Pinellas County Commissioners met to discuss tourist taxes and bonds needed to help fund the stadium. This had been delayed due to the impacts of Hurricane Milton on the area.
Hours before this meeting, Tampa Bay Rays presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman sent an extensive letter to the Pinellas County Board. The letter detailed how the delay in the vote has delayed their new ballpark plan for 2028.
The Rays sent Pinellas Commissioners a letter before today’s bond vote meeting warning the deal’s in jeopardy and the organization is “stunned by this unfortunate turn of events.” @BN9 pic.twitter.com/zzWBxyCrMY
— Josh Rojas (@JoshRojasBN9) November 19, 2024
Auld and Silverman also mentioned how this would make the project more expensive as the Rays have already put $50 million into it.
Arguably, the most ominous part of the letter came in its conclusion. Auld and Silverman wrote, “We [the Tampa Bay Rays] stand ready to work on a new solution with any and all willing partners to preserve the future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come.”
Although this seems encouraging, the repeated delays have raised questions about exactly where the Rays will play in the future. A few Pinellas County officials have said that the deal seems to be increasingly in doubt as time passes.
Commissioner René Flowers says the deal is seemingly “dissipating.” Others, like Vince Nowicki, have called it a “bad deal.”
The team recently announced that their 2025 season will be played at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. This is the usual home to New York Yankees’ spring training.
The Rays are planning to play their 2025 season home games at Steinbrenner Field, per @TBTimes_Rays pic.twitter.com/yllIHtreG5
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 14, 2024
In Auld and Silverman’s letter, they detailed how the team did look for options in Pinellas County to play home games in for 2025. For example, one option that was on the table was BayCare Ballpark. This is home to the Clearwater Threshers, a team in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system. The Phillies also do their spring training there.
This decision to move the team out of the county may affect how these bonds can be obtained to help with the 2028 ballpark project.
However, in the end, the commissioners voted 6-1 to move the bonds decision to Dec. 17. Therefore, the Tampa Bay Rays will have to wait even further to see if their $1.3 billion stadium plan comes to life.
