Tampa Bay Rays Ballpark Plan Catching Flack From Group That Wants Team to Pay Rent

The Tampa Bay Rays are asking for more than $700 million in public funding for their new ballpark district plan, but one group is pushing back, insisting that the club pay rent and split profits more evenly with the city and county.

May 6, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena (56) / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The battle for a new ballpark is well documented for the Tampa Bay Rays, right? Over the years, we've heard many plans for the Rays to improve their ballpark situation, including the now-famed Montreal-Tampa Bay split that would have seen the team play half its season in Canada and half its season in the United States.

Now, the Rays have yet another plan, this time to have a ballpark be part of a new downtown district, but then plan is catching flack according to Front Office Sports:

The Rays have designs on a new $1.3B stadium—and are asking for more than $700M in public funding.

The group, 'No Home Run', is calling for the team to pay rent, split revenue with the city and county, and buy the land at something closer to market rate.

http://gofos.co/4bs5oVn

The Rays have designs on a new $1.3B stadium—and are asking for more than $700M in public funding.

The group, 'No Home Run', is calling for the team to pay rent, split revenue with the city and county, and buy the land at something closer to market rate.https://t.co/p48qf4Qh6I pic.twitter.com/DSTJsO6Kvs

— Front Office Sports Today (@FOS_Today) May 10, 2024

In an era of increased wealth for sports organizations and owners, it's not uncommon to see the public or sections of the public push back on publicly-funded stadiums. The Rays are not the only team currently looking to plan a new ballpark: The A's still haven't started building their park in Las Vegas, while the White Sox and Royals also want to get new buildings going soon.

The Rays have played at Tropicana Field since the franchise's inception in 1998, and it's widely regarded as one of the worst fan experiences in the sport, despite how good the Rays have been on the field.

The Rays play at home on Friday night against the New York Yankees and we'll continue to monitor the ballpark developments as they come.

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