Sporting News MLB‏Verified account @sn_mlb Rays to announce move to Tampa, new stadium site http://dlvr.it/QFc6h6

 

 

As someone who lived in Florida near the Rays and went to around 20-50 games at Tropicana in my time, this is absolutely fantastic. My brother (who lives near Ybor) is already promoting this to me to try and get me to come down more often . Hopefully everything works out well.

 

Although, I was in the minority -- i loved the trop. A unique baseball stadium that was practically free to get into and I could sit anywhere I wanted. Also had some fun entertainment around the outskirts of the stadium.

Edited February 9, 20188 yr by iWin4Ron

Will the taxpayers be saddled with the bill?

Will the taxpayers be saddled with the bill?

 

They still have to figure out financing so this is far from a done deal.

Will the taxpayers be saddled with the bill?

 

I honestly don't get why areas that get heavy tourism dollars aren't more acceptable to dropping a "tourism tax" Dollar or two on a room...or rental car. Can't believe San Diego didn't do that to keep the Chargers. For some reason I think some Maricopa County judge shot down the "tourism tax" after it had been in affect for a while...and said they had to refund money from the car rental/room tax. Said it was "unconstitutional". Not sure how you can randomly describe that particular tax as unconstitutional and not others. I never did get an answer to that.

I honestly don't get why areas that get heavy tourism dollars aren't more acceptable to dropping a "tourism tax" Dollar or two on a room...or rental car. Can't believe San Diego didn't do that to keep the Chargers. For some reason I think some Maricopa County judge shot down the "tourism tax" after it had been in affect for a while...and said they had to refund money from the car rental/room tax. Said it was "unconstitutional". Not sure how you can randomly describe that particular tax as unconstitutional and not others. I never did get an answer to that.

 

Probably something about out of state residents paying for in state revenues. Not a lawyer.

 

I was in the Tampa area this fall and drove by the Trop -- it looks about as bad from the outside as it does from the inside. It did seem pretty well located, right next to major roads and the freeway. I think the Florida experiment has been bad for MLB it just doesn't seem like with all the other recreation available to people down there year round that coming out and supporting baseball teams is something the locals are inclined to do.

I thought the Rays might move to Las Vegas

I thought the Rays might move to Las Vegas

 

I thought Havana. Ybor City may be a close 2nd. I think it is great that a team that constantly unloads star players and has no fan base thinks a new stadium solves the problem. For those not familiar, this is a move of only 25 miles. I have been to abnout 01-12 games there over the years. A few years ago, you could park for free and pay $11 to sit behind home plate in the upper deck. They drew about 20,000 a game. Then they staring charging for parking ($15-30) and raised tickets closer to $20. Attendance dropped to 15,000.

 

They will never survive w/o a core fan base. Florida has too many transplants and seniors that go to Rays games wearing other team gear. Now the population of Florida, based on the amount of construction of housing, must be growing. Even their NFL franchise is one of the lower drawing teams in an area where college football is huge. Ironically the NHL does well in a city you wouldn't expect to.

I thought the Rays might move to Las Vegas

Not smart enough.

I thought the Rays might move to Las Vegas

 

I always thought Oakland would.

I honestly don't get why areas that get heavy tourism dollars aren't more acceptable to dropping a "tourism tax" Dollar or two on a room...or rental car. Can't believe San Diego didn't do that to keep the Chargers. For some reason I think some Maricopa County judge shot down the "tourism tax" after it had been in affect for a while...and said they had to refund money from the car rental/room tax. Said it was "unconstitutional". Not sure how you can randomly describe that particular tax as unconstitutional and not others. I never did get an answer to that.

 

It’s a state constitution and statute issue related to the use of funds from taxing vehicles. It’s not something generally applicable in the country.

I honestly don't get why areas that get heavy tourism dollars aren't more acceptable to dropping a "tourism tax" Dollar or two on a room...or rental car. Can't believe San Diego didn't do that to keep the Chargers. For some reason I think some Maricopa County judge shot down the "tourism tax" after it had been in affect for a while...and said they had to refund money from the car rental/room tax. Said it was "unconstitutional". Not sure how you can randomly describe that particular tax as unconstitutional and not others. I never did get an answer to that.

 

 

Florida already has a 5% tax on tourism. Every hotel/condo rental less than 6 months has a 5% tax.

I will believe they are getting a new stadium in that area when construction starts.

Can't believe Tampa is actually building a stadium in Tampa! Long overdue and I'm all for it. Back in the Carl Crawford days, I loved watching the upstart Rays take out the Yankees. Hopefully, fickle Floridians support the Rays. Lots of transplants down there loyal to wack east coast teams like the Red Sox and Yankees.

Edited February 10, 20188 yr by JPR

If the Rays are relocating in the central part of Florida, I would think Orlando would be better choice than Tampa.

If the Rays are relocating in the central part of Florida, I would think Orlando would be better choice than Tampa.

With the move to Tampa (Yber City), the new stadium will be much more accessible to Orlando residents.

Terry Boers tweeted on this. He doubts the Rays will be able to secure the money

Terry Boers tweeted on this. He doubts the Rays will be able to secure the money

 

 

Hard to take him seriously if he really thinks the Rays will only be paying $150M of the $800M cost. We all know how negotiations work so it’ll be much more than 18% of the cost.

 

I doubt many Orlando residents will drive over. Still an hour from Disney and that doesn’t include rush hour traffic. Maybe the Lakeland area residents will come since it’ll be about a 30 min drive instead of 75 min drive. But we are talking about a few hundred at most for weekdays.

 

 

Next stop: Montreal!