An Open Letter to Those of Involved in Thursday’s Down Vote of the Stadium Memorandum

To whom it may concern — i.e. those of you involved in Thursday’s decision to vote down the memorandum to allow the Rays to partake in a regional search for a new stadium site,

First off, allow me introduce myself. My name is Anthony, however I use the moniker Schmitty on this site for the sake of  anonymity. I am a life-long citizen of St. Pete (not that that matters in the scheme of things), a fan of the Rays since the get-go, and someone who feels that the players and fans deserve a new stadium in a location that best suits the team — wherever that may be.

While I hoped the City Council would have come to an understanding with the organization Thursday, I am not shocked by the outcome. This tired, less than tacit game of cat and mouse has been played out in front of the public for the last six years, and nothing really shocks me anymore: not Stu Sternberg’s explicit threats to ________________ (fill in the blank, like Mad-Libs) the team he uses as leverage, nor the city’s attempt to regain the leverage lost during the Bill Foster years.

Still, I can’t help but feel a bit perturbed that the team missed another opportunity to cast their net far and wide — or in this case, a little east and a little north — in the search for a new stadium site. It’s always been my contention that a new facility should be built in the best location based on demographic studies, not opinions. This deal would have given the Rays an opportunity to do their due diligence in order to find a suitable site. Many have called this another nail in the coffin.

I, however, differ from Rays President Brian Auld’s glib summation, “…The Council has instead decided that the status quo is what is in the best interest of the citizens of St. Petersburg.” An indictment that the failure to pick up a yes vote should be placed firmly on the shoulders of the St. Petersburg City Council, and their shoulders alone. I’ll concede, they were ultimately the ones who voted no. Yet there were things the Rays could and should have done to shore up a yes vote.

For example, as local investigative journalist Noah Pransky suggested, the turning point in the meeting came when Auld* told the city council that St. Petersburg had to live up to terms of the use agreement regarding Tropicana Field redevelopment. Furthermore, as Grantland writer Jonah Keri opined via Twitter,

Up to Rays to incentivize St. Pete to cut ’em loose. City has a lease in place, and leverage, and is wisely using both.

— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) December 18, 2014

Amiability is a quality in the midst of negotiations, not a weakness.

Furthermore, while it is par for the course for Sternberg to make threats** and use scare tactics — tactics used in his interest since no one else would touch this situation, one he gladly paid for years ago — his exploits are doing a huge disservice to the cause:

1. He’s scaring fans away, and that surely won’t help ticket sales.
2. He’s leaving a foul taste in the mouths of those who are attempting to work with him.
3. His true colors are shining through. Suffice it to say, many feel that Sternberg views his team as nothing more than an investment worth tending to. Because of it, the Rays are not an asset worth building around, rather they are another buy-low-sell-high acquisition Sternberg is waiting to flip for a mega profit. He bought the team for $176M, yet the team has steadily accrued in value, and that should not be forgotten — Forbes valued the Rays at $485M in March, and despite the drop in attendance, the teams revenue has been on a steady upward trajectory since 2005.
4. With regard to point number three, while salacious, Sternberg’s announcement he’d likely sell the team if they don’t get a new stadium is thinly veiled at best and lacks the intended bite. There’s no indication of a change in the teams steady upward trajectory of value. Stu is not going to sell the franchise until it’s hit maximum peak value. A shiny, new facility will only bolster the value of the organization. Why then would he sell the team for $100-$200M less than its assumed near-future value?

To the question the commitment of the City Council, who overwhelmingly voted to hold a workshop on building a new stadium for the Rays, calls into question the teams credibility. If the Rays are as devoted to the region as they’ve said on multiple occasions, they will continue the efforts to make a new stadium a reality over the course of the next 13 years, regardless of their hard-line, non-negotiable stance. To be fair, I would be floored if the final agreement is vastly different from the one voted down Thursday.

In the end the only way a fair deal will get worked out, is if (and when) the Rays and the City of St. Petersburg work together.

Brian Auld and company, to you I say cut out the exaggerated passive/aggressive malarkey, and get into the trenches with the Mayor and City Council representatives — the ball is in your court, now get something done! Stu Sternberg, to you I say cut the petulant approach to the situation — it doesn’t look good on you. Get down here and put your mouth where your money is…act like you care, it is your team after all. Wengay Newton, to you I say your unwillingness to even attempt to understand the memorandum was glaring. If you are not willing to approach the Stadium Saga with the candor it deserves, get out of the way. It is this type of approach — also exhibited by a few of your colleagues — that continues to push the Rays away from the negotiation table. To Councilman Gerdes and Mayor Kriseman, thank you for your efforts in getting the conversation started, they haven’t gone unnoticed. 

* Auld was thrown to the wolves by Sternberg who, apparently, couldn’t fly down from New York to attend an important meeting dealing with the future of his team.
** He’s up to five doom-and-gloom threats since 2010.

Noteworthiness

Below is some of the fallout from the decision to vote no (Source, Shadow of the Stadium blog):

Per the Tampa Bay Times,

Council members got their backs up when Rays President Brian Auld refused to yield an iota on development rights on Tropicana Field and other issues.

Council member Darden Rice, who voted for the agreement, said the Rays blew the deal with their presentation.

“I think at one point we had five votes,” Rice said. “But I was very disappointed by Auld’s response to Karl Nurse’s question about development rights. It was either tone deafness or arrogance.”

Dudley said he felt like the Rays were making ultimatums. “I don’t like arrogance,” he said.

“The deal breaker for me was the idea that they want us to abide by the use agreement for redevelopment purposes, where they can benefit,” Foster said, “but they didn’t want to abide by the use agreement” by staying at the Trop.

According to Marc Topkin, Matt Silverman said despite the vote Thursday, there is “good momentum” toward reaching a stadium deal, and expects that talks with St. Petersburg will continue, “As we work toward an agreeable outcome.”