Sunday's front page headline from the Tampa Bay Times. (Photo courtesy of Noah Pransky)
Sunday’s front page headline from the Tampa Bay Times. (Photo courtesy of Noah Pransky)

Here I was prepared to write a diatribe on Stu Sternberg’s heavy handed announcement that he will look for new stadium sites by 2022, with or without St. Pete’s blessing. Then it dawned on me, Noah Pransky (Shadow of the Stadium blog) wrote a short and concise piece on how Sternberg’s 2022 deadline is, essentially, moot — why not re-post that piece in its entirety? After all, it summed things up well, and casted shade on Stu’s glaring attempt to regain leverage in the Stadium Saga.

Per Pransky,

Stu Sternberg tells reporters he’s going to look for new stadium sites by 2022, with or without St. Pete’s blessing.  But:

All Sternberg said is – sometime in the next seven years – he’ll need to start looking at 2028 stadium options.  Which is no surprise, given the team’s current contract with St. Pete prohibits the Rays from exploring any move prior to 2028.

So in short: Sternberg said he’d continue to honor the team’s business deal and will spend the next seven years if necessary trying to improve it.  At least that’s better than his previously-mentioned alternative.

Noteworthiness

So: The Tampa Bay Times asked Sternberg if, given that it would take a few years to build a stadium, and the Rays‘ lease is up after 2027, he’d start looking around for stadium sites a few years before then. And Sternberg said — wait for it! — yes, he would. Though given that, as Noah Pransky (yes, him again) points out, Sternberg can’t actually start negotiating with any other cities before 2028, as spelled out in that lease (which the St. Pete council is refusing to let him out of), he’d be limited to just looking. Which you have to figure he’s doing already anyway, right? So, not much of a story, probably the kind of thing you’d bury in the back.

They don’t make Pulitzer Prizes like they used to.

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