Could Rays stadium plans fall through after Pinellas County Commission shakeup?
A new Tampa Bay Rays stadium and redevelopment was a done deal — until a hurricane blew the roof off Tropicana Field.
As this area reckons with failing infrastructure following two hurricanes, St. Petersburg and Pinellas County are due to issue hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds to finance a $1.3 billion stadium for the Rays and the surrounding Historic Gas Plant District. Votes on those bonds were delayed because of the storms, but as they come back for a vote, both government boards will have newly elected members who say there are many needs more pressing than baseball.
The county commission swears in their two new members first, and they both have issues with some of the financial terms of the Rays deal. The bonds could be among the first issues Vince Nowicki and Chris Scherer vote on at their first meeting Nov. 19. The men could make up a new majority on the seven-member commission against the deal, and have the power to tank it altogether.
Both the city and the county have until March 31, 2025, to issue the bonds. If the county commission votes to not do so, the current deal approved in July could fall apart.
"We are in a new era right here," said Scherer, whose townhome flooded on Indian Shores due to Hurricane Helene. "I mean, whatever was agreed to before needs to be looked at differently now, because we are dealing with a county where, you know, tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed, and our infrastructure that was inadequate to begin with has suffered a lot of damage."
The Rays' silence on where they would prefer to play for the upcoming 2025 season isn't helping. As the city assesses damage to the Trop, the Rays have been mum on their future. Venues outside Pinellas County such as Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports complex could be potential options.
The most workable option in Pinellas would be BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies and minor-league Clearwater Threshers during the season. Another option is the Toronto Blue Jays' facility in Dunedin. Pinellas County Commission chairperson Kathleen Peters said she called the Rays and encouraged them to partner with the Phillies.
"I think it's up to us to pressure them," she said.
In the Rays' first public statement since Oct. 10, Brian Auld said Friday that Rays employees have been struggling with finding their own housing on top of new office space, which they moved into this week. He said the team has been in touch with city and county leaders.
"We are focused on what is now our single most urgent issue: securing a place for the Rays to play the 2025 season, which begins in four months," Auld said. "We will let our fans and the entire community know as soon as we have reached a resolution with Major League Baseball."
The team's silence irked the Pinellas County Commission, which voted 6-1 on Oct. 29 to delay a vote that would issue bonds to pay for the county's portion of the stadium — $312.5 million — out of its tourist tax chest. Commissioner Chris Latvala, one of two no votes on the deal in July, led the charge to delay. He made the point that if the Rays were to leave Pinellas County, it would hurt the same tourism revenues that would help pay for their new stadium.
"It's important for baseball to stay in Pinellas County," Latvala said. "Baseball, as the Rays said, should be 'Here to Stay.' "
Commissioners who voted yes on the deal noted the Rays' absence at that meeting.
"This is when we need the Rays the most," said commissioner Brian Scott. "The fact that they haven't had a public facing statement of 'We're going to do everything we can to be in Pinellas County,' I haven't really decided how I'm going to vote here but it's been bugging me, it concerns me."
Then came Election Day on Tuesday. The one commissioner who voted against delaying the bonds, Charlie Justice, lost his seat to Nowicki. Voters also elected Scherer to a seat vacated by Janet Long, a staunch Rays supporter.
Both Nowicki and Scherer say they think the team should stay local in the interim. They will be sworn in Nov. 18 and, the next day, when the bonds are back on the agenda for a vote, they could decide the fate of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay. They could also opt to delay the vote again to allow further discussion.
The Pinellas County Commission approved their part of the Rays deal in July with a 5-2 vote. If those two previous no votes — Latvala and Dave Eggers — hold, and Nowicki and Scherer join them, those four votes are enough to tank the deal for the county, the city and the Rays.
"I'm not saying it could cost them the whole deal, but I wouldn't hire or go into business with somebody that I tried to reach out to multiple times in a month or three weeks. I wouldn't be very excited to give them $300 million. I think that's pretty reasonable, right?" Nowicki told the Tampa Bay Times. "But they had time to donate money to run negative ads against me."
Since Hurricane Milton, the Rays have made eight donations totaling $71,000 to political action committees, campaign finance records show. Prior to that, the team contributed another $75,000 since the August primary election. That money was given to political committees that transferred those funds to other political committees that ran attack ads on Nowicki and supported candidates who favor a stadium deal.
Winning for Florida sent out texts blasting Nowicki. A mailer by Winning for Florida touted stadium supporter and current council chairperson Deborah Figgs-Sanders and dunked on her opponent Torrie Jasuwan, who has said she would vote no on the deal. Winning for Florida received $17,500 from Tampa's Tomorrow, which got $40,000 from the Rays.
The Rays' money also went to a political action committee supporting Pete Boland for City Council, yet his opponent, Mike Harting, won that race. Harting is backed by Home Runs Matter, a group formerly known as No Home Run, which wants local officials to strike a better deal with the Rays.
Harting and Corey Givens, a stadium deal critic who also was elected to the City Council, won't be sworn in until 2025. The council is scheduled to vote on the bonds Nov. 21 with just seven members. Stadium supporter Ed Montanari had to resign from the council to run for a Florida House of Representatives seat, which he lost.
St. Petersburg spokesperson Alizza Punzalan-Randle did not respond to requests for comment.
The county's portion of the stadium funding comes from taxes collected from hotel room stays and short-term rentals. That funding is limited to tourism-related uses, but it can also be used for beach renourishment, which is a top priority for the commission.
Eggers, who voted no on the Rays deal, said it's worth looking at whether some of that funding could be used for water, sewer infrastructure and roads also used by tourists.
Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton told the Times he has spoken to the Rays but had nothing to report. Asked if the county is prepared to renegotiate the deal, or have the bonds voted down, he said it was a complete hypothetical.
"It's too soon," Burton said. "The commissioners have just been elected two days ago. I haven't even been able to talk to them ... All that will occur in due time, so we'll see where it goes from there."
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