TBGKon

While the future of the team may be in Tampa proper, they sure as heck dont want to pee in the Cheerios of St Pete right now, since the Rays are still looking for a permanent new venue somewhere in the next 5 years or so. My thought is that we might see something that encompasses the entire Tampa Bay region and not one specific city. The Skyway Bridge is a design aspect that could be utilized, as well as a Tampa Bay wordmark of some kind since its not used on any current jersey at the moment.

Cigar City is typically a nickname for Tampa proper. For the Rays who play home games in St Petersburg it's highly unlikely that a city connect says Cigar City on it. I could be wrong, but i would think its not probable.

I would hope the light blue jerseys get light blue pants at least for road games. The combo of light blue and gray during spring training always looked muddy to me.

Im pretty certain the Giants run a base 3-4 and Thibodeaux will technically be an OLB.

The point is that the Trop is Lightning history, being the former home arena for them.

That's usually part of a suspension. The administrative leave he's been on has been paid.

Check down the street at Sparkman Wharf. Lots of good food stalls and bars too.

Definitely agree. We've seen some new uniforms remove TV numbers (Patriots and Rams), so precedence is there.

@raysox and I had a little chat last night about this glaring error in the team banners at the Lightning arena. Twitter thread to follow. By the end of the night, he figured out that it had to do with the rearranging of the divisions last year.

So if Montreal, Vegas, and Nashville aren't viable in your opinion....then where is?

How about we chalk Mondays game up to the fact that it wasnt supposed to be played that day? I wont speak for the rest of the weekend, but lets look at the details.

Probably the best place to put this. The Carrier Dome is no more.

I know, and of course I don't think they'd use the seating at the far ends. Use the area around the start/finish line and place some temporary stands on pit road and you can probably seat around 35-40k.

Correct, at least in Florida. I think the only streaming service that has Bally Sports Sun and Bally Sports Florida is DirecTV stream.

The ideal time for an outdoor game in Florida would be late January, and even then its a crapshoot. It could be cold one day, and 70 the next. The issue with that time on the calendar would be needing to hold the NFL stadiums for potential playoff games. The only option at that time would be Orlando's Citrus Bowl or Daytona International Speedway. If they really do want to host a Stadium Series in Florida, Tropicana Field would be the best idea since its the former home of the Lightning. You couldn't host the Winter Classic in Florida outside of the Daytona Speedway because of college bowl games in almost every outdoor stadium on or around January 1st.

Which may have been a decision based on the situation. The Rays also have a navy blue alternate that has yet to be seen, so we'll see I guess.

I agree that the Thunderdome/Tropicana Field needs to have a Stadium Series before the Trop is demolished. My statement was strictly based on outdoor games in Florida.

I feel like as time has passed, the Winter Classic has been where most of the blue bloods of the NHL have had outdoor games and the Stadium Series is for the rest. I dont like it, but it is what it is. I feel like Columbus falls more into the Stadium Series tier. Dallas was surprising for the WC, especially since they played Nashville. As for the chances of Florida or Tampa Bay ever hosting outdoors, I'm not sure we will ever see that. I listened to a podcast where the host spoke to the SVP and Chief Content Officer for the NHL. It was said Tampa Bay has been considered, but the weather and dates of when ideal conditions occur are very limited and only falls during possible NFL playoff games (late January-early February was mentioned)

Anything can be posted to Wikipedia...i wouldnt say those changes are a lock yet.

It was a nice one-off alternate, but I'm sold on it full time.

I mean heck, the International League isnt even international anymore. At this point, the names are just historic enough to stick around.

With the jersey issues the Phillies have had with their cream alts, and the Reds and using their spring training jersey, I would say the Rays decision would just be part of that. As a local, theyve been emphasizing the burst pretty frequently for at least 5 years now, so I wouldn't expect to see it used any differently.

Question about the US Open Cup. What is the reasoning behind some teams playing at alternative venues for Open Cup games? I assume sometimes its due to scheduling conflicts, but the Rowdies advanced to play Orlando City and the match was announced to be played at Osceola County Stadium, home to Orlando City B.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of their affiliation to the Tampa Bay organization, Durham has stepped up their game and will wear these on Thursday home games.