Pressure “appears to be mounting” among local leaders for Rays owner Stuart Sternberg to sell the team following his announcement that the team won’t go through with the $1.3B ballpark and redevelopment deal in St. Petersburg, according to Colbi Edmonds of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, who has staked much of his legacy in the office on getting the agreement with the Rays, “made clear he was done negotiating with the team’s current leadership.” Welch said, “I have no interest in working with this ownership group. That bridge has been burned.” Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, who has been in support of the team for 15 years, said that for him, “any further discussions about keeping the team in Tampa Bay should be without Sternberg.” Sternberg has not said he intends to sell, but he is reportedly facing pressure from MLB to do so. Rays co-President Matt Silverman “pushed back against these whispers.” Silverman said, “The team’s not for sale. These rumors are going to exist until there’s a resolution with the stadium” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 3/13).
FINISH THEM: In Tampa, Pam Huff noted the Rays’ decision to walk away from the redevelopment of Tropicana Field “deals a particularly personal blow to Welch, a first-term mayor who bet his political legacy on throwing out the previous administration’s redevelopment proposals and only seeking proposals that involved the Rays” (TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/13).
SHIP HAS SAILED: In Tampa, John Romano noted Silverman is hopeful a new ballpark plan can be forged in the next four years, but the Rays have “failed to find common ground with four St. Pete mayors and two Tampa mayors in the past 20 years and have left a trail of animosity in their wake.” Welch made it pretty clear on Thursday that he is “done with Sternberg.” Romano: “Beyond that, in what scenario would the Rays find a deal better than $740 million in public money for construction costs and infrastructure, plus proceeds from the redevelopment of Trop land?” Maybe there is a “scenario where the Rays take on additional investors to privately finance a stadium” in Hillsborough County -- which is their preferred location -- but there is a reason they have “never come close to building in Tampa.” It was always “easier and cheaper to build in St. Pete.” Romano: “Welch is not going to be jilted at the altar again. And politicians in Hillsborough have always viewed the Rays as a nice commodity but not a necessity. Hard to imagine that mindset has changed in recent years” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 3/13).
MAKING AN OFFER: In Tampa, Henry Queen reported local private equity firm Blake Investment Partners has “offered St. Petersburg” $260M in cash for the 86 acres on which Tropicana Field sits in an unsolicited bid. But the firm’s founder & CEO, Thompson Whitney Blake, said he “doesn’t want to buy the team.” The firm plans to “fully cover the cost of repairing hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field‚” which it estimates will total $60M. The city would “receive that money immediately” so the Rays could move in as soon as possible. When the Rays’ lease ends at Tropicana Field, Blake Investment Partners would pay the remaining $200M to the city. Under the deal it terminated on Thursday, the Rays would have paid $105M across 30 years for the developable land. With or without the team, commercial real estate observers “consider the land some of the most valuable in the Southeastern U.S.” (TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/13). Blake mentioned that he is “willing to work with the team if they want to build a new stadium on the site,” but the development of the rest of the property “should not be contingent on the ballpark” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 3/13).
