Why would you spend 50M+ to fix a stadium that will be destroyed in less than five years?? Of course the taxpayers will eat that, owners need to pay for their own stadiums, not tax payers.
@@Porrohman72 yep, local taxes pay for it. If the governments stopped paying then teams could not leverage cities. Even of the city builds a team a new stadium, that stadium will eventually not be as good as one built 5 years later. MLB told Milwaukee upgrade this stadium or lose your team. It was a state of the art stadium in the early 2000s. Now they want $500M, but people can’t buy groceries. Billionaires demanding money to pay millionaires.
@@andrewmcintosh9832 Yeah, they built the stadium in 1990 because they were hoping a team like the White Sox or Giants would move to Tampa Bay. But they instead got an expansion team when those things didn't happen.
I’ve lived in SWFL for 20 years. We have the Red Sox, Braves, and Twins all with 45 mins of me. I’ve never been to a single spring training game. Tickets are way over priced. Driving 1.5 hours to a Marlins game or 2.5 hours to a Rays game is much better deal and do it multiple times a year.
@brianfl33916 The Rays are rarely more than half capacity. The Marlins don't get afternoon and evening rains in summer like the Gulf coast. Without the Dome which is gone, you will not enjoy running from lightning and mosquitos if you've only been here 20 years.
Attendance would not be as bad if the team was not located on the ass end of St Pete. If you consider the greater metropolitan area, the AVERAGE driving distance away from the stadium is over an hour away. St Pete/Pinellas Park, which is the section that is within a REASONABLE driving distance has a total population of 400k. Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa is isolated from the ballpark by Tampa Bay, which takes basically 60-70 minutes at a minimum to get across and down to the ballpark for pretty much anyone in Hillsborough County. Hillsborough County has a population of 1.5 million people. Pinellas County is where the ballpark is located, and is the St Pete side of the bay. However, in terms of population, it is pretty distributed and a significant portion of the population actually lives in the Clearwater/Palm Harbor/Tarpon Springs section, which is frankly just as far away from the ballpark as most of Hillsborough county. The section of the population that ACTUALLY LIVES within 30 minutes of the ballpark is approximately 400k people. Just based on a quick and rough Census data search cross referenced with Google Maps data on the townships that are within 30 minutes of the Kansas City Royals ballpark, there are conservatively around 1.2 million people within 30 minutes of Kauffman Stadium. If you wanted to geographically analyze the WORST LOCATION for a ballpark in Tampa Bay, it would be located approximately where Tropicana is located. It is by FAR the worst in the MLB. I will acknowledge fans can make the trek to the stadium even if it takes more than 60 minutes to get there. However, for a 162 game season, having more than half of the asking 3/4th of your fanbase to drive 60+ minutes for a game is simply not going to yield good results ever. Almost every other team in the country has at least 1-2 million people located within 30 minutes of the stadium, compared to only 400k for the Rays. It is a patently unfair comparison in terms of what is being asked of the fanbase when you consider the driving times...
I'm originally from St. Louis and was a big Cardinals fan growing up. I moved to Tampa 20 years and was really excited to support the Rays. The locals are just not baseball fans. It's definitely a football town. I'm upset they couldn't come to a resolution.
Florida is just not a great state for baseball... besides training in the winter and spring... Summer is not a good season for sports and too much other stuff to do, beaches, pools, water parks, theme parks, boating, tiki bars, lots of nature parks, golfing is really big, just a lot of competition for sports in general and baseball being in the summer the worst season in florida is a tough sell.
The big problem is that you're actually the outlier. There may be more St Louis transplants in Florida that are Cardinals fans than Rays fans total. Most people move here, but never support the local community and instead represent the cities they came from (that they didn't like enough to actually live there).
That is simply not true. If the Rays played in Tampa they would be successful. People don’t want to travel out of the way to St. Pete. The problem is, whether it’s St. Pete or Tampa the tax payers do not want to pay for an MLB ballpark.
@@FloridaCatholicGuy I'm saying this as a Rays fan born and raised. The demographic problem is an actual issue. I'm not saying location is not important, it would help a lot. But look at Yankees or Red Sox games, or when they played the Cardinals a few seasons ago. Those fans live here. They live in Tampa, Sarasota or Brandon areas. They make the drive, they're local and don't support the Rays. Same to a lesser degree when the Bucs play any northeast team. Even a Bruins game during peak snowbird season. It's an issue that makes it harder to succeed in our market than other markets.
I live East of Tampa on I-4. Tampa will have to decide what to do with the Buccaneers when they want a new stadium or major renovation. Tampa area cannot afford two stadium being built in that time period. Let the Rays go to Orlando or Nashville and get better support. No way will the Hillsborough County(Tampa) citizens vote for this.
@@GOLDKW-bl4gp 100% the Rays should go to Orlando just to stay in Florida and let Nashville get their own expansion team which is great for the Major League Baseball
First off, this is currently on PINELLAS. Not Hillsborough. Second, as you said. Tampa doesn’t have the funding. They have to maintain the Bucs. I know some are screaming Orlando but I also know Nashville and Charlotte want a piece so idk if relocation, expansion or BOTH are coming! 😬🫨😵💫
I kinda get it as far as job stimulation and financial circulation Like if they have Rays players and staff and employees and merchandise circulating in Florida, they reap money in taxes- as well as tolls and PT to and from, increased property value, local construction contracts. A lot of the Oakland stadium proposals involved taxpayer money for that reason... If you run on the platform of keeping the team in town, you get voter interest.
You have an awesome point. It is not secret that a city or county has to put up as much as a billion dollars for a bare bones structure to have a franchise in baseball. But IF it is not worth the risk, what do you do?
Jobs. But they need to build a multipurpose complex, with a retail area, restaurants, hotel, indoor arena for year round occupation and constant revenue stream.
@@peteywheatstraws4909 yeah part of the rays problem is that they just kinda accepted a pre-existing smaller venue and never made plans to move into a new stadium with easier access from the bay and Central Florida. Like the A's accepted a dual-use deal, acquiesced to seat expansion that made the stadium worse, and were stuck in a decrepit stadium in a city where funds were dry and many of the locals didnt have the money to invest in the team.
As an Expos fan who adopted the Rays I'd prefer them to stay in Tampa and The Expos to come back as an expansion team. I don't want to see another city lose their team. There are passionate fans there. What's happening to them is so similar to what happened to the Expos. Terrible ownership. A dump of a stadium the city won't replace. It sucks.
@@DCReal93they have built high rise condos all around First Horizon park. I have heard there is zero room to expand the park to make it MLB ready even temporarily while they build an actual MLB stadium
Especially when Montreal wants an AMERICAN League team now. Rivalries with the Yankees, Toronto and especially Boston anyone? PS - If the National League wants another foreign team, they could always put the next expansion team in Mexico City. Just saying.
You see how politics works on this small of a scale? Now imagine the corruption going on within the United States government. We have local commissioners here upset because the Rays won’t play at the stadium they get kickbacks and donations from and want to do a 325 million project there with the same funds the Rays stadium would use.
If the Rays moved to Montreal, WHY would they have to change their A.L. East alignment? Montreal is not too far from Boston, New York, Toronto and Baltimore. Closer than Tampa in fact.
the city of Tampa and it's residents were not willing to subsidize like Pinellas County was. Certainly not anymore with all the flooding damage they had. Repairing infrastructure is the priority not paying for a baseball stadium.
"It is singularly the best opportunity for our fans to experience 81 games of major league Rays baseball at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa" Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said. "As difficult as it is to get any of these stadiums up to major league standards, it was the least difficult. You're going to see Major League Baseball in a small environment."
@@AndreAllDay20 What are the “major league standards” that have to be upgraded. The Yankees play half of their Spring Training games there now with no problems. The TV lighting, wiring, sound, offices, and clubhouse are fine then. What are the “needed upgrades”.
According to the Rays, Steinbrenner Field was in the process of being renovated to improve its clubhouse and playing facilities. Other recent upgrades to the ballpark include upgraded field lighting, expanded home clubhouse space and improved training and rehabilitation capabilities. Silverman said the Rays are working with MLB and the MLB Players Association to understand what further upgrades must be made to get the ballpark ready for a big league season. While the home clubhouse has been renovated, the visiting side will likely require additions, expansion and MLB-caliber amenities.
@@AndreAllDay20 I heard Michael Kay , the Yankees TV announcer recently say the clubhouse at Steinbrenner Field is better than half of MLB he visits every year.
Florida never really has a loyal fanbase to a baseball team. Most fans moved from different state and remain loyal to the team they grew up watching/loved
@@carlosvasquez2196 The only reason there are teams (two even) in Florida is just for TV deals Florida is just different than any other states for summer sports
The Montreal Olympic stadium is being renovated but only for the structure and roof. Nothing to modernize its interior for fans experience … and trust me that stadium needs it badly it feels like the 70s in there. Montreal needs a new stadium and there’s no money for this.
Bell media sold its stake in MLSE to Roger’s… they raised the cash to buy the team and put money towards a new ball park in Montreal. The Rays will move to Montreal and play as the re-christened Expos at the Big O until the new ballpark is complete.
The money is probably better suited to repairing public infrastructure from the storm damage. As for other markets a place like Charlotte NC could be a good fit in the AL East.
I think Charlotte is even less of a professional sports town than Tampa Bay. Interest in the Panthers has dropped off a cliff since Tepper took over, nobody cares about the Hornets, and the Hurricanes play in Raleigh. I also don't see us giving any handouts to sports teams owners after having to deal with Tepper.
If they were to only use the A's moniker, there should be some kind of city name for the standings. Like SAC, or start using LV to get fans used to that
People have already mentioned why Olympic Stadium isn't available, but idk why they would need to change division if playing in Montreal. The Expos were in the NL East.
Been there many times, also worked games there on the broadcast crew. I call it the fish bowl. It’s a terrible ball park. Tampa deserves a team, but a better location. The location was challenging for Tampa residents to get there on the regular. Ybor… maybe, that would be nice.
Move to the Orlando area but not to downtown. There’s a failing mall in Ocoee, 5 minutes from Orlando, that you can tear down and you can build a stadium, apartments, entertainment, bars and restaurants. Similar to what the Braves built
@@rw2629 Bruh, the Orlando market is more significant than the Tampa market. Orlando is outpacing Tampa in many areas. You can be salty about it, but that's just the reality. Saying "Orlando needs to learn its place" adds an opinion without any factual facts.
The Rays should relocate to Orlando and name themselves as the “Orlando Rays” cuz Orlando is a much better market and the Rays games will have an even better attendance in Orlando than it will ever be in Tampa
@@marcusreilly1011actually the Magic are getting close into the top 10 in attendance which means the people that lives in Orlando do go to their games so you’re comment is already debunked
Orlando is even a smaller market than Tampa Bay Sure there's tourism, but it's probably like Vegas situation again But maybe the owners and MLB doesn't care, filling the seats is filling the seats anyway
I find it ironic that the 2 teams that I could've completely understood for needing new stadiums, for years no less, don't get them, are moving, while teams that had 20-30 year old stadiums that still look gorgeous, like Texas and Atlanta, got new stadiums lickety split. Make it make sense...
I don't see what the problem is with playing at either a Minor league ball park or a Spring training ball park. The Toronto Blue Jays played in both types during the pandemic. They played in Dunedin for the first half of 2020 and the other half in AAA Buffalo at Saleem Feild close to Niagara Falls, then the next season they played the first half in Buffalo in the other back in Toronto.
Actually that was 2021 they played in Dunedin and Buffalo with fans before going back to Toronto. In 2020, they played most of their home games in Buffalo.
Apparently MLB doesn’t want to refer to them as Oakland I guess they sent out a memo telling everyone that the A’s can’t use the name Oakland and to drop the Oakland name from all remaining merchandise They are I believe calling them “The A’s” or Athletics baseball team
As I said to someone earlier, if the moved to Montreal they could still stay in the east. They are pretty far away from each other. Can’t have teams from the same country in the same division? Really? What about the teams from the same state playing in the same division? Better let MLB know that the Rangers and Astros are in the same state and division. What about the Dodgers and Padres? Same thing, different state. Oh and don’t forget the Angels and Athletics. So that argument is pointless. Didn’t even need to do any research to figure that one out people, just general knowledge. Good grief!
I"m not sure why you think they'd have to change the division if they move to Montreal, if anything Montreal fits in more with the AL East than Tampa Bay does.
I see everyone talks about Montreal for the rays but I don’t see them going there mostly because Quebec Canada tax payers are not going to foot a billion plus for a new stadium district best the rays get relocated to Nashville Charlotte/Raleigh nc or Utah since they already have 900 million approved just waiting on the team to go there
Canada is pretty bad bureaucratically and Olympic stadium was in bad shape when they left. On the bright side, Ozempic Stadium would be a funny sponsorship
Quebec, Canada won't approve a billion dollar+ stadium... but will approve a $900M new roof for "The O", the biggest toilet with the lid closed in the western hemisphere.😂
I feel like if the Rays move, it'll be somewhere in the Northeast (Montreal?) or Salt Lake City. My thoughts being that Stu Sternberg doesn't want to sell and the Nashville group is based on owning the team, as they're paying to build their own stadium without public/government assistance.
Regarding a Montreal team could not reside in AL East: 1) there is no law / rule / etc regarding MLB divisional realignment - it is simply an organization structure (reference: NFL Dallas Cowboys in NFC East) - 2) last time I looked, Montreal would be the 2nd furthest east city in MLB (1st is Boston)
Was in Tampa the day the stadium opened. Not many people were there, as I understand. The announcer on the local radio station said there would be a million people who, one day, would say they were at the stadium.
@@waynestein3081Florida is becoming the California of the 21st century. Everyone is moving there. Not just retirees too. "But they have bad attendance!" TV market size and corporate sponsorships dictate where teams go now. The bigger the metro area the more potential customers. If it was just about attendance North Dakota would have an NHL ice hockey team. But they have too small of a TV market and metro area. "But Florida people cheer for other state teams". Maybe now, but that will change over time. People said California cheered other state teams too in the 1950s.
In regards to your comment at 5:45 involving insurance covering damages. Insurance cannot cover even half the stadium damage from the hurricane. A few months prior to Milton hitting the stadium the county renegotiated their hurricaine insurance coverage based on simulations that said it was unlikely a storm as strong as Milton would hit TB (county took gamble and lost in about the worst way possible). As it stands right now insurance can pay a max 25 million of the 60 million damage to the stadium. The rest comes from MLB, owners, or the county, however, the county is considered the landlord for the stadium so they are the only entity who is legally financial responsible. It is a horrible situtation no matter who youi look at it (MLB, owners, county, tax payers all lost and there is no cheap+fast solution.
No MLB-caliber stadium. And before you suggest stade olympique, it's currently undergoing huge renovations and is not expected to be usable for baseball afterwards.
Setting aside the issue of not having a stadium and the city being highly unlikely to find one. Money, the Canadian dollar is weak 70 cents on the dollar in fact. That means 30% reduction in gate, 30% reduction in local tv, 30% reduction in local sponsors, 30% reduction in merch and concessions. If you've got no other option maybe. But if you can move to a US city and draw a 25% lower crowd and still make more money why wouldn't you?
Why would they need to change the Rays' division with a move to Montreal? It's located near Toronto, Boston and New York. In fact, it's even a lot closer (by 400 miles) to Baltimore than Tampa Bay .
Also I’m hearing from baseball fans saying Florida doesn’t work for baseball and that’s so false. Miami Marlins don’t sell because they have bad ownership if they fix ownership and put a winning product, then the fans will show up. Tampa Bay Rays just need a better location and the fans will show up, Tampa is just not a good location for MLB baseball due to all the spring training facilities in it’s region. maybe AAA baseball would work.
If Expos ever are resurrected, as a Mark II-version, they'll be in the AL East. The instant rivalry with Toronto (especially), Boston, New York (except this time the Yankees), and Baltimore... makes far more sense for the Expos to be in the AL East and share the division with the Jays. Same thing with why MLB moved the Astros out of the NL Central and into the AL West.
The decision didn't come far enough afterwards for that to be the only decid8ng factor. There had to be a lot of talk about whether it was even worth it with all else that was needed.
If Tampa goes to Montreal they can stay in the AL East Boston is less than 5 hours from Montreal and New York is a little over 5 hours fans from both cities would take the trip to Montreal for baseball games . Montreal Canadian fans travel big to Boston when they play the Bruins .
I think the Rays should do like the Expos did before they moved to DC and split time between Steinbrenner field and San Juan, Puerto Rico before they find a permanent location.
These politicians don’t want to destroy their political careers by approving something that financially cripples the area five or 10 years down the line
Move Utah to the NL and Move Pittsburgh to the AL NL West: SD/SF/LAD/UTAH/AZ NL Central: COL/STL/MIL/CHC/CIN NL East: ATL/MIA/NYM/PHI/WSH AL West: SEA/A's/LAA/TEX/HOU AL Central: CWS/MIN/DET/CLE/KC AL East: PIT/TOR/NYY/BOS/BAL
I wish the Rays would stay in the Tampa area and maybe build a new baseball only stadium near Raymond James Stadium, that would sound like the logical thing to do
That would be logic, but you would have to pay the Yankees and Tampa Bay Buccaneers since they’re stadiums are right by each other I think ybor city probably would be a better fit for them
totally agree brother definitely keep the rays in Florida but build the new stadium in Tampa preferably near Raymond James but Tampa is a spot where were looking to get a NBA team so we can't spend too much Tampa still needs a NBA team to be complete bro and when they say rays are going to Nashville it makes me crack up who ever made that up is so funny thanks for the chuckles 😂😂
It’s not meant for the Rays to be St. Petersburg, Bring the Rays to Tampa Channel Side or Ybor city where Rays belong. After all the Bucs, and Lightning are in Tampa. Why don’t the Rays play at Raymond James, other MLB teams have share their stadium Marlin with Dolphins Joe Robbie Stadium San Francisco Giants-‘’49ers CandleStick and Mets- Jets Shea Stadium
They were aiming for the older and heavily retired crowd who normally would go for the early dinner special at such time, of whom there are plenty along with all the other crabs in Tampa Bay.
I wonder how much of that decision is that the Rays aren't playing in Pinellas County in 2025? I don't understand where else they'd go in Pinellas County until that stadium is fixed, but them going to Steinbrenner Field in the other county probably didn't help matters?
A lot of your outdoor football stadiums are theoretically configurable to baseball even if they aren't currently having to host both sports out of the same stadium, Charlotte and Nashville both have outdoor NFL stadiums, so if they relocated to Charlotte or Nashville sharing a stadium with the NFL till they build their new stadium could be a possibility
Theyre theoretically configurable, doesnt mean itll go well. Seating/fence reconfiguration proved to be just as expensive as having two stadiums in many cases.
Nashville is getting a new NFL stadium in 2027, so maybe the Rays could reconfigure the current soon to be old Titan Stadium for baseball, have it face the river, it's a good location. For 2026, they'd either still play in Florida or play in the minor league Nashville stadium. To hard to reconfigure between sports.
Or you could even have the Rays move to Nashville and play at a reconfigured for baseball Nissan Stadium, and the Titans could play 2026 at the Vanderbilt FirstBank Stadium for 2026 before their new stadium is complete in 2027
With all due respect as a St Pete local the folks in Tampa can shut it about the stadium being too far, you guys have the Bucs and Lightning already, let us have this. It would suck though if the team relocated to another state tho, nobody wants that
At least the people had a right to vote on the bonds unlike the people of Nevada who had the A’s forced on them and had no say so in wanting to help build a stadium for the worst owner in all of sports
Montreal is a perfect fit geographically with the AL East. It's further east than Toronto. It would mean shorter away trips for Toronto, New York and Boston. Montreal already has a sporting rivalry with Boston (Habs vs Bruins). Baltimore would still have the same travel distance just they would travel north instead of south.
Build the new stadium near amalia arena or Raymond James stadium. Lightning games sell out every game. Makes no sense to have it in st pete when that bridge keeps so many people from wanting to go to the games. I live in Lakeland and can drive to a bolts game in 45 min. It’ll take me twice that to drive to the trop. St pete is only convenient for st Pete residents. Tampa would be more convenient for everyone as a whole in Florida.
That means that team will be a lame duck team for 3 years or more waiting for the ballpark in Salt Lake City to open( not the same situation as the As they're no where near starting construction in Vegas)
Realistically, the storm made everything worse. Billions of dollars of damage caused by historic storm surge flooding, rainfall flooding and wind damage from Helene and Milton combined. The county does not have the money. Worst time possible. Rays owner should sell the team to a Tampa owner who will not be cheap and have a stadium built in Tampa. Call it the Tampa …
What I am hearing Pinellas county is angry that the team is going to Tampa and Hillsborough county after asking for the money for the new stadium. They did not consider any stadiums mainly the soccer stadium in the county. Can't disagree they're proving that the area doesn't need a team.
Montreal would still be AL East, unless they switched leagues for some reason. That would mean the American League would have two teams in Canada, though.
The Rays can come to Montréal and stay in the AL East. We'd play against Toronto, Boston and New York. Can you imagine how much New Englanders and New Yorkers would absolutely LOVE to come visit Québec and catch a few ballgames ?
The Tampa Bay Rays have been good for almost two decades now and deserve to play in front of a community that is excited to have them there. The Marlins have proven that MLB, even with a roof to protect against the climate, just doesn't work in FL. The area around Tropicana was sketchy when I saw a game there way back in 2001, the parking situation ridiculous, and it could not have improved. Nashville or Charlotte would be good.
Just move out of Tampa the market has never supported you go somewhere where the market will support you like Nashville or Portland Tampa is a great area and i love coming there but all they need is the lightning and the Buccaneers
@peteywheatstraws4909 Utah has $900 million sitting around for a MLB park and a spot ready to build. They even have a empty baseball stadium right downtown that can be used for a while.
They were going to spend 6.5 Billion dollar redevelopment in the Gas Plant District. They were going to do this without a vote either in the city or county. Plan to use a Bed Tax that seems to be where money comes from for any projects. I live east of Tampa and St. Pete and Pinellas County has a lot of Liberal and Socialist Mayor and Commissioners. I would imagine if the Bed Tax fell short they would rob it from the general fund. Bet you the Bed Tax has suffered significantly since the last 2 hurricanes came through. They did not put it on the Ballot because it would have fell overwhelmingly. Crooks. I assume they will built the rest of the projects. Which is a lot of DEI agenda items. Glad I live on this side of the river.
The Pinellas County commissioners know the stadium deal with the Rays is suspended by terms of the contract. No one seems to how long that can last before the contract terminates. Sounds like a legal battle coming. The Rays lost out with contract because now they can't relocate until 2029. The Rays need to call Pinellas commissioners and state we will start to see what Hillsborough County or other cities have to offer and we no longer want to discuss a new stadium with Pinellas County. Based upon attendance the Rays may come out better in a new area.
Why would you spend 50M+ to fix a stadium that will be destroyed in less than five years?? Of course the taxpayers will eat that, owners need to pay for their own stadiums, not tax payers.
That will never happen. There will always be a city willing to give your tax money for a sports team
Insurance or FEMA will pay for it.
@ the insurance deductible is $22,000,000
Which means we pay for it.
@@Porrohman72 yep, local taxes pay for it. If the governments stopped paying then teams could not leverage cities. Even of the city builds a team a new stadium, that stadium will eventually not be as good as one built 5 years later. MLB told Milwaukee upgrade this stadium or lose your team. It was a state of the art stadium in the early 2000s. Now they want $500M, but people can’t buy groceries. Billionaires demanding money to pay millionaires.
The last of the bubble roof stadiums. R.I.P. Trop 1990-2024
Actually it opened in 1990
And it was structrually supported. It wasn't a bubble stadium.
@@michaelleroy9281 Corrected. First baseball game was 1998.
@@andrewmcintosh9832 Yeah, they built the stadium in 1990 because they were hoping a team like the White Sox or Giants would move to Tampa Bay. But they instead got an expansion team when those things didn't happen.
Nothing of value was lost. What a truly terrible stadium. All the charm of a walmart inside.
Spring ball is our forte in Florida but summer is heat mosquitos and rain without a dome.
I’ve lived in SWFL for 20 years. We have the Red Sox, Braves, and Twins all with 45 mins of me. I’ve never been to a single spring training game. Tickets are way over priced. Driving 1.5 hours to a Marlins game or 2.5 hours to a Rays game is much better deal and do it multiple times a year.
@brianfl33916 The Rays are rarely more than half capacity.
The Marlins don't get afternoon and evening rains in summer like the Gulf coast. Without the Dome which is gone, you will not enjoy running from lightning and mosquitos if you've only been here 20 years.
I used to live near Tampa St. Pete and I can say, that area does not deserve a major league team. Nobody ever goes to the games. It's ridiculous.
People aren’t even going in Miami.
I drive from st augustine when the yanks come, I hate the 3.5hrs drive one way
From tampa to st pete is too much... traffic sucks
@@sweepingdenver Jeffrey Loria. Same guy who ruined the Expos in Montreal.
Attendance would not be as bad if the team was not located on the ass end of St Pete. If you consider the greater metropolitan area, the AVERAGE driving distance away from the stadium is over an hour away. St Pete/Pinellas Park, which is the section that is within a REASONABLE driving distance has a total population of 400k. Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa is isolated from the ballpark by Tampa Bay, which takes basically 60-70 minutes at a minimum to get across and down to the ballpark for pretty much anyone in Hillsborough County. Hillsborough County has a population of 1.5 million people. Pinellas County is where the ballpark is located, and is the St Pete side of the bay. However, in terms of population, it is pretty distributed and a significant portion of the population actually lives in the Clearwater/Palm Harbor/Tarpon Springs section, which is frankly just as far away from the ballpark as most of Hillsborough county. The section of the population that ACTUALLY LIVES within 30 minutes of the ballpark is approximately 400k people.
Just based on a quick and rough Census data search cross referenced with Google Maps data on the townships that are within 30 minutes of the Kansas City Royals ballpark, there are conservatively around 1.2 million people within 30 minutes of Kauffman Stadium.
If you wanted to geographically analyze the WORST LOCATION for a ballpark in Tampa Bay, it would be located approximately where Tropicana is located. It is by FAR the worst in the MLB. I will acknowledge fans can make the trek to the stadium even if it takes more than 60 minutes to get there. However, for a 162 game season, having more than half of the asking 3/4th of your fanbase to drive 60+ minutes for a game is simply not going to yield good results ever. Almost every other team in the country has at least 1-2 million people located within 30 minutes of the stadium, compared to only 400k for the Rays. It is a patently unfair comparison in terms of what is being asked of the fanbase when you consider the driving times...
I'm originally from St. Louis and was a big Cardinals fan growing up. I moved to Tampa 20 years and was really excited to support the Rays. The locals are just not baseball fans. It's definitely a football town. I'm upset they couldn't come to a resolution.
Florida is just not a great state for baseball... besides training in the winter and spring... Summer is not a good season for sports and too much other stuff to do, beaches, pools, water parks, theme parks, boating, tiki bars, lots of nature parks, golfing is really big, just a lot of competition for sports in general and baseball being in the summer the worst season in florida is a tough sell.
The big problem is that you're actually the outlier. There may be more St Louis transplants in Florida that are Cardinals fans than Rays fans total. Most people move here, but never support the local community and instead represent the cities they came from (that they didn't like enough to actually live there).
That is simply not true. If the Rays played in Tampa they would be successful. People don’t want to travel out of the way to St. Pete. The problem is, whether it’s St. Pete or Tampa the tax payers do not want to pay for an MLB ballpark.
@@FloridaCatholicGuy I'm saying this as a Rays fan born and raised. The demographic problem is an actual issue. I'm not saying location is not important, it would help a lot. But look at Yankees or Red Sox games, or when they played the Cardinals a few seasons ago. Those fans live here. They live in Tampa, Sarasota or Brandon areas. They make the drive, they're local and don't support the Rays. Same to a lesser degree when the Bucs play any northeast team. Even a Bruins game during peak snowbird season. It's an issue that makes it harder to succeed in our market than other markets.
And hockey
I live East of Tampa on I-4. Tampa will have to decide what to do with the Buccaneers when they want a new stadium or major renovation. Tampa area cannot afford two stadium being built in that time period. Let the Rays go to Orlando or Nashville and get better support. No way will the Hillsborough County(Tampa) citizens vote for this.
@@GOLDKW-bl4gp 100% the Rays should go to Orlando just to stay in Florida and let Nashville get their own expansion team which is great for the Major League Baseball
First off, this is currently on PINELLAS. Not Hillsborough.
Second, as you said. Tampa doesn’t have the funding. They have to maintain the Bucs.
I know some are screaming Orlando but I also know Nashville and Charlotte want a piece so idk if relocation, expansion or BOTH are coming! 😬🫨😵💫
@@michaeloptv MONTREAL
@@BlazeYashiro205 MONTREAL
MONTREAL
Good riddance. Why give $1 BIILION tax money to a private entity?
I kinda get it as far as job stimulation and financial circulation
Like if they have Rays players and staff and employees and merchandise circulating in Florida, they reap money in taxes- as well as tolls and PT to and from, increased property value, local construction contracts. A lot of the Oakland stadium proposals involved taxpayer money for that reason... If you run on the platform of keeping the team in town, you get voter interest.
You have an awesome point. It is not secret that a city or county has to put up as much as a billion dollars for a bare bones structure to have a franchise in baseball. But IF it is not worth the risk, what do you do?
Jobs.
But they need to build a multipurpose complex, with a retail area, restaurants, hotel, indoor arena for year round occupation and constant revenue stream.
@@peteywheatstraws4909 yeah part of the rays problem is that they just kinda accepted a pre-existing smaller venue and never made plans to move into a new stadium with easier access from the bay and Central Florida.
Like the A's accepted a dual-use deal, acquiesced to seat expansion that made the stadium worse, and were stuck in a decrepit stadium in a city where funds were dry and many of the locals didnt have the money to invest in the team.
That's your crony conservative capitalism: socialize the losses/expenses, and then privatize the profits.
The Montreal Expos shall rise again! (sorry, Ill never give up hope)
I agree! Move the A’s or Rays to Montreal. They need the Expos back.
Expos Toujours!
I miss the expos very much and I'm not even an expos fan. I also miss the Indians. there was no reason to change their name
@infoguy1978 Agree. Guardians isn't a terrible name, but that team had a wonderful legacy.
As an Expos fan who adopted the Rays I'd prefer them to stay in Tampa and The Expos to come back as an expansion team. I don't want to see another city lose their team. There are passionate fans there.
What's happening to them is so similar to what happened to the Expos. Terrible ownership. A dump of a stadium the city won't replace. It sucks.
HELLO NASHIVILLE. Let the billionaires pay for their own stadium !
I would be cool it. They could build up First Horizon Park and the Rays could play where the Sounds play
@@DCReal93they have built high rise condos all around First Horizon park. I have heard there is zero room to expand the park to make it MLB ready even temporarily while they build an actual MLB stadium
The Stars is an okay name, but I would rather their name be the Nashville Sounds
I would like to see Nashville or Charlotte to get a MLB
Exactly....enough corporate welfare..
Montreal Expo's would still be AL East, why would you need to change divisions?
Most likely that’s where they will end up.. it’s actually way cheaper and closer for most of the teams in the AL East.
Especially when Montreal wants an AMERICAN League team now. Rivalries with the Yankees, Toronto and especially Boston anyone?
PS - If the National League wants another foreign team, they could always put the next expansion team in Mexico City. Just saying.
Well that franchise is the Nats. I believe they retain the rights to the name and such.
Ask Toronto...
@@BouncingZeusI that’s actually not the case. I believe that MLB retained the rights to the Expos name
You see how politics works on this small of a scale? Now imagine the corruption going on within the United States government. We have local commissioners here upset because the Rays won’t play at the stadium they get kickbacks and donations from and want to do a 325 million project there with the same funds the Rays stadium would use.
If the Rays moved to Montreal, WHY would they have to change their A.L. East alignment? Montreal is not too far from Boston, New York, Toronto and Baltimore. Closer than Tampa in fact.
Been to a couple of Rays games, no one out here ever goes. Won't be surprised if they move.
I remeber back a few years when The Red Sox came to town there would be more Red Sox fans in the Stands then Rays Fans.
When I was down in Tampa, about five years ago, there was a local push to move the rays to Ybor city
the city of Tampa and it's residents were not willing to subsidize like Pinellas County was. Certainly not anymore with all the flooding damage they had. Repairing infrastructure is the priority not paying for a baseball stadium.
@@DabsDad Flopicana field . Namoli built it and they did not come ! Time for Rays to find a new home. Bucs and Lightning are who we are !
"It is singularly the best opportunity for our fans to experience 81 games of major league Rays baseball at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa" Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said. "As difficult as it is to get any of these stadiums up to major league standards, it was the least difficult. You're going to see Major League Baseball in a small environment."
@@AndreAllDay20 What are the “major league standards” that have to be upgraded. The Yankees play half of their Spring Training games there now with no problems. The TV lighting, wiring, sound, offices, and clubhouse are fine then. What are the “needed upgrades”.
According to the Rays, Steinbrenner Field was in the process of being renovated to improve its clubhouse and playing facilities. Other recent upgrades to the ballpark include upgraded field lighting, expanded home clubhouse space and improved training and rehabilitation capabilities.
Silverman said the Rays are working with MLB and the MLB Players Association to understand what further upgrades must be made to get the ballpark ready for a big league season. While the home clubhouse has been renovated, the visiting side will likely require additions, expansion and MLB-caliber amenities.
@@AndreAllDay20 I heard Michael Kay , the Yankees TV announcer recently say the clubhouse at Steinbrenner Field is better than half of MLB he visits every year.
@@99somerville Believe what you want to believe
It seems depressed Ginger really wants the rays to move
Florida never really has a loyal fanbase to a baseball team. Most fans moved from different state and remain loyal to the team they grew up watching/loved
@@carlosvasquez2196I from Orlando and I knew more Yankees fans then rays and marlins fans combined.
@@carlosvasquez2196this was the same problem the Lightning had… I think location and winning and having a great atmosphere does matter.
@@carlosvasquez2196
The only reason there are teams (two even) in Florida is just for TV deals
Florida is just different than any other states for summer sports
@@calebrivera8913 South and Central Florida is the sixth borough of New York.
The Montreal Olympic stadium is being renovated but only for the structure and roof. Nothing to modernize its interior for fans experience … and trust me that stadium needs it badly it feels like the 70s in there. Montreal needs a new stadium and there’s no money for this.
Bell media sold its stake in MLSE to Roger’s… they raised the cash to buy the team and put money towards a new ball park in Montreal.
The Rays will move to Montreal and play as the re-christened Expos at the Big O until the new ballpark is complete.
@@Drummer8282 It is still the Big Owe. 🙂
The money is probably better suited to repairing public infrastructure from the storm damage. As for other markets a place like Charlotte NC could be a good fit in the AL East.
I think Charlotte is even less of a professional sports town than Tampa Bay. Interest in the Panthers has dropped off a cliff since Tepper took over, nobody cares about the Hornets, and the Hurricanes play in Raleigh. I also don't see us giving any handouts to sports teams owners after having to deal with Tepper.
The A's should be the "California A's" while in Sac
If they were to only use the A's moniker, there should be some kind of city name for the standings. Like SAC, or start using LV to get fans used to that
The Angels already have copyrights to California, Southern California, West Coast, Pacific, West of Mississippi, and North American.
That's not a bad idea.
@JumboJuneau 😆
Well one thing is for sure, they are not a real MLB team at the moment. Nor are the White Sox.
People have already mentioned why Olympic Stadium isn't available, but idk why they would need to change division if playing in Montreal. The Expos were in the NL East.
Been there many times, also worked games there on the broadcast crew. I call it the fish bowl. It’s a terrible ball park. Tampa deserves a team, but a better location. The location was challenging for Tampa residents to get there on the regular. Ybor… maybe, that would be nice.
Yeah its just too isolated from half of the bay and most of the thru-traffic
Not to mention the storm risk
I like Tropicana Field. Its comfortable and near nice hotels and clubs on Bayshore Drive.
Olympic stadium in Montreal is being renovated for soccer & football it will no longer be ready for baseball
Yes Montreal
It was a bad stadium for baseball too
Equivalent to the Trop and oCo in the bottom 5 stadiums
Not surprised that government does things ass backwards! However if Rays commit or investors from MTL buy then money for new stadium will be there.
Neither Nashville nor Orlando have a stadium that'd minimally meet MLB standards. There's no market good for expansion or relocation that has one.
@ build one 🤷🏻♂️
Move to the Orlando area but not to downtown. There’s a failing mall in Ocoee, 5 minutes from Orlando, that you can tear down and you can build a stadium, apartments, entertainment, bars and restaurants. Similar to what the Braves built
The ideal place would be International Drive or somewhere near the Airport and Brightline Station.
I’m all for an Orlando team. But move the marlins there(I hate going to a neighborhood in Miami for a game) and make it she Florida Marlins again.
No, Orlando deserves nothing. Tampa is a bigger and better market. Orlando needs to learn its place.
@@rw2629 Bruh, the Orlando market is more significant than the Tampa market. Orlando is outpacing Tampa in many areas. You can be salty about it, but that's just the reality. Saying "Orlando needs to learn its place" adds an opinion without any factual facts.
Finally!!!!! Move them to Montreal. Bring back the Expos and in the AL East!
The Rays should relocate to Orlando and name themselves as the “Orlando Rays” cuz Orlando is a much better market and the Rays games will have an even better attendance in Orlando than it will ever be in Tampa
Like we need more stuff in Orlando ... Bro they don't even go to the magic games .
@@marcusreilly1011actually the Magic are getting close into the top 10 in attendance which means the people that lives in Orlando do go to their games so you’re comment is already debunked
No they won't. The only people that go to Rays games are fans of the other team.
@BlazeYashiro205 the highest it's been since 2011 with Dwight Howard. What about the last 10 years bud. Congrats they filled the arena once a decade .
Orlando is even a smaller market than Tampa Bay
Sure there's tourism, but it's probably like Vegas situation again
But maybe the owners and MLB doesn't care, filling the seats is filling the seats anyway
I find it ironic that the 2 teams that I could've completely understood for needing new stadiums, for years no less, don't get them, are moving, while teams that had 20-30 year old stadiums that still look gorgeous, like Texas and Atlanta, got new stadiums lickety split. Make it make sense...
Then you have The Red Sox and The Cubs that have been in the same stadium for over a 100 Years.
their fans support their teams.
@7:24 RE going to Montreal, you wouldn't have to "change their division entirely". Montreal is closer to NY and Boston than Toronto.
I live near Syracuse and of course I am a Mets fan...where did you get that Avi???🤔🤔😁 It's pretty cool
I don't see what the problem is with playing at either a Minor league ball park or a Spring training ball park. The Toronto Blue Jays played in both types during the pandemic. They played in Dunedin for the first half of 2020 and the other half in AAA Buffalo at Saleem Feild close to Niagara Falls, then the next season they played the first half in Buffalo in the other back in Toronto.
Actually that was 2021 they played in Dunedin and Buffalo with fans before going back to Toronto. In 2020, they played most of their home games in Buffalo.
@@RobertClSay There is no problem. It is just MLB and the billionaire owners wanting corporate welfare and taxpayer money.
Sahlen*
Sahlen Field is MLB-Ready and the Sahlen family want an MLB team.
Just call them the Oakland Athletics of Sacramento. It worked with the Angels. Lol
Apparently MLB doesn’t want to refer to them as Oakland I guess they sent out a memo telling everyone that the A’s can’t use the name Oakland and to drop the Oakland name from all remaining merchandise
They are I believe calling them “The A’s” or Athletics baseball team
As I said to someone earlier, if the moved to Montreal they could still stay in the east. They are pretty far away from each other. Can’t have teams from the same country in the same division? Really? What about the teams from the same state playing in the same division? Better let MLB know that the Rangers and Astros are in the same state and division. What about the Dodgers and Padres? Same thing, different state. Oh and don’t forget the Angels and Athletics. So that argument is pointless. Didn’t even need to do any research to figure that one out people, just general knowledge. Good grief!
The County has alot of other things to spend money on. If it's such a good idea, why doesn't MLB and Stu Sternberg foot the bill ?
I"m not sure why you think they'd have to change the division if they move to Montreal, if anything Montreal fits in more with the AL East than Tampa Bay does.
I see everyone talks about Montreal for the rays but I don’t see them going there mostly because Quebec Canada tax payers are not going to foot a billion plus for a new stadium district best the rays get relocated to Nashville Charlotte/Raleigh nc or Utah since they already have 900 million approved just waiting on the team to go there
Agree.
Canada is pretty bad bureaucratically and Olympic stadium was in bad shape when they left.
On the bright side, Ozempic Stadium would be a funny sponsorship
@antonioreconquistador You're right, and Ozempic is hilarious. I'm afraid time has passed Montréal by.
Quebec, Canada won't approve a billion dollar+ stadium... but will approve a $900M new roof for "The O", the biggest toilet with the lid closed in the western hemisphere.😂
Why would you need to move the division? Montreal is further east than Toronto. The expos were win the NL East.
I live in Nashville. The big money here will spend whatever it takes to get a MLB team.
DON'T let the A's FIND OUT! You may get stuck with them.
I agree ! I just hope they don’t put the stadium out by TSU !
@cubbie8330 I live near that area, and I hope they don't either. I hope they either put it on West End or East Nashville, not by Nissan Stadium
@@charlescummings2205that will come with expansion
Orlando has more money though.
Delete the Rays, delete the Marlins, delete the A’s.
As a Red Sox fan in Florida, I’d be sad to see the rays go. But only because it’s nice to see cheap games
As well as cheaply PLAYED GAMES, in a CHEAP organization.
And come to florida instead of boston
Have the big market teams have their own league
I feel like if the Rays move, it'll be somewhere in the Northeast (Montreal?) or Salt Lake City. My thoughts being that Stu Sternberg doesn't want to sell and the Nashville group is based on owning the team, as they're paying to build their own stadium without public/government assistance.
Move them to Orlando. They already have the rendering and land figured out. Might as well keep them reasonably local.
@@kevhayden6506 Where's the land in orlando
Nobody goes to their games anyway. Same with Miami. 2 black holes of Baseball.
Marlins aren't going anywhere because of the long lease when the park opened in 2012
Florida is a terrible MLB state. Too many transplants here still loyal to their teams. Just the way it is.
Regarding a Montreal team could not reside in AL East: 1) there is no law / rule / etc regarding MLB divisional realignment - it is simply an organization structure (reference: NFL Dallas Cowboys in NFC East) - 2) last time I looked, Montreal would be the 2nd furthest east city in MLB (1st is Boston)
Was in Tampa the day the stadium opened. Not many people were there, as I understand. The announcer on the local radio station said there would be a million people who, one day, would say they were at the stadium.
Time to move to Montreal to become the Expos
Ex-rays
X-rays
Why would a move to Montreal mandate a division change? It’s farther east than Toronto..
Baseball has never worked in Florida. Go to either Nashville or Oklahoma City
@timothyhenry5454 it works for spring training not regular season
@@waynestein3081yep correct
Floridians really didn't ask for it. Politicians wanted it.
Oklahoma City is not even in the top 35 US metro areas in population and TV markets. They are lucky to even have a. NBA team.
@@waynestein3081Florida is becoming the California of the 21st century. Everyone is moving there. Not just retirees too. "But they have bad attendance!" TV market size and corporate sponsorships dictate where teams go now. The bigger the metro area the more potential customers. If it was just about attendance North Dakota would have an NHL ice hockey team. But they have too small of a TV market and metro area.
"But Florida people cheer for other state teams". Maybe now, but that will change over time. People said California cheered other state teams too in the 1950s.
In regards to your comment at 5:45 involving insurance covering damages. Insurance cannot cover even half the stadium damage from the hurricane. A few months prior to Milton hitting the stadium the county renegotiated their hurricaine insurance coverage based on simulations that said it was unlikely a storm as strong as Milton would hit TB (county took gamble and lost in about the worst way possible). As it stands right now insurance can pay a max 25 million of the 60 million damage to the stadium. The rest comes from MLB, owners, or the county, however, the county is considered the landlord for the stadium so they are the only entity who is legally financial responsible. It is a horrible situtation no matter who youi look at it (MLB, owners, county, tax payers all lost and there is no cheap+fast solution.
Why wouldn’t Montreal work? It’s really close to New York, Baltimore, Boston and Toronto. A lot closer than Florida.
No MLB-caliber stadium. And before you suggest stade olympique, it's currently undergoing huge renovations and is not expected to be usable for baseball afterwards.
Setting aside the issue of not having a stadium and the city being highly unlikely to find one.
Money, the Canadian dollar is weak 70 cents on the dollar in fact. That means 30% reduction in gate, 30% reduction in local tv, 30% reduction in local sponsors, 30% reduction in merch and concessions.
If you've got no other option maybe. But if you can move to a US city and draw a 25% lower crowd and still make more money why wouldn't you?
The AL East would be fine with the Rays in Montreal. Travel actually shortens between each of the other clubs!
It'll be 3 to 4 years before Nashville has a stadium
Why would they need to change the Rays' division with a move to Montreal? It's located near Toronto, Boston and New York. In fact, it's even a lot closer (by 400 miles) to Baltimore than Tampa Bay .
Also I’m hearing from baseball fans saying Florida doesn’t work for baseball and that’s so false. Miami Marlins don’t sell because they have bad ownership if they fix ownership and put a winning product, then the fans will show up. Tampa Bay Rays just need a better location and the fans will show up, Tampa is just not a good location for MLB baseball due to all the spring training facilities in it’s region. maybe AAA baseball would work.
16,515 average per game in 2024. If they could get something close to that in a AAA sized park, the place would be jumping.
it doesn't work in florida because nobody in florida cares about baseball, it s a dead sport. football and soccer are the dominant sports in florida
Rays ownership is absolute dogshit
If Expos ever are resurrected, as a Mark II-version, they'll be in the AL East. The instant rivalry with Toronto (especially), Boston, New York (except this time the Yankees), and Baltimore... makes far more sense for the Expos to be in the AL East and share the division with the Jays. Same thing with why MLB moved the Astros out of the NL Central and into the AL West.
Why would the Rays need to switch divisions if they move to Montreal? All 4 teams in that division are closer to Montreal than to Tampa
I hear Oakland needs a team...
Let's not forget, this bond vote failed because the Rays decided to play at Steinbrenner Field instead of somewhere in Pinellas county.
The decision didn't come far enough afterwards for that to be the only decid8ng factor. There had to be a lot of talk about whether it was even worth it with all else that was needed.
Where were they going to play?
@@illinialumnithe soccer stadium
@@dougfowler1368the comments from the commissioners are saying exactly that
@@nathanjw940Al Lang? For baseball?
They should build a new stadium in Tampa, and the owners themselves needs to be forced to pay for it, not the taxpayers.
If Tampa goes to Montreal they can stay in the AL East Boston is less than 5 hours from Montreal and New York is a little over 5 hours fans from both cities would take the trip to Montreal for baseball games . Montreal Canadian fans travel big to Boston when they play the Bruins .
San Antonio is going to spend four billion dollars to redevelop its downtown. They just approved it!
Why don't the Rays move there?
Remember Montreal wanted the rays for years. So is really happening officially for Montreal now?
You got that right. 1994 expos were the best team only to have the strike ruin it. The fan base is there and waiting for them to come back home
I think the Rays should do like the Expos did before they moved to DC and split time between Steinbrenner field and San Juan, Puerto Rico before they find a permanent location.
These politicians don’t want to destroy their political careers by approving something that financially cripples the area five or 10 years down the line
Utah already has the $$$. The Utah Rays seems like what will happen. Take the easy money.
That would require division realignment is the problem.
@@jacobdye4037A team from the AL central might be forced to go east
Move Utah to the NL and Move Pittsburgh to the AL
NL West: SD/SF/LAD/UTAH/AZ
NL Central: COL/STL/MIL/CHC/CIN
NL East: ATL/MIA/NYM/PHI/WSH
AL West: SEA/A's/LAA/TEX/HOU
AL Central: CWS/MIN/DET/CLE/KC
AL East: PIT/TOR/NYY/BOS/BAL
I wish the Rays would stay in the Tampa area and maybe build a new baseball only stadium near Raymond James Stadium, that would sound like the logical thing to do
That would be logic, but you would have to pay the Yankees and Tampa Bay Buccaneers since they’re stadiums are right by each other I think ybor city probably would be a better fit for them
totally agree brother definitely keep the rays in Florida but build the new stadium in Tampa preferably near Raymond James but Tampa is a spot where were looking to get a NBA team so we can't spend too much Tampa still needs a NBA team to be complete bro and when they say rays are going to Nashville it makes me crack up who ever made that up is so funny thanks for the chuckles 😂😂
Move to Montreal already
It’s not meant for the Rays to be St. Petersburg, Bring the Rays to Tampa Channel Side or Ybor city where Rays belong. After all the Bucs, and Lightning are in Tampa. Why don’t the Rays play at Raymond James, other MLB teams have share their stadium Marlin with Dolphins Joe Robbie Stadium San Francisco Giants-‘’49ers CandleStick and Mets- Jets Shea Stadium
You can blame MLB for scheduling playoff games at 440 on a Wednesday for the attendance issue.
Sometimes the games are at like 1 pm! Imagine watching on the west coast on TV and it's 10 am. Not the most adrenaline inducing time for fans....
They were aiming for the older and heavily retired crowd who normally would go for the early dinner special at such time, of whom there are plenty along with all the other crabs in Tampa Bay.
In ny,Philly, boston,Chicago they will show up at that time
it's a playoff game, it's something you plan for. good baseball cities sell out playoff games no matter the time
Other playoff games started at the same time, no problems with attendance
Why Tampa Bay has not moved to Montreal to set up a Toronto/Montreal AL East rivalry is beyond me.
Because Olympic Stadium is a mess and financial boondoggle for starters
I wonder how much of that decision is that the Rays aren't playing in Pinellas County in 2025? I don't understand where else they'd go in Pinellas County until that stadium is fixed, but them going to Steinbrenner Field in the other county probably didn't help matters?
A lot of your outdoor football stadiums are theoretically configurable to baseball even if they aren't currently having to host both sports out of the same stadium, Charlotte and Nashville both have outdoor NFL stadiums, so if they relocated to Charlotte or Nashville sharing a stadium with the NFL till they build their new stadium could be a possibility
Theyre theoretically configurable, doesnt mean itll go well. Seating/fence reconfiguration proved to be just as expensive as having two stadiums in many cases.
Nashville is getting a new NFL stadium in 2027, so maybe the Rays could reconfigure the current soon to be old Titan Stadium for baseball, have it face the river, it's a good location. For 2026, they'd either still play in Florida or play in the minor league Nashville stadium. To hard to reconfigure between sports.
Or you could even have the Rays move to Nashville and play at a reconfigured for baseball Nissan Stadium, and the Titans could play 2026 at the Vanderbilt FirstBank Stadium for 2026 before their new stadium is complete in 2027
With all due respect as a St Pete local the folks in Tampa can shut it about the stadium being too far, you guys have the Bucs and Lightning already, let us have this. It would suck though if the team relocated to another state tho, nobody wants that
Literal facts.
They need to build the new stadium in the southern part of Ybor or add it somewhere along the either the new Ybor Harbor/ or Gas Worx project
The Utah Rays? Utah and Salt Lake City already have $900 million approved for stadium funding.
name should be changed if move to SLC
No
They would have to change divisions if they move to Utah it would become a mess.
@@l2c4u Utah Trappers, Utah Raptors or Utah Swarm are my picks
@@LittleRiverBees-or6qpmove Cleveland to the east, put Utah in the central.
Bring home the Expos, bring home Youpi!
Bring back the beach ball hats
At least the people had a right to vote on the bonds unlike the people of Nevada who had the A’s forced on them and had no say so in wanting to help build a stadium for the worst owner in all of sports
Move both the Rays and the Marlins out of Florida. Both cities are not Baseball towns.
Montreal is a perfect fit geographically with the AL East. It's further east than Toronto. It would mean shorter away trips for Toronto, New York and Boston. Montreal already has a sporting rivalry with Boston (Habs vs Bruins). Baltimore would still have the same travel distance just they would travel north instead of south.
Has EVERYBODY FORGOT that BALTIMORE is ALSO in the EAST?
bring them back to montreal
Build the new stadium near amalia arena or Raymond James stadium. Lightning games sell out every game. Makes no sense to have it in st pete when that bridge keeps so many people from wanting to go to the games. I live in Lakeland and can drive to a bolts game in 45 min. It’ll take me twice that to drive to the trop. St pete is only convenient for st Pete residents. Tampa would be more convenient for everyone as a whole in Florida.
Much like the A’s deal, nothing is guaranteed
Please come to Nashville!
Nashville doesn’t deserve a team
@AlejandroChristlieb whatever
@@AlejandroChristlieb. We will be getting a team within the next decade.
@@dannyp9033 I know, it’s sad
I think the Rays should move. Even when they win, not many people come to the games. If they move to Montréal, they can stay in the AL East. ⚾️⚾️
Salt Lake City has already approved $ for a MLB stadium. It’s shovel ready whenever a team commits to going there.
That means that team will be a lame duck team for 3 years or more waiting for the ballpark in Salt Lake City to open( not the same situation as the As they're no where near starting construction in Vegas)
Baseball is a total joke. Stop wasting money on athletes.
I'd like to see teams in states that don't have a team.
Realistically, the storm made everything worse. Billions of dollars of damage caused by historic storm surge flooding, rainfall flooding and wind damage from Helene and Milton combined. The county does not have the money. Worst time possible. Rays owner should sell the team to a Tampa owner who will not be cheap and have a stadium built in Tampa. Call it the Tampa …
What I am hearing Pinellas county is angry that the team is going to Tampa and Hillsborough county after asking for the money for the new stadium. They did not consider any stadiums mainly the soccer stadium in the county. Can't disagree they're proving that the area doesn't need a team.
Oakland Rays
Right!
😂😂😂😂
An AL east team is not moving 3, 000 miles away west, Oakland Coliseum would have more possums for the games than fans
@@christopherhopkins949not unless they are sold, there are various groups in the Bay Area ready to purchase a team and locate them in Oakland
NOT GONNA HAPPEN!
Montreal would still be AL East, unless they switched leagues for some reason. That would mean the American League would have two teams in Canada, though.
2 words: Montreal Expos
A move to Montreal wouldn't mean moving the Rays from the AL East division. It would create an great rivalry with the Blue Jays who are in the AL East
The Rays can come to Montréal and stay in the AL East. We'd play against Toronto, Boston and New York. Can you imagine how much New Englanders and New Yorkers would absolutely LOVE to come visit Québec and catch a few ballgames ?
And BALTIMORE!
@RansomHollywood I promise we are about 1000% more fun than DC. ;)
@@felixlpilon I believe it
This sucks! I drive by the trop to work and it is depressing.
The Tampa Bay Rays have been good for almost two decades now and deserve to play in front of a community that is excited to have them there. The Marlins have proven that MLB, even with a roof to protect against the climate, just doesn't work in FL. The area around Tropicana was sketchy when I saw a game there way back in 2001, the parking situation ridiculous, and it could not have improved. Nashville or Charlotte would be good.
Just move out of Tampa the market has never supported you go somewhere where the market will support you like Nashville or Portland Tampa is a great area and i love coming there but all they need is the lightning and the Buccaneers
Utah or Nashville
The Utah hockey team seems to be doing well, the support is definitely there.
Nashville has a few pro teams, but also has a good fan base.
@@peteywheatstraws4909You don't know that for baseball yet
@peteywheatstraws4909 Utah has $900 million sitting around for a MLB park and a spot ready to build. They even have a empty baseball stadium right downtown that can be used for a while.
Ybor City Stadium needs the Translucent Dome
They were going to spend 6.5 Billion dollar redevelopment in the Gas Plant District. They were going to do this without a vote either in the city or county. Plan to use a Bed Tax that seems to be where money comes from for any projects. I live east of Tampa and St. Pete and Pinellas County has a lot of Liberal and Socialist Mayor and Commissioners. I would imagine if the Bed Tax fell short they would rob it from the general fund. Bet you the Bed Tax has suffered significantly since the last 2 hurricanes came through. They did not put it on the Ballot because it would have fell overwhelmingly. Crooks. I assume they will built the rest of the projects. Which is a lot of DEI agenda items. Glad I live on this side of the river.
Stadiums should not be taxpayer funded. Let the billionaires pay for it.
The Pinellas County commissioners know the stadium deal with the Rays is suspended by terms of the contract. No one seems to how long that can last before the contract terminates. Sounds like a legal battle coming. The Rays lost out with contract because now they can't relocate until 2029. The Rays need to call Pinellas commissioners and state we will start to see what Hillsborough County or other cities have to offer and we no longer want to discuss a new stadium with Pinellas County. Based upon attendance the Rays may come out better in a new area.
I want to see Montreal baseball in Canada 🇨🇦
blah, blah, blah. Move to Montreal and do not change divisions. Problem solved
If that happens does that mean NEW Montreal Expos become in the AL?
Watch how the GNATS become an AL Team and the new Expos become an NL team.
@@AJ42K The Tampa Bay Rays are already in the AL East. There would be a natural rivalry with the Blue Jays
No more Canada teams. Make Canada create their own pro baseball league instead