Kathleen Peters seeks clarity on Rays’ St. Pete intentions

Pinellas County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters has sent a two-page letter to the Tampa Bay Rays seeking clarity on the team’s plans for a $1.3 billion stadium deal that both the County Commission and the St. Petersburg City Council had previously approved.

The letter comes after two developments last week that have raised doubts about the Rays’ future in St. Pete.

First, the Pinellas County Commission voted to again delay a vote on a bond resolution needed as part of the county’s portion of financing under the deal, which utilizes bed tax dollars paid by tourists’ hotel stays.

The Rays had warned in its own letter to the Commission that the first delay, sparked by the Commission’s pause in October amid hurricane recovery, had already “ended the ability for a 2028 delivery of the ballpark” that had been planned. A 2029 ballpark opening, Rays co-Presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman wrote, “would result in significantly higher costs that we are not able to absorb alone.”

Two days later, the St. Pete City Council voted to also delay its bond resolution vote and, in comments to the media and the City Council, Auld declared “no, there is not” when asked if the stadium deal is still on the table.

Still, Peters wants more than a passing comment to a reporter as the county charts its next steps.

Referencing the letter Auld and Silverman sent just hours ahead of the Commission meeting last week, Peters said it “approaches being an inelegantly stated notice of termination” and noted that without an official termination letter, the “County is scheduled to move forward to consider legislatively adopting the supplemental bond resolution on December 1st, 2024.”

“The Rays must either indicate in writing that they intend to move forward under the Agreement as executed, or provide a clearer Notice of Termination … no later than December 1, 2024,” Peters wrote with counsel from Assistant County Attorney Don Crowell, according to the Tampa Bay Times, which first obtained the letter.

Responding to Peters’ letter, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch offered some clarity, but otherwise agreed with Peters’ inquiry.

“As I stated at last week’s St. Petersburg City Council and Budget, Finance and Taxation committee meetings, my conversations with each County Commissioner have been productive and promising. However, Mr. Auld’s statements during the council meeting clearly stated that from the Rays’ perspective, there is ‘no deal,’ and they do not intend to move forward under the terms of the new stadium agreements signed in July,” Welch offered in a prepared statement.

“The City has asked for a written termination, and I support County Commission Chair Peters’ request for clarity. Both the City and County have invested a significant amount of time and resources into the Historic Gas Plant District Redevelopment. Our community deserves certainty, so that we can chart our path forward.”

Under the existing agreement, the county’s share of the stadium deal totals more than $312 million, an amount that requires a bond resolution. St. Pete’s portion of the deal includes spending nearly $430 million and selling 65 acres of public land to the Rays.

With the deal likely dead, Welch must now work to renegotiate a new deal with the Rays if they are to build a new stadium at the Tropicana Field site, which may not be likely given Welch’s pledge at the City Council meeting last week not to reach an agreement that calls for even a dime more than what the city had already committed.

A dead deal also leaves a lingering question about how to move forward with the city’s broader goal of redeveloping the Historic Gas Plant District, where Tropicana Field is located. Its ability to move forward without a deal with the Rays relies on a termination agreement that does not maintain development rights for the Rays.