Following several weeks of intense negotiations the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Tampa Bay Rays (US) ownership and the local officials entered into an agreement on a nonbinding Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) on a $2.3 billion new ballpark deal with the Governments paying $967 million.
The Rays ballpark goal is a March 1st, 2029 opening and would be a work-live-learn-play destination. The Rays’ Tropicana Field lease ends after the 2028 season.
‘Ballpark Digest’ stated that the negotiations between the city of Tampa, the Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay Rays ended in a tentative deal fairly close to what was proposed by the Rays in early April.
The Tampa Bay Rays ballpark would anchor a new entertainment complex at the Hillsborough Community College in Florida which would also see a redeveloped campus as part of the overall plan.
Cost
The cost of the new covered ballpark has not changed but the Government contribution was reduced from $1.065 billion to $967 million with the Tampa Bay Rays pledging to cover any cost overruns. The deal could be approved by both the city and the county as soon as next week.
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area (US). The Rays compete in the Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League East Division.
The 45,369-seat Tropicana Field is a domed multipurpose stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. ‘The Trop’ is the home of the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Tampa Bay Rays.
‘Work-live-learn-play’
Commented Ken Babby, Tampa Bay Rays head honcho, “The Rays respectfully but resolutely encourage the Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa to approve the MOU and make possible a Forever Home for our community’s Rays, breathe new life into the Dale Mabry Campus of the Hillsborough College and create a new privately-financed neighborhood that will be an inviting and inclusive destination to work, live, learn, and play. Paramount for the Rays in this process was to arrive at an MOU that protects all public funding currently allocated for police, fire, emergency management, or response functions, or other previously committed public safety or service priorities. We have accomplished that important and unconditional goal.”
Added Babby, “This is a rare and perhaps unprecedented moment for Tampa Bay. The Rays are all in on this opportunity and look forward to working with the officials in the days ahead to bring this project to life.”
Economic Impact
‘Ballpark Digest’ further stated that an entertainment complex could have an economic impact beyond the Rays game: The 113-acre Dale Mabry Campus of the Hillsborough Community College is located South of the 11,026-capacity George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida (the spring-training home of the MLB team New York Yankees) and West of the 69,218-capacity Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (home of the National Football League [NFL] team Tampa Bay Buccaneers). The plan divides the site into four quarters: A Champions Quarter containing the $2.3 billion ballpark at the corner of Dale Mabry and the West Tampa Bay Boulevard, an Invention Edge housing the rebuilt Hillsborough College campus, The Row, a street running through the development, and The Canopy, an open parkland marked by shade and greenery.
Goal
The goal is to create an environment that brings the fans in early and keeps them after a game while also attracting interest from the Yankees and the Buccaneers fans. If the plan seems familiar it should be: This is the same exact blueprint the MLB team Atlanta Braves used to create their home – the 41,108-capacity Truist Park in Atlanta and the Battery mixed-use district in Cobb County, Georgia.
Funding Sources
The potential funding sources include the half-cent county hotel/motel tourist sales tax (which, presumably, would be raised), the community investment tax proceeds and the community redevelopment tax-increment revenue bonds.
Lease
The Rays would sign a 35-year lease with three five-year options at the end and include a non-relocation clause. The team would manage the ballpark operations and cover repairs and insurance.
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