Pinellas County Commission, after delays that left the Rays huffy a month ago, approved the money for the new stadium. (Links to Tampa Bay Times and AP stories off that link.)

That said, there's still some posturing about how much the delays have or have not added to construction costs:

While the team has not publicly stated how much more expensive it believes construction will be, one county official said that the team has privately put that number around $200MM. County officials have expressed skepticism about that sum, arguing that a delay of less than two months could not cause such significant expenditures.

The Rays were also claiming a month or so ago that the funding delays would push the new stadium's opening back from 2028 to 2029. We'll see if that's real or was just posturing.

That's because, on the posturing, this story isn't over yet:

In any case, the ball is back in the Rays’ court. The Tampa Bay Times writes that the Rays have the ability to withdraw from the deal via a termination letter. The organization must meet various benchmarks by March 31, 2025, or the deal will automatically become void. The Rays seem likely to push for more negotiations to try to unlock additional public funding in the coming months. County commissioners and St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch have stated they’re not willing to commit more public money beyond what was approved on Tuesday, according to The Tampa Bay Times.

Stand by for news!

UPDATE: At ESPN, Passan has a Q-and-A that tackles a lots of subissues.

15 comments

  1. Can’t wait for a post in a couple of hours saying that they aren’t accepting/didn’t get it

  2. The Rays are why I think de-regulation should be a thing in MLB.

    Edit: regulation, not de-regulation dammit.

    Edit 2: relegation. Jfc. Firing on all cylinders right now.

  3. ‘various benchmarks’ sounds ominous but since it’s March 31, at least winning baseball games isn’t one of them.

  4. The fixed dome stadium in an inconvenient location for the majority of people in the Tampa Bay area was the problem but the new fixed dome stadium in the same location will somehow be different and will be packed every game for years.

  5. The Rays have no fan base so surely this means the taxpayers will NOT pay for the stadium right?

  7. St Pete: here’s your money
    Pinellas: okay now here’s your money
    Rays: nah f it, we either want more or we’re gone

  9. Using public money for these stadiums is so insanely egregious I can’t believe it still gets approved

  10. If the County Commission has any idea what is good for their people, they’ll reject this nonsense.

  11. Move the damn team, like Canada could support another team. And as a Toronto fan may I suggest somewhere like Vancouver and far away from my team

  13. Move the team to Orlando. The city actively wants a team and people will go if they don’t have to drive to St. Pete.

  14. Manfred made promises I am sure of it to the county and to the state.

    Stu is being a pos owner right now and there is no way the county approved this without mlb giving assurances.

    MLB didn’t want to lose the 11th biggest TV market in the country.

  15. Who cares. Keep them in a minor league stadium. That’s all they are anyway. A farm system for the majors.

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