St. Petersburg City Council approves bonds to pay for a new Rays stadium

Tropicana Field roof torn off — Cars are lined up for gas near Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL after Hurricane Milton tore the roof off the Rays' stadium. By Seán Kinane/WMNF News,13 Oct 2024.

On Thursday, the St. Pete City Council narrowly voted to approve bonds to pay for the city’s share of the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District including a new baseball stadium for MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays. The vote was 4-3.

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Before the vote, Mayor Ken Welch said,

“Since your last meeting on November 21st, we’ve continued our discussions with all of our partners including the County Commission, the Hines group and the Rays group, including a meeting with owner Stu Sternberg and his leadership team along with myself and our leadership team here at City Hall on Tuesday. I wanted you to know that there is consensus that the agreements that you all approved in July is ‘valid and in effect,’ using the wording from the Rays. And while significant issues do remain with regard to the Rays’ stadium obligations, the discussions were productive and our options are becoming clearer. What has not changed is our belief that the best path forward and the path that best positions the city for any future decision by the Rays is to move forward with these bond resolutions so that we are prepared to fulfill our obligations as a partner in this development. With that Madame Chair and Council, I want to thank you for considering this item today and certainly respectfully ask for your approval of these bonds.”

The Pinellas County Commission also must choose whether to approve its share of the stadium financing. The County has been much more critical of the deal. If it votes no next Tuesday, that could leave funding for the project more than $300 million short.