Tampa Bay Rays continue blaming county for ‘falling short’ as the new stadium saga continues

What's next for Rays?

FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer reports on the Tampa Bay Rays sending a letter to Pinellas County commissioners on Dec. 7th responding to Pinellas County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters' letter giving the team a Dec. 1st deadline to decide whether they still want to move forward with plans to build a new stadium in Pinellas County.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rays sent a letter to Pinellas County commissioners on Saturday in response to Pinellas County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters' letter to the team last week, giving them a December 1 deadline to decide whether they still want to move forward with plans for a new ballpark.

The letter from the team over the weekend left at least one Pinellas County commissioner "baffled."

Deadline for Rays stadium decision

The Rays are responding to Pinellas County commissioners regarding plans for a new stadium. Jordan Bowen reports.

In the letter from Rays Co-President Matt Silverman, he wrote team executives "did not waver from our commitment to the new ballpark project," adding that "when it comes to honoring the spirit of the new ballpark agreements, it is Pinellas County not the Rays that falls short."

File: Rendering of Rays new stadium

"The Rays strategy has just been baffling," Pinellas Commissioner Chris Latvala said Monday, pointing to public statements from the Rays indicating the deal appears to be dead.

In the letter from Peters last week, she wrote the Rays were incorrect in arguing that the county's failure to finalize bonds in October would have forced the stadium to be finished after the initial target of opening day 2028. Commissioners said the hurricanes forced them to postpone the vote.

The Rays, however, claim delaying the ballpark would leave them with costs they could not absorb alone because, under the initial agreement, the team is responsible for all cost overruns.

As Rays Co-President Brian Auld explained to the St. Petersburg city council earlier this month, when the roof was torn off the Trop by Hurricane Milton, they had to relocate to the smaller Steinbrenner Field and now stand to lose loads of revenue.

File: Rendering of Rays new stadium

Latvala, however, believes Rays' ownership wants the deal to die, but contractually can't back out of it without also losing revenue from any future land re-development deals around Tropicana Field.

"They want other people to be the reason why the deal's dead, so then they can reap the hundreds of millions of dollars of benefits from the land development deal that they would still be able to keep, whether or not the team ever stays here, whether or not a stadium is ever built," Latvala said. "At the end of the day, their number one priority is to get as much money as they possibly can."

In the latest letter sent by Rays, the team goes on to say in part "The Rays have always made it clear that the viability of the project depended on having certainty about the project’s approval and funding prior to the 2024 November elections."

In a statement sent to FOX 13 Sunday night, Peters wrote, "While publicly the Rays organization has said ‘the deal is dead,’ their written statement is in contrast. Despite the Rays’ lack of political prowess of late, I’ve always been optimistic about this project because of the great economic impact it could bring to our county. To continue to keep taxes low for residents, we need to develop new funding streams. I look forward to continued discussion with my colleagues about how this stadium can do just that while solidifying Pinellas as a diverse tourist destination."

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