Rays stadium deal is REJECTED by St. Pete City Council, Steinberg threatening to sell team
- Thread starter soxhop411
- Start date
Yup.Rasputin said:
Just please don't give Wall Street Whiz Boy Stu Sternberg a fucking dime. Not. one. fucking. dime.
If he wants to build a stadium somewhere else in that area, let him build it.
If the Rays tried to leave before their lease is up in 2027 they would be open to all kinds of damages. The new agreement allows them to look at sites in Pinellas (St. Pete) and Hillsborough (Tampa) counties in exchange for fairly minor yearly payments if they indeed leave. The preferred site is in downtown Tampa, but land is getting scarce as the owner of the Lightning is unveiling a huge billion dollar revitalization project around the Amalie Arena that will eat up a lot of the available land. The Rays and Tampa still have a lot of work to do and then there is the little problem of who is going to pay for a new stadium ($750 million or so). New stadium is not happening any time soon.
http://shadowofthestadium.blogspot.com/2014/12/breaking-rays-st-pete-agree-to-deal-to.html
http://shadowofthestadium.blogspot.com/2014/12/breaking-rays-st-pete-agree-to-deal-to.html
Orlando is actually not a great baseball town at all, judging from the support historically given to the various minor league teams and Spring Training tenants who passed through.
I think the more likely venue, where there does appear to be land and infrastructure available is in East Hillsborough County along interstate 4 by the Fairgrounds and Hard Rock. This gets them within reasonable driving distance for Orlando based fans and avoids all of the traffic challenges inherent in both Pinellas and Tampa's Downtown area, especially at typical 7PM game times.
I think the more likely venue, where there does appear to be land and infrastructure available is in East Hillsborough County along interstate 4 by the Fairgrounds and Hard Rock. This gets them within reasonable driving distance for Orlando based fans and avoids all of the traffic challenges inherent in both Pinellas and Tampa's Downtown area, especially at typical 7PM game times.
genoasalami said:
Vinik was prescient to buy that land and almost unilaterally block the Rays from getting near downtown and competing with the Lightning for corporate luxury suite buyers downtown. There are still some open areas in downtown but probably 1/3 what there was before Vinik purchased that land.
uncannymanny said:
Seriously, it's $10m more than the Bennett paid Seattle to break the lease two years early.
Yup. The fact that the penalties aren't more than that makes me more skeptical of the real intentions of the Rays' asshole owner.uncannymanny said:
The $50m number comes from the proposed deal, which was rejected by the St. Petersburg city council today.
The current lease contains an open-ended "irreparable harm and damages" provision which is viewed as making the lease essentially unbreakable.
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/the-powerful-piece-of-paper-that-is-the-tampa-bay-rays-lease/1223089
The current lease contains an open-ended "irreparable harm and damages" provision which is viewed as making the lease essentially unbreakable.
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/the-powerful-piece-of-paper-that-is-the-tampa-bay-rays-lease/1223089
VORP Speed said:
Please tell me if I'm summarizing correctly: the long and short of this is that any attempted Sternberg sale will come with the poison pill of an unbreakable stadium deal for 12 more seasons?
If so, good. Patricians shouldn't try to force plebes to pay for their new toys.
Basically. At the very least not breakable without exposure to a potentially large and not easily quantifiable liability.zenter said:
St. Pete got dicked around by MLB for a decade, being kept in the wings as a threat to force other cities to pay for new ballparks. When they were finally awarded an expansion franchise, MLB rammed down their throat a very unfavorable lease in terms of revenue splits under threat of pulling the expansion franchise. The city attorney's response was to slip in this provision, essentially trying to recoup value on the back end by tying the team up for 30 years.
Rudy Pemberton said:
Here's the thing, though: I think folks there do in fact give a shit about the team. Their TV ratings are very high, IIRC. But the stadium sucks and it's nowhere near downtown so the incentive to haul over there to catch a game is pretty low. It's too bad about not getting a deal done, because IMO with a better stadium in a better location I think the team would be on very solid footing.
The thread title is kind of misleading - it's not a stadium deal, it's the stadium lease use-agreement buyout
The thing that sucks is the old St Pete mayor was really sticking to the current stadium deal, and wouldn't let the Rays look in Hillsborough. The current mayor ran on getting a deal done. He wants to keep the Rays in Tampa Bay, and is open to the team moving across the bay to Tampa, and really worked hard for a year to get a deal. And the council just squashed it.
Meanwhile, Vinik set out his re-development plan for downtown Tampa, not including the Rays but right next to a ConAgra mill that is open to re-location and would be the perfect site for the Rays. (Seriously, there is a flour mill in the middle of downtown Tampa.) The mill is in that square swath of land at the top between the curving highway on the left and greenspace the right. The circular building along the shore is where the Lightning play.
The thing that sucks is the old St Pete mayor was really sticking to the current stadium deal, and wouldn't let the Rays look in Hillsborough. The current mayor ran on getting a deal done. He wants to keep the Rays in Tampa Bay, and is open to the team moving across the bay to Tampa, and really worked hard for a year to get a deal. And the council just squashed it.
Meanwhile, Vinik set out his re-development plan for downtown Tampa, not including the Rays but right next to a ConAgra mill that is open to re-location and would be the perfect site for the Rays. (Seriously, there is a flour mill in the middle of downtown Tampa.) The mill is in that square swath of land at the top between the curving highway on the left and greenspace the right. The circular building along the shore is where the Lightning play.
So I've been reading up more on the meetings. (DRaysBay has great info). The deal included up to 50% of proceeds from redevelopment of the Trop site going to the Rays. That's understandable - if they leave the county but keep the redevelopment rights, essentially, the buyout is buying 50% of redevelopment rights. The council want the Rays to give up those rights. The council also didn't like that the Mayor didn't include them in the negotiations.
This editorial from Tampa Bay Times really lays into the council. http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-st-petersburgs-minor-league-city-council/2210786
From what I've read, if the Rays leave, if city sues they'd probably get less than what the deal the Mayor and the Rays agreed to, and the city would be responsible for the bonds if the state doesn't pay them off.
The vote was 5-3, so a renegotiated deal isn't off the table.
This editorial from Tampa Bay Times really lays into the council. http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-st-petersburgs-minor-league-city-council/2210786
From what I've read, if the Rays leave, if city sues they'd probably get less than what the deal the Mayor and the Rays agreed to, and the city would be responsible for the bonds if the state doesn't pay them off.
The vote was 5-3, so a renegotiated deal isn't off the table.
My guess if they have a year to get this fixed. If not, Sternberg is selling and the buyer will move that franchise. Feel bad for Kriseman who I know worked his ass off on this only to have the idiots on his City Council screw it up.
The Council clarified the issue of redevelopment, and it makes them look even more petty - bolding is mine
http://www.draysbay.com/2014/12/19/7423193/rays-redevelopment-tropicana-field
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2014/12/18/city-council-votes-of-rays-today/20576255/
The situation is complicated, and as a resident of Tampa, I want the Rays in Hillsborough, but I can understand the City Council's position. They don't want to give up monies they negotiated for and they don't think the Rays should be entitled to development money if they move. That seems reasonable. Sternberg sucks. I recommend reading Ford's letter at the bottom of the link above.
The situation is complicated, and as a resident of Tampa, I want the Rays in Hillsborough, but I can understand the City Council's position. They don't want to give up monies they negotiated for and they don't think the Rays should be entitled to development money if they move. That seems reasonable. Sternberg sucks. I recommend reading Ford's letter at the bottom of the link above.
In the plan that was voted down, the Rays don't get any development money if they move, as long as the council waits to make development deals after they leave. So if the Rays leave in 2017, the city gets all development money if they sign any deals after they leave.
By turning down that deal, the Rays get 50% of anything until 2027 if they are there.
By turning down that deal, the Rays get 50% of anything until 2027 if they are there.
