Officials with Hillsborough County, considered by many to be the public body most likely to help pay for a new Rays ballpark on the Tampa side of the Bay, say they don't have any money for sports facilities — at this time.
Officials with Hillsborough County, considered by many to be the public body most likely to help pay for a new Rays ballpark on the Tampa side of the Bay, say they don't have any money for sports facilities — at this time.
"We're in the middle of a financial crisis at all levels of government," Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe told the St. Petersburg Times. "We're not in a time when the government can be laying out hundreds of millions of dollars for a new stadium."
That's the public face of the discussion, anyway. There is a fine line to be walked here if you're a Hillsborough County rep: you really can't go after the Rays if they have an existing lease in place (which they do), both for legal and logistical reasons. You need to work with St. Pete and Pinellas County officials on a wide variety of issues, and inciting the Rays to walk away from their Tropicana Field lease is surely a lawsuit waiting to happen.
So the Rays are in a Catch-22 of sorts. On the one hand, their lease is pretty solid. But the team has sunk money into operations and payroll but not seen a commensurate return at the box office: folks simply don't like going to the Trop, with the 80 percent of the Tampa Bay populace more than 30 minutes from the ballpark. They probably could find some reason to break the lease, arguing that it's a substandard facility when compared to other MLB ballparks (which it is), but we're not to that point.
In the end, we're not so sure the statements from Hillsborough County officials really matter at this point. If the Rays become free agents and searching for a new home, then we'll see what they say.
RELATED STORIES: Rays: We need to expand new-ballpark search past St. Pete; St. Pete officials now say Trop is replaceable — at a price; Potential new player emerges in Rays ballpark battle; Rays: Time to talk new ballpark again; Rays ballpark brawl: Tampa versus St. Pete; Three Rays ballpark sites recommended by committee; New Rays ballpark discussion shifts to Tampa; Group: Any new Rays ballpark needs retractable roof; Group: Renovating Trop isn't option in keeping Rays; Rays task force may have prelim recommendations by June — but no site; Rays propose Carillon Town Center site for ballpark
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