Taxpayers not excited about the new Tampa Bay Rays stadium?

Pinellas County, Florida, and the St. Petersburg City Council recently voted to delay approval of a bond sale to finance construction of a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays. Fox 13. If the funds were released, county and city taxpayers would be on the hook for millions of dollars to house one of the least attended teams in MLB.

In July the city and region approved $1.3 billion plan build a new stadium for the team. A stadium that will become part of a larger $6.5 Billion Redevelopment Projectwill be financed by St. Petersburg ($417.5 million) and Pinellas County ($312.5 million), with the Rays covering the rest. After Hurricane Milton last month broke the roof from Tropicana Field, the Rays’ current home, the team moved to expedite government funding for the project.

On Tuesday, Pinellas County commissioners voted for the second time to end funding for a new stadium. Before the meeting, the Rays sent out a letter saying the first deferred funding vote in October had pushed back the expected opening of the new stadium until 2029 (from 2028) and increased costs to the point that the team would not be able to cover the costs on its own. . After voting to postpone, the Rays sent another letter saying they putting your plans on hold for the stadium in accordance with the decision. The administration of the city of St. Petersburg expects the team to send an official letter to the city about the termination of activities, reports Tampa Bay Times.

Ron Diner, FounderNo home run” the stadium advocacy group said. Cause that a letter the Rays sent to county commissioners ahead of the funding vote played a big role in the decision to delay. Diner believes this turned the city and county against them because it signaled an intent to renege on their promise to pay for budget overruns.

If stadium construction delays have already left the Rays struggling to make ends meet, further cost overruns that very common In large projects like this, responsibility should have been left to the county and city, Diner said.

The solution, according to Diner, would be to move the team deeper into the territory of St. Petersburg, closer to Tampa. “The stadium needs to be torn down and the city needs to renovate it,” Diner said. After Hurricanes Helen and Milton, the city should invest the money that would have been put into the stadium to fix the city’s sewers and levees and prepare for future hurricanes, he said.

Traffic congestion when traveling to St. Petersburg for games and the city’s small population were also reasons Diner cited for the construction of a new stadium. “I hope they move to Tampa,” Diner said.

The Tampa Bay Rays will play at Tampa Bay Rays Stadium during the 2025 season. George M. Steinbrenner Fieldspring training home of the New York Yankees. The field will be the smallest stadium in MLB, with a capacity of just 11,026. Tropicana Field was able to accommodate 25 025 man before it was destroyed. Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays ranked 28th out of 30 teams in attendance, just above the Miami Marlins and Oakland A’s.

For now, St. Petersburg residents can rest assured knowing that the funds that were supposed to be invested in building the stadium are now available for the repairs the city needs after the Florida accident. historical hurricane season.