Rays Tampa Future in Doubt as County Commission Delays Bond Vote

The Rays’ days in the Tampa area could now be numbered after the Pinellas County, Fla., county commission on Tuesday delayed for a second time a vote to issue previously approved bonds as part of a planned $1.3 billion ballpark.

A deal struck last July called for the county to supply $312.5 million in tourist tax dollars toward the stadium. But catastrophic hurricane damage to Tropicana Field, as well as the greater Tampa area, and the recent commission election of opponents to the ballpark deal, changed the dynamic surrounding the Rays substantially. So when it comes to issuing the bonds to fulfill that prior pledge, significant questions persist, and the commission members voted by a 6-1 margin to give themselves more time to review the funding.

That vote follows a prior vote, by the same margin, last month to delay the bond issuance.  During the often-tense public meeting, commission members even suggested that Rays owner Stu Sternberg could be looking for a way to exit the stadium deal and pin the blame on the county.

“They are not great partners,” commission member Rene Flowers said of the Rays. “I think they want to take their toys and go back home.”

The bond issue will now be revisited on Dec. 17.

The Rays will be playing the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, where the Yankees hold their spring training. But the Rays’ future beyond that is increasingly uncertain.

Strong Words

Prior to the commission hearing, the Rays sent a lengthy letter to the county officials, laying out that the original 2028 target to open the ballpark is already gone because of the initial move to delay the bond issuance. Preliminary stadium work has been suspended, and the project’s price tag is now rising because of it, the club said. The Rays are responsible for all costs beyond the $600 million total contribution from the public sector, including overruns. 

“A 2029 ballpark delivery would result in significantly higher costs that we are not able to absorb alone,” team presidents Matt Silverman and Brian Auld wrote. “[The] enormous investment of human and financial capital has been jeopardized by the county’s failure to live up to its July agreement.”

But if the goal of the letter was to facilitate a deal, it largely backfired, as instead, the tone of the commission proceedings darkened considerably.

“The idea of rushing this deal concerns me,” said county commissioner Dave Eggers. “I am not going to feel rushed by statements that were made by the Rays.”