St. Pete mayor to Rays: City is prepared to move on

St. Petersburg, Fla., mayor Ken Welch said Tuesday that the city will move ahead with its plan to redevelop the Gas Plant District, even if the Rays opt out of a deal to build a $1.3 billion stadium in the area by 2028.

At his State of the City address, Welch said the city has other avenues it will explore to revitalize the Gas Plant District and won't hesitate to go in another direction.

"We will not pursue the deal at any cost," Welch said. "The greatness and future of St. Pete does not depend solely on this deal, and I am confident that we have given this endeavor our very best effort. It's an effort and a process we can all be proud of."

After St. Petersburg and Pinellas County recently approved bonding to fund $600 million of the projected stadium cost, the Rays have until March 31 to meet specific conditions to gain public financing, including showing proof that they can meet their minimum $700 million obligation toward the project.

The team is responsible for that amount, plus any cost overruns -- and the latter appears to be the sticking point.

"We'll decide how we want to proceed at that point, well before that point," Sternberg told the Tampa Bay Times of the upcoming deadline. "We have to make a decision, so we'll have something by then."

The project already is behind schedule, with construction initially set to begin this winter in time for a 2028 opening.

"It's not like we both haven't spent a lot of time talking about what the right deal would be, and so now to say, ‘That doesn't make sense,' I think it would undermine any efforts moving forward," Welch said.

This is just the latest stadium problem for the Rays, who averaged 16,515 fans in 81 home games last season -- third worst in Major League Baseball.

Tropicana Field sustained significant damage in October due to Hurricane Milton, rendering the stadium unplayable in 2025. Instead, the Rays will use the New York Yankees' spring training site in Tampa as their home field this season.

The Rays have played at Tropicana Field since 1998, their inaugural season.

--Field Level Media