MLB Commish - Rob Manfred pressures Stu Sternberg to sell the Rays...finally! (1 Viewer)

[rockaction]

Has anybody read about the deal the Rays are backing out of? I mean, have you really read what the Historic Gas Plant Development entails? Have you studied the fine print on it?

I'm not sure concerns about which side of the Bay, or the amount of public funding, or any of that are the real crux of the matter between the team and the city that caused the deal to "come apart," as it were.

I'm usually not that interested in stuff like this, but my nephew is a huge Rays fan and my mother and father and he will take flights out to see them in the playoffs or fly to Boston to see them play the Red Sox (I've gone on one of those trips), so I'm naturally inclined to pay attention to what the Rays are doing. Normally they're just cheap as hell. This time they're a little . . . well I'll let you read about it.

 

[Grahamburn]

They’re going to have to give tickets away to get people to go to these games at Steinbrenner Field June-September.

 

[Capella]

Rays pitched a plan to renovate Trop to stay in St. Pete through 2038

The team says it was one of many possibilities, although the city and county did not immediately embrace the idea.

www.tampabay.com

Proposed renovating the Trop. Lol. They are BROKE.

 

[rustycolts]

Looks like Orlando is trying to become a player in this.

Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays

Orlando has an ownership group, and a $1 billion private financing commitment for the stadium.

www.draysbay.com

 

[UncleZen]

Looks like Orlando is trying to become a player in this.

Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays

Orlando has an ownership group, and a $1 billion private financing commitment for the stadium.

www.draysbay.com

I would love for them to be in Orlando. I would actually attend quite a few more games as that would be just a little over an hour away. Right now, it's over a 3 hour drive for me to go see them. I'm not sure Orlando would draw better than Tampa though. Maybe?

 

[rustycolts]

Looks like Orlando is trying to become a player in this.

Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays

Orlando has an ownership group, and a $1 billion private financing commitment for the stadium.

www.draysbay.com

I would love for them to be in Orlando. I would actually attend quite a few more games as that would be just a little over an hour away. Right now, it's over a 3 hour drive for me to go see them. I'm not sure Orlando would draw better than Tampa though. Maybe?

Same here. It would only be an hour away from me with all the new toll roads. I've been to many OCSC matches in the summer so that wouldn't bother me. I've been here all my life so the heat doesn't bother me.

Thing is Orlando has been notorious for supporting their shiny new toy for a few years and then it falls drastically.

 

[Eephus]

Rays pitched a plan to renovate Trop to stay in St. Pete through 2038

The team says it was one of many possibilities, although the city and county did not immediately embrace the idea.

www.tampabay.com

Proposed renovating the Trop. Lol. They are BROKE.

Are they even going to sell out Steinbrenner Field?

 

[gump]

Looks like Orlando is trying to become a player in this.

Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays

Orlando has an ownership group, and a $1 billion private financing commitment for the stadium.

www.draysbay.com

I would love for them to be in Orlando. I would actually attend quite a few more games as that would be just a little over an hour away. Right now, it's over a 3 hour drive for me to go see them. I'm not sure Orlando would draw better than Tampa though. Maybe?

Downtown Tampa is the best case draw IMO…also most opinions in Baseball… Orlando better than St Pete though.

 

[Capella]

Rays pitched a plan to renovate Trop to stay in St. Pete through 2038

The team says it was one of many possibilities, although the city and county did not immediately embrace the idea.

www.tampabay.com

Proposed renovating the Trop. Lol. They are BROKE.

Are they even going to sell out Steinbrenner Field?

I don’t know if they’ve released ticket sale figures but what I’ve read is it’s gone extremely well.

Hard to believe the summer will go well though.

 

[Eephus]

Rays pitched a plan to renovate Trop to stay in St. Pete through 2038

The team says it was one of many possibilities, although the city and county did not immediately embrace the idea.

www.tampabay.com

Proposed renovating the Trop. Lol. They are BROKE.

Are they even going to sell out Steinbrenner Field?

I don’t know if they’ve released ticket sale figures but what I’ve read is it’s gone extremely well.

Hard to believe the summer will go well though.

what's the O/U on rain delays?

 

[Capella]

Rays pitched a plan to renovate Trop to stay in St. Pete through 2038

The team says it was one of many possibilities, although the city and county did not immediately embrace the idea.

www.tampabay.com

Proposed renovating the Trop. Lol. They are BROKE.

Are they even going to sell out Steinbrenner Field?

I don’t know if they’ve released ticket sale figures but what I’ve read is it’s gone extremely well.

Hard to believe the summer will go well though.

what's the O/U on rain delays?

81

 

[Grahamburn]

Looks like Orlando is trying to become a player in this.

Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays

Orlando has an ownership group, and a $1 billion private financing commitment for the stadium.

www.draysbay.com

I would love for them to be in Orlando. I would actually attend quite a few more games as that would be just a little over an hour away. Right now, it's over a 3 hour drive for me to go see them. I'm not sure Orlando would draw better than Tampa though. Maybe?

Driving through Orlando is worse than driving through Tampa.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

They’re going to have to give tickets away to get people to go to these games at Steinbrenner Field June-September.

It's a level of heat and humidity that is hard to describe for many.
For 4-6 weeks it can be brutal in cities like Chicago but they have a start and end to the season, not so much during summers in Florida

Tampa especially is mighty hot in the summer, I've lived both Miami//Tampa, I'll take the Miami summer w/Atantic Ocean breeze
93 w/97% humidity and thunderstorms almost every afternoon, I wonder how many rainouts and doubleheaders they will have to juggle

-Great starting pitchers if they don't have injuries, nothing on offense after the lead off hitter, I don't see them being any better than last season
The trading of Adames to make room for Franco and then watch that disaster unfold, as tragic as that roof falling in during the storm last year

 

[Grahamburn]

Rays pitched a plan to renovate Trop to stay in St. Pete through 2038

The team says it was one of many possibilities, although the city and county did not immediately embrace the idea.

www.tampabay.com

Proposed renovating the Trop. Lol. They are BROKE.

Are they even going to sell out Steinbrenner Field?

I'll go to several games. It will be significantly closer for me. Not quite the same experience though as my wife and I love downtown St. Pete so we typically roll a few games into a long weekend throughout the year. Mons Venus and 2001 don't have the same appeal for her though.

Don't know about sellouts? @Capella is spot on. Once June hits we get a thunderstorm damn near every single night.

I'll take my team to an afternoon weekend game as well for a social event. I've looked into the pricing and it's very reasonable.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Where the Rays sell a lot of tickets is when they play the flagship teams
Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, those kind of teams will create near capacity crowds
I will be watching the Rays when they visit down here in Miami/May, rare weekend series, most of the time the Rays come in on a Tue Night and just play 2 games

 

[Ministry of Pain]

The Savanah Bananas SOLD OUT Bucs Stadium across the street
65,000 people paid good money to go see what I am gathering is the equivalent of the Globetrotters
i know nothing about the Bananas

Meanwhile the 11,000 seat stadium that houses MLB across the street...

 

[Capella]

The Savanah Bananas SOLD OUT Bucs Stadium across the street
65,000 people paid good money to go see what I am gathering is the equivalent of the Globetrotters
i know nothing about the Bananas

Meanwhile the 11,000 seat stadium that houses MLB across the street...

I went. It sucked but my kid loved it.

Got opening day tickets for next week. Excited for that. Might be my only game there this year as I’m not doing outside summer ball but can’t wait to see how they do things there.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

The Savanah Bananas SOLD OUT Bucs Stadium across the street
65,000 people paid good money to go see what I am gathering is the equivalent of the Globetrotters
i know nothing about the Bananas

Meanwhile the 11,000 seat stadium that houses MLB across the street...

I went. It sucked but my kid loved it.

Got opening day tickets for next week. Excited for that. Might be my only game there this year as I’m not doing outside summer ball but can’t wait to see how they do things there.

My son and I won't be able to do opening day this year but we've been to several over the last 6-7 years, creates great memories

 

[rustycolts]

Looks like Orlando is trying to become a player in this.

Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays

Orlando has an ownership group, and a $1 billion private financing commitment for the stadium.

www.draysbay.com

I would love for them to be in Orlando. I would actually attend quite a few more games as that would be just a little over an hour away. Right now, it's over a 3 hour drive for me to go see them. I'm not sure Orlando would draw better than Tampa though. Maybe?

Driving through Orlando is worse than driving through Tampa.

Without a doubt. I grew up there and lived there until 2000. My main commandment was thou shall not drive on I-4. What would have been a 20 minute drive to a random location in 1972 is now probably a 2 hr drive .

 

[UncleZen]

Looks like Orlando is trying to become a player in this.

Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays

Orlando has an ownership group, and a $1 billion private financing commitment for the stadium.

www.draysbay.com

I would love for them to be in Orlando. I would actually attend quite a few more games as that would be just a little over an hour away. Right now, it's over a 3 hour drive for me to go see them. I'm not sure Orlando would draw better than Tampa though. Maybe?

Driving through Orlando is worse than driving through Tampa.

From the space coast, I have to drive through both now.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I'm sad to say that it sounds like the last game has already been played inside of Tropicana Field
That's sad that the owner didn't spring into action and get things moving quickly to fix the roof, something could have been done to bridge things until the new one is built
But instead Stu decides to play the victim instead of spotlighting the true victims, citizens of Pinellas&Hillsborough amongst other counties that were hit hard, people lost everything

You also have to point some fingers at Manfred, do you not?
The minor league stadium in Tampa cannot be a long term solution, and it should be 86'd in 2026, they cannot allow Stu to continue on as owner if that's the plan
What is the plan for Tropicana? Just blow it up and start some new high rise condos?

St Pete is beautiful, the downtown delightful and the Rays should be kept there.
Tropicana Field has a few issues but it's air conditioned and you can do a lot both before and after Rays games
Shame the local officials and the bumblebutt owner can't strike a deal where everyone wins

 

[Ministry of Pain]

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred pushes Rays owner Stu Sternberg to reveal plans for team's future

The Rays will play their 2025 home games at a spring training park and their longterm future in Tampa is uncertain

www.cbssports.com

I'll believe it when I see it

 

[Capella]

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred pushes Rays owner Stu Sternberg to reveal plans for team's future

The Rays will play their 2025 home games at a spring training park and their longterm future in Tampa is uncertain

www.cbssports.com

I'll believe it when I see it

They’re not leaving the area. It’s too big and it’s growing. And the area already offered this idiot over a billion dollars. Baseball leaders don’t like when their owners turn down free money and good deals.


I’ll be at the Stein today for the first outdoors Rays home game. Kind of excited!

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Highlights for me....

-2 weeks ago and even prior if anyone was paying attention, Sternberg backs out of a $1.3Billion park close to where the Trop is right now
Why did the forward progress of 2027 suddenly get derailed? Why has that project not started to the point you can't realistically see them in a new ball park in '27

-Why is it taking so long for the Trop to even start to be fixed back up? I would have more respect if they moved forward with '27 and just admitted they plan on playing in the Single-A park in Tampa for '25 and '26, just demolish the Trop if that's your plan but Sternberg wants to have it his way

He wants to just keep playing in Tampa at Steinbrenner Field until the end of time if they'll let him.
It's so sad to see what is unfolding, 28-29 owners need to make an immediate vote on ousting Sternberg, whatever it takes.

I am also for relocating the Rays to another city/State and taking an expansion team from MLB to replace them.
I love St Pete and would prefer they had just moved forward on 2027 plans but if MLB actually did what i am suggesting, I would expect the expansion club to be in Tampa not St Pete

 

[Eephus]

I'm watching the game from Steinbrenner and am enjoying the ambiance from the other end of the continent. I've listened to both teams' broadcast and you can clearly hear the game and crowd noises without the blaring PA music and audience prompts that you hear at other ballparks (Dodger Stadium is the worst example). We'll see how things hold up through the season but today It sounds like a proper ballpark.

 

[rockaction]

I'm watching the game from Steinbrenner and am enjoying the ambiance from the other end of the continent. I've listened to both teams' broadcast and you can clearly hear the game and crowd noises without the blaring PA music and audience prompts that you hear at other ballparks (Dodger Stadium is the worst example). We'll see how things hold up through the season but today It sounds like a proper ballpark.

Baseball exec says “Must. Add. Blaring. Techno.”

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Walk off Home Run! for @Capella and Crew at the game today including his son I believe
Hope he got to stick around for the fireworks late

 

[Capella]

I'm watching the game from Steinbrenner and am enjoying the ambiance from the other end of the continent. I've listened to both teams' broadcast and you can clearly hear the game and crowd noises without the blaring PA music and audience prompts that you hear at other ballparks (Dodger Stadium is the worst example). We'll see how things hold up through the season but today It sounds like a proper ballpark.

Fantastic experience. Absolutely loved it. We already got tickets to go back Sunday.

 

[Capella]

Walk off Home Run! for @Capella and Crew at the game today including his son I believe
Hope he got to stick around for the fireworks late

Yea we stayed for it all. Fantastic experience. A+, loved it.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Walk off Home Run! for @Capella and Crew at the game today including his son I believe
Hope he got to stick around for the fireworks late

Yea we stayed for it all. Fantastic experience. A+, loved it.

That's a memory you'll have forever, opening day no less.
Good for you, go to as many as you can enjoy, it looked like fun on TV
I would be buying cheap seats and either before or after, La Teresita for a hot pressed cuban. Ybor to roll into if you want to go that route
It has it's perks being in Tampa

 

[Capella]

Walk off Home Run! for @Capella and Crew at the game today including his son I believe
Hope he got to stick around for the fireworks late

Yea we stayed for it all. Fantastic experience. A+, loved it.

That's a memory you'll have forever, opening day no less.
Good for you, go to as many as you can enjoy, it looked like fun on TV
I would be buying cheap seats and either before or after, La Teresita for a hot pressed cuban. Ybor to roll into if you want to go that route
It has it's perks being in Tampa

We always hit la Teresita when we are down there. It’s a must.