Those voices aren't loud yet, but when people REALLY get scared the team may leave - and it always reaches that climax - you won't be able to tune them out.

Report: Renovating The Trop Too Expensive

The Rays say they need a new stadium with wider concourses, better seats and a more appealing roof. Now, they've got some evidence that Tropicana Field may not be a suitable long-term home.

World-renowned stadium-builder Populous (formerly HOK) released a report Monday that estimated the cost of renovating Tropicana Field to modern stadium standards at $430 million. That includes wider concourses, better sightlines, wider seats and a retractable roof. They estimated the cost of a brand-new ballpark at $470 million.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=107767

Location, Location, Location

Two weeks after we first reported plans for a new waterfront stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays were forever dead, the team made it official on Friday: building a retractable-roof stadium at Al Lang Field is no longer an option.

For more, continue here: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=106426