CLEARWATER, Fla. — A deal to build a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays is now teetering after Pinellas County commissioners once again delayed a vote on funding the plan.
The Rays sent a letter to the commissioners just before the meeting started, stating that the delays meant the current deal was all but dead.
Nearly every commissioner was critical of the timing and tone of the Rays' letter, expressing frustration and disagreeing with the team's stance that delaying possible funding meant the county couldn't fulfill its end of the deal.
However, pushing the vote back another month may not change the outcome, as the votes to pass it no longer appear to be there.
Commission Vice-Chair Brian Scott, who supports the deal, made the motion to delay the funding again, saying a vote on it would have failed.
“I didn’t think that there were four votes,” Scott said. “And I’ll freely admit I was never the best at math, but I can count to four.”
Rays co-presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman attended the meeting but did not speak, relying instead on the letter to the commission, which stated in part, “The county’s failure to finalize the bonds… ended the ability for a new ballpark by 2028.”
The letter added that the Rays cannot afford the additional costs of delaying the stadium opening by a year.
Commissioners speculated on the Rays' intentions, with Scott suggesting three possible outcomes.
“Either they were trying to put pressure on us to pass it today, they could be angling to renegotiate, or they may want out," he said.
The shift in vote totals is attributed to the election of two new commissioners who replaced members who voted for the original agreement over the summer. Charlie Justice and Janet Long were replaced by Vince Nowicki and Chris Scherer. On his first day as a commissioner, Scherer said he could still be swayed.
“I would like the chance to meet with them, talk to them about it... I’m not against this deal, I'm not for this deal. I want to make a good, sound financial decision for the people of Pinellas County.”
The lone vote against the delay came from Rene Flowers, whose district would house the new stadium. She expressed doubt that an extra month would change anything.
“I just think that minds will not be changed, and I just think that if that is the case, we need to move on," she said.
As for who should bear the blame if the deal collapses, Vice-Chair Scott made his stance clear.
“If this fails, I don’t want this to be on our heads," he said. "I want it to be firmly on [Rays principal owner] Stu Sternberg’s head if it fails, and I don’t want it to [fail]. That’s not the direction I want it to go.”
The City of St. Petersburg, the third party in the deal, also weighed in. Mayor Ken Welch released a statement emphasizing the importance of partnership, saying, “Partnership has always been key to this plan, and the success of the plan going forward largely depends on the commitment of our partners to those agreements.”
The city has its own crucial votes scheduled for Thursday to fund a possible future home for the Rays and whether to repair Tropicana Field.