The Montreal-Tampa Rays?

[dfwabel 4,155]

 

Quote

DID STERNBERG JUST ADMIT TO VIOLATING HIS CONTRACT WITH ST. PETE?

 

Several Canadian journalists made the trip down to Tampa Bay, curious about the role MLB-to-Montreal booster Stephen Bronfman would play in the Rays’ proposed new venture.

 

“Stephen had asked us about relocation (years ago) and I immediately shot that down,” Sternberg said. “He talked about if the team would potentially be for sale; (that) didn’t go any further than about 12 seconds past that as well.”

 

But Sternberg said the two men “maintained a dialogue” because Bronfman was talking to other MLB owners about expansion.

 

“At some point, this idea of sharing (the Rays) came up,” Sternberg continued, saying he didn’t remember exactly when they first discussed the idea, but it was “a couple years ago.”

 

If Sternberg has already discussed playing home games in Montreal prior to 2027, it would be an apparent violation of his contract with St. Petersburg, which requires the Rays to obtain specific permission from the city to have any sort of discussion about playing home games outside of Tropicana Field.

 

Mayor Rick Kriseman‘s office apparently agreed, confirming Tuesday afternoon the city attorney is now reviewing the video of the press conference, specifically looking to see if Sternberg violated his contract with the city or if any Montreal parties committed tortious interference by trying to lure the team out of its contractual obligations.

 

According to Kriseman spokesperson Ben Kirby, “The City Attorney’s office has been in contact with the general counsel for the Tampa Bay Rays and received assurances that the Rays will not commence exploration of the shared city concept, or conduct any other activities related to a pre-2028 future stadium site, without an agreement with the City of St. Petersburg. The Rays’ general counsel also confirmed that all conversations related to Montreal were limited to the time period after expiration of the use agreement.”

More at Florida Politics

[rmc523 206]

12 minutes ago, AstroBull21 said:

Back around 2008, there were talks to build a stadium at this site.

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah, seeing the other views, I do remember that plan.  Didn't realize it was that same location.  I was also taking his "renovating/expanding" Al Lang Stadium at face value, though.  That proposal would necessitate tearing what's there down and starting over.  That said, any sort of major league ballpark would require getting rid of Bayshore Drive like that plan shows, as there's no room otherwise.

 

[the admiral 28,239]

God, just involving Montreal seems to bring NHL-calibre incompetence into the fold.

[Gothamite 23,677]

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

God, just involving Montreal seems to bring NHL-calibre incompetence into the fold.

 

Didn’t need Montreal.  The Rays bring that all on their own.

[SFGiants58 13,688]

6 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

Didn’t need Montreal.  The Rays bring that all on their own.

 

Tampa Bay definitely shouldn’t be counted out for crazy. Remember how the Yakuza owned the Lightning for some time? How about the various infamous moments in the Bucs’ history? Stadium for Rent certainly didn’t shy away from the OITGDNHL-level shenanigans involved the baseball pursuit.

[LMU 7,549]

There's something about this that just screams loophole to the lease.  If Tampa Bay wasn't viable you wouldn't still keep a foot there... you'd bail.

[IceCap 21,965]

1 hour ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

Tampa Bay definitely shouldn’t be counted out for crazy. Remember how the Yakuza owned the Lightning for some time? How about the various infamous moments in the Bucs’ history? Stadium for Rent certainly didn’t shy away from the OITGDNHL-level shenanigans involved the baseball pursuit.

It's the humidity. It drives people to do crazy things.

[SFGiants58 13,688]

5 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

It's the humidity. It drives people to do crazy things.

 

I blame Abudadein’s machinations. He used a Bostonian carpetbagger (that term gets thrown around A LOT with Stu) to bring his devilish machinations to Florida!

 

 

Florida Championship Wrestling was a fairly overlooked-yet-influential territory, BTW.

 

[Sodboy13 5,577]

This has all been so cosmically stupid, if Sternberg keeps it up, we won't be able to say OITGDNHL around here anymore.

[dfwabel 4,155]

14 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

I blame Abudadein’s machinations. He used a Bostonian carpetbagger (that term gets thrown around A LOT with Stu) to bring his devilish machinations to Florida!

 

 

Florida Championship Wrestling was a fairly overlooked-yet-influential territory, BTW.

 

We chewed a lot of Betel Nut and Cosmic Cookies!

[AustinFromBoston 708]

So If I'm understanding this right; The Rays, a team that can't even get a new stadium built in 1 city, are demanding that 2 cities build them a new stadiums?

[GDAWG 1,782]

58 minutes ago, AustinFomBoston said:

So If I'm understanding this right; The Rays, a team that can't even get a new stadium built in 1 city, are demanding that 2 cities build them a new stadiums?

 

That is correct. 

[Red Wolf 5,544]

1 hour ago, AustinFomBoston said:

So If I'm understanding this right; The Rays, a team that can't even get a new stadium built in 1 city, are demanding that 2 cities build them a new stadiums?

 

It's so ridiculous that it's almost like it's some sort of negotiating gambit where they don't actually expect to get two stadiums.

[Red Comet 1,540]

1 hour ago, Red Wolf said:

 

It's so ridiculous that it's almost like it's some sort of negotiating gambit where they don't actually expect to get two stadiums.

 

Even if it is a gambit (and it appears to be), it's still a very stupid gambit. Usually when teams try to demand a taxpayer-funded palace that 90% of the aforementioned taxpayers will never be able to afford to go to, they usually use a separate city exclusively as a proverbial gun to the head of local/state governments. This is the equivalent of painting a banana to look like a gun while pretending its a gun.

[GDAWG 1,782]

A two city solution might work if the two cities are next to each other, but this solution involves another country.

[JayMac 3,662]

14 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

Sounds like a solid business plan.

This has been their business plan for the last 20+ years.

[Gothamite 23,677]

This is the best take yet on yesterday’s farcical press conference. 

 

 

[Magic Dynasty 2,377]

Honestly? If I had to choose between this proposal and them moving to Montreal permanently, I’m choosing Montreal for good. If you’re going to relocate, at least have the decency to call it what it is. A relocation.

 

As long as this team is the Tampa Bay Rays, I will support it. The second it becomes the Montreal Expos, it may as well not exist.

[spartacat_12 1,234]

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

A two city solution might work if the two cities are next to each other, but this solution involves another country.

 

I think if the MLB is actually serious about having a two city team (which I doubt they are), it would make the most sense to move the Rays to Montreal full time, and to have the Marlins split their home games between Miami & the Tampa Bay area.

 

These are the two worst markets when it comes to attendance, so in theory they'd both draw better with half as many games to sell, plus the logistics would be much simpler (players live in the same state all season, no tax/tv/radio complications).

 

They could either revert back to being the Florida Marlins, or come up with something new that would still appease both fanbases.

[BBTV 19,465]

The regional Florida team is probably the best solution, though it’s impossible considering what Miami did for the Marlins in exchange for rebranding themselves as “Miami’s team”.