MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside

[GDAWG]

Would any of the suburbs who lose out to the Bears go after the White Sox?  

[Sodboy13]

18 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

Would any of the suburbs who lose out to the Bears go after the White Sox?  

Any of the suburbs who can afford it don't hate themselves that much.

[LMU]

Another reason for the White Sox to bolt…

 

[Sec19Row53]

3 minutes ago, LMU said:

Another reason for the White Sox to bolt…

 

How does that get through the metal detectors?

[TBGKon]

Per this article, they’re not sure if the shots fired came from inside or outside the stadium 

 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38261825/chicago-police-investigating-shooting-white-sox-game?platform=amp

[Cujo]

14 hours ago, Sec19Row53 said:

How does that get through the metal detectors?

 

[The_Admiral]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:38 PM, Sodboy13 said:

I hadn't thought about this until right now, but up until 1993, MLB had that nonsensical alignment that put the Braves in the AL West. So all summer long, the kids are at home watching the Cubs at 2:20 ET, and the Braves are on another trip through California starting at 10:05 ET.

 

Looked up the schedule for the '92 Braves and it was nine road games apiece against Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, or one out of every six games in California. Didn't bother to look at the start times for them but I'd guess at least 20 were 10 Eastern. Suboptimal for sure, but what's better: a wacky schedule on national TV, or a sensible one on an RSN no one wants?

[YELDARBfield]

On 8/25/2023 at 2:55 PM, Cujo said:

...

Feels like a push, but then factor in that Nashville's going to get that new stadium which Chicago probably isn't.

I mean, I wouldn't count on that.

[Sodboy13]

"Braves in the AL West." Man, my brain really did have heat stroke on Thursday.

[spartacat_12]

On 8/25/2023 at 3:55 PM, Cujo said:

Which is better for the White Sox, or any franchise for that matter? To play second fiddle to one of MLB's biggest brands in a large metropolis -or- play in a market that gives them an entire city, state, region to themselves?

 

I'd say it's better for them to play in the market they've called home for 120 years. 

 

Based on your logic, shouldn't the Mets be moved out of NYC? 

[Walk-Off]

Tampa Bay Times: Rays ‘highly optimistic’ about getting St. Petersburg stadium deal done

 

My own takeaways from this article are:

• Just as John Fisher has said in at least one of his recent interviews that he wants to keep owning the A's for as long as possible, Stuart Sternberg states in this article that he wants to hang onto the Rays for as long as possible ... and also, more specifically, as long as the Rays are playing somewhere in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.  (I will have more on that in a bit.)  Unlike Fisher, however, Sternberg admits to being receptive to offers to buy his team for a high enough price.  I, for one, think that Sternberg is walking a refreshingly fine line between honesty and humility on this kind of matter.
• Sternberg claims that much more progress is being made on a proposal for a new ballpark anchoring an 86-acre mixed-use development in St. Petersburg's Historic Gas Plant District (the neighborhood where Tropicana Field happens to be located) than on any alternative on the Tampa / Hillsborough County side of the bay.  If he is telling the truth, then I, personally, feel disappointed by such news, given the Rays' longstanding and well-documented struggles to draw fans to the Trop.  However, if the Rays need to stay in St. Pete and especially in their present neighborhood in order to have any future as a Tampa Bay team, then a ballpark within a mixed-use development full of high-density and high-value residential units would at least create a potential for a large "captive audience" of people who could afford tickets to lots of Rays home games and take short walks to each of those games.
• Another noteworthy thing mentioned by Sternberg is that if the Rays clinch an agreement for a new ballpark in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, he will insist that any would-be buyer of the Rays accept said deal and keep the franchise in its current market.  However, should the only acceptable deal(s) for a new venue for the Rays be outside the Tampa Bay region, then he would sell the Rays rather than move the team himself.  If Sternberg is being truthful on this issue, then his stance, ironically, reminds me of the Giants' near-relocation to the Tampa Bay area just over three decades ago; Bob Lurie was unwilling to move the Giants out of the San Francisco Bay Area on his own, but was willing to sell the Giants to a group that wanted to relocate the team away from that region.  As for the past (and, IMO, horribly awkward) idea of the Rays splitting seasons between the Tampa-St. Petersburg and Montréal areas, Sternberg argues that it would have been a way for the Rays to maintain a base in the Tampa Bay region -- enough of a base, I presume, for him to keep feeling comfortable with owning that team.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Walk-Off
Correcting a misspelling in bullet point #2 and replacing "any and every acceptable deal" with "the only acceptable deal(s)" in bullet point #3

[GDAWG]

13 hours ago, Walk-Off said:

Tampa Bay Times: Rays ‘highly optimistic’ about getting St. Petersburg stadium deal done

 

My own takeaways from this article are:

• Just as John Fisher has said in at least one of his recent interviews that he wants to keep owning the A's for as long as possible, Stuart Sternberg states in this article that he wants to hang onto the Rays for as long as possible ... and also, more specifically, as long as the Rays are playing somewhere in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.  (I will have more on that in a bit.)  Unlike Fisher, however, Sternberg admits to being receptive to offers to buy his team for a high enough price.  I, for one, think that Sternberg is walking a refreshingly fine line between honesty and humility on this kind of matter.
• Sternberg claims that much more progress is being made on a proposal for a new ballpark anchoring an 86-acre mixed-use development in St. Petersburg's Historic Gas Plant District (the neighborhood where Tropicana Field happens to be located) than on any alternative on the Tampa / Hillsborough County side of the bay.  If he is telling the truth, then I, personally, feel dissapointed by such news, given the Rays' longstanding and well-documented struggles to draw fans to the Trop.  However, if the Rays need to stay in St. Pete and especially in their present neighborhood in order to have any future as a Tampa Bay team, then a ballpark within a mixed-use development full of high-density and high-value residential units would at least create a potential for a large "captive audience" of people who could afford tickets to lots of Rays home games and take short walks to each of those games.
• Another noteworthy thing mentioned by Sternberg is that if the Rays clinch an agreement for a new ballpark in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, he will insist that any would-be buyer of the Rays accept said deal and keep the franchise in its current market.  However, should any and every acceptable deal for a new venue for the Rays be outside the Tampa Bay region, then he would sell the Rays rather than move the team himself.  If Sternberg is being truthful on this issue, then his stance, ironically, reminds me of the Giants' near-relocation to the Tampa Bay area just over three decades ago; Bob Lurie was unwilling to move the Giants out of the San Francisco Bay Area on his own, but was willing to sell the Giants to a group that wanted to relocate the team away from that region.  As for the past (and, IMO, horribly awkward) idea of the Rays splitting seasons between the Tampa-St. Petersburg and Montréal areas, Sternberg argues that it would have been a way for the Rays to maintain a base in the Tampa Bay region -- enough of a base, I presume, for him to keep feeling comfortable with owning that team.

 

I know that there are fans online who want Jeff Vinik (Lightning Owner) to buy the Rays.  

[BBTV]

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

full of high-density and high-value residential units

 

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

a potential for a large "captive audience" of people who could afford tickets to lots of Rays home games and take short walks to each of those games.

 

Is there any evidence that sports stadiums draw people to actually live near them?  I'd personally not want to live in a complex featuring a major sports arena (and I go to tons of games via my 2-mile walk or short subway ride) and if they're high-value units, are the people affording those units really die-hard baseball fans?

 

I can think of DC as an area where high-value units sprouted up near a ballpark, but there's also so much other stuff in that area that it would eventually have been developed anyway, and, well, Tampa St Pete isn't DC.

 

This sounds like a recipe for disaster, and a situation similar to Marlins Park, where they built it... but nobody came.  If what people here say is true about the stadium location being the issue, then the owner should put his money where his mouth is and sell the team to outside investors (if there even are any, now that Vegas is taken) rather than subject it to another 30 years of poor attendance and support.  

 

If I'm one of the 35 Rays fans that exist, and i believe that the geography is the issue, then I'm beyond upset right now and would probably bail on the club.

[GriffinM6]

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

 

 

Is there any evidence that sports stadiums draw people to actually live near them?  I'd personally not want to live in a complex featuring a major sports arena (and I go to tons of games via my 2-mile walk or short subway ride) and if they're high-value units, are the people affording those units really die-hard baseball fans?

 

No statistical evidence, but I can guarantee you that many of the people who live at the apartments at The Battery where the Braves play are die-hard fans and go often. This new proposed St. Pete plan would be very similar to The Battery, including the fact that there's dogs**t public transportation in the area.

 

Not a fan of it, and hope the city of Tampa can work something out eventually with St. Pete to get the Rays across the bay.

[BBTV]

If the stadium is in such a bad location, why would anyone want to live in that location - especially with no good public transit?  If it’s bad to get to, why would you want to get to it to get home evry day?

[dont care]

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

If the stadium is in such a bad location, why would anyone want to live in that location - especially with no good public transit?  If it’s bad to get to, why would you want to get to it to get home evry day?

It’s hard to get to from Tampa, anywhere south is a breeze. But Tampa is hard to get to period, doesn’t matter what way you come from

[Sec19Row53]

A newspaper report says a Brewer stadium funding plan could be unveiled Monday.

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2023/09/15/600-million-american-family-field-spending-plan-could-have-local-cash/70868156007/

[leopard88]

This is kind of a big deal.

 

Report: Rays set to announce stadium deal in St. Pete

[Burmy]

Good ne

Just now, leopard88 said:

This is kind of a big deal.

 

Report: Rays set to announce stadium deal in St. Pete

I was hoping for Tampa and Ybor City to work out...but any port in a storm, I suppose.

 

With this, expect the expansion application process to begin any day...we all know about Nashville, hearing rumblings about Salt Lake as a dark-horse, hoping Portland can get its act together, don't know who'd spearhead a Charlotte group (though it would be nice to have the bigs in the Carolinas), wondering what plan Montreal will hatch next and whether Mexico (CDMX or Monterrey) or Virginia will try to come up with anything.

 

The Most Unwanted Song said it best: "Saddle up, boys; the desert is a-callin'.  Yahoo, yahoo, yahoo."

[TBGKon]

4 minutes ago, Burmy said:

Good ne

I was hoping for Tampa and Ybor City to work out...but any port in a storm, I suppose.

I feel the same about St. Pete.  Tampa proper was more of a selfish preference for me as I live on the Tampa side in south county, but it did make sense  to center within the population.  Whatever keeps them in town is fine by me.