According to Steve Contorno (Tampa Bay Times) Tampa Bay Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg will state publicly that the preferred location for a new stadium is on the outskirts of Ybor City.
The announcement is expected at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Tampa Baseball Museum.
This is a major step, said Hillsborough County Commisioner Ken Hagan. I’m hopeful this will continue to build momentum on our effort to bring the Tampa Bay Rays to Ybor. Tomorrow’s announcement will go a long way toward that, and I imagine at some point in the near future they’ll announce their ballpark design.
The leaked news of the announcement appears to be yet another surprise to Hagan’s fellow commissioners, who told Noah Pransky (Shadow of the Stadium, WTSP News) they aren’t happy they were again left out of process.
Hillsborough commissioners tell me they aren’t happy they were again left out of process.
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 8, 2018
Pransky wrote a more in depth account of Hagan’s blunder on his blog, noting that the commissioner leaked news of the stadium press conference to a local sports reporter unbeknownst to Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, and other county commissioners, in a glaring attempt to capture the spotlight.
That, however, did not go over well with Buckhorn, who unloaded on Hagan for keeping him out of the loop for the second time in three months, calling the commissioner “bush-league” and a “minor league politician.”
To think that some media outlets were notified and others were not is completely unprofessional. That is about as bush-league as you can get, said Buckhorn.
Not surprisingly a funding mechanism for a new stadium is not yet in place, nor will one be discussed on Friday; it likely will take months to hammer out a deal of this magnitude. The terms of the MOU, which allows the Rays to search for a new ballpark, are such that the January 2019 window to explore the region and work on financing is quickly closing.
Hagan told the Times the team now is ready to step forward. He does not believe the team is considering any other locations in the region, however, both the Tropicana Field site and Derby Lane both remain in the stadium sweepstakes, if even as default sites — sentiment that was reinforced by the St. Petersburg mayor’s office, both directly and indirectly.
This is the process unfolding as envisioned in order to keep the Rays in TB. The easy part is picking a favorite site. Hard part is figuring out the rest. I believe the Trop site is the best future home for the Rays, but we will also begin to master plan the site w/o a stadium.
— Rick Kriseman (@Kriseman) February 8, 2018
Mayor @Kriseman’s office tells me they are undeterred. When Hillsborough can’t get funding together, they’ll still be ready to help #Rays build new Stadium in St Pete.
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 8, 2018
I have offered speculation on the anticipated announcement throughout the offseason, especially within the last week. You can find links to those articles below:
Rays add two more, an updated spring roster, and the ever polarizing Ken Hagan
An unrequited love letter to Stu Sternberg and the Tampa Bay Rays
Rays players workout at the Trop, Hechavarria wins arbitration case, Pransky on stadium news
Rays could make stadium site announcement soon; optional team workout
Rays willing to listen to offers on Evan Longoria; More on Sternberg’s lowball offer
Ybor City: an excellent site for the Tampa Bay Rays, theoretically speaking (alternately not really)
More Ybor stadium site drama; eight Rays players become free-agents
More Ybor stadium site drama; eight Rays players become free-agents
Hillsborough County pitches Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium site proposal