Tampa Bay Rays new home may be more trouble than its worth

The Tampa Bay Rays are looking to move out of Tropicana Field. They already have a few offers for a new home, but do the bidders know what they are getting?

The Tampa Bay Rays need a new stadium. That isn’t news. Tropicana Field is one of two remaining MLB ballparks with artificial turf. It’s the only one left with a permanent roof. Moreover, it’s  notoriously difficult to get there from populated areas.

As a result, they’ve finished dead last in attendance three years in a row and 12 out of 20 seasons overall. Even when the team was successful fans stayed away. Their last playoff appearance was in 2013 when the team went 92-71. That year, they averaged only 18,646 fans per game, last in the American League.

It’s fair to wonder if Tampa Bay is a suitable market for baseball at all. Regardless, local politicians have little choice. Their options are: 1) throw an exorbitant amount of tax dollars at a new stadium proposal, or 2) watch the team depart for Montreal, Portland, or elsewhere. Either way, they will have alienated a significant portion of their voting base and given ammunition to political adversaries.

The New Bid

The ensuing bidding war has a new entrant. Hillsborough County looks to lure the Rays away from neighboring Pinellas County.

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According to Google Maps, the proposed site occupies six square blocks in downtown Tampa. It’s near the water and several major highways. Of course, the current residents would need to leave first. Here’s a list of the presumptive evictees from that site:

• Picker Place Vintage Market
• A martial arts school
• A self-described “attractive, two-story brick office building”
• What appears to be a farmers market with a pair of 5 star reviews
• One of the “oldest and most reputable woodworking companies in the state of Florida”
• An industrial equipment supplier

The Community Impact

So what’s the point? Sure we all love baseball, and everyone wants a home team. Cities will shell out truckloads of money to attract and keep franchises, even though there’s little to no benefit to taxpayers. The exorbitant cost of stadiums come with the promise of economic revitalization and job availability. Sadly, this rarely comes to fruition.

New stadiums almost always fall short of delivering the promised economic uptick suggested when they are funded.-Michael Sliwinski, Law Street Media, February 21, 2016

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Sooner or later, the Tampa Bay Rays will have a new home. Maybe it will be somewhere nearby in Pinellas County, or maybe they’ll supplant Picker Place in downtown Tampa. Perhaps it will be hundreds of miles away. Wherever they land, it’s buyer beware for the bidders.