Bob Sparks
The 2008 American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays may be on their way out of Florida. A move is not imminent, but recent events increase the odds that Miami may eventually be the only remaining Major League Baseball team in the long term.
Last week in a 5-3 vote, the St. Petersburg City Council voted to quash a deal negotiated by Mayor Rick Kriseman and the Rays. Terms of the agreement allowed the team to search for a new home outside of the city, but within the Tampa Bay region.
How did we reach this point?
The Rays, despite putting a quality product on the field, are at the bottom in the area of attendance. Their facility and its location are often cited as part of the problem. Until a better explanation surfaces, we’ll go with that.
Almost since the day “The Trop” hosted the first game on March 31, 1998, the facility was nearly obsolete. It was already nine years old, and the new wave of baseball stadiums already included revenue-producing luxury suites.
These “sky boxes” allow renters to entertain friends and clients at the ballpark. They also bring in huge revenue to the teams allowing them to help meet the ever-increasing salary demands of star players.
Clubs without these suites, or massive local television and radio rights agreements, either go into debt to keep or acquire star players, or trade away their stars to pay bills. The Rays have neither.
As long as they play at Tropicana Field, they must have much larger crowds to stay competitive. Ownership will not, and should not, operate in the red for long.
Rays’ management has long insisted that a new facility is necessary to match the realities of 21st century Major League Baseball. They are, of course, absolutely correct. St. Petersburg has been willing to listen to abandoning The Trop, but only for a new site located within the city.
Not long after his election one year ago, Kriseman reopened talks with the Rays and negotiated a wise agreement whereby the team could look for sites in Hillsborough and Pinellas County as well as the city. The agreement requires the Rays to pay financial penalties each year until the lease expires in 2027.
Stuart Sternberg, the Rays’ principal owner, said he would not negotiate another deal and baseball in Tampa Bay would be doomed if this one was nixed. He further indicated he would sell the Rays to a new owner who would likely move the team.
They nixed the deal.
Some of the councilmembers thought Rays’ President Brian Auld displayed arrogance at a public presentation of the agreement. They particularly winced at his answer to a question about changing a provision concerning development rights on land adjacent to Tropicana Field.
One councilmember said the Rays should simply continue to play at Tropicana Field through 2027. That non-starter shows arrogance goes both ways.
Following the vote, the council called for a workshop on the issue. Kriseman made no effort to hide his feelings.
“You’ve got eight council members who have to make a decision as to whether they want to lead or lead by workshop,” he said. “And unfortunately, the majority chose to lead by workshop.”
While it is difficult to move an existing major league franchise, owners are now more likely to approve moves away from low attendance communities. The fairly recent move of the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C., proves that point.
Commissioners would be wise not to lean on baseball’s public efforts to keep St. Petersburg from moving a team to the area 20-25 years ago. They not only might agree to move a low-drawing franchise, they also have deep pockets to fight lawsuits. How much taxpayer money would St. Petersburg be willing to spend?
Differing opinions on the council’s action surfaced within the public and even within the Tampa Bay Times. Times columnist John Romano sided with councilmembers on voting down the deal. He believes the Rays should negotiate further.
“The deal is off the table, and you should blame city council members,” he wrote. “You might also want to praise them. For, in baseball terms, they got a save.”
The Times’ editorial board had a slightly different take. In an editorial headlined, “St. Petersburg’s minor league city council,” the newspaper took on the five “no” voters.
“The St. Petersburg City Council succumbed to fear, parochialism and short-sighted thinking (last week) by rejecting a fair agreement to let the Tampa Bay Rays look for new stadium sites in both Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.” The editorial went on to say the councilmembers “jeopardized the future of major league baseball in Tampa Bay.”
Hopefully Kriseman and Sternberg are on each other’s calendars in early January. This cannot be the final word.
As for the St. Petersburg City Councilmembers, they should make a note the team is called the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bob Sparks is a business and political consultant based in Tallahassee. For 16 years he was an executive with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues based in St. Petersburg. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
