ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — They started because the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998, then shortened their title in 2007 to easily Tampa Bay Rays. Now, as plans for a brand new ballpark take form, there’s discuss altering the title once more to mirror the group’s precise location: the St. Petersburg Rays.
The St. Petersburg City Council debated the likelihood Thursday, finally voting for a decision looking for choices to raise the town’s prominence with the MLB group that would embody a reputation change. Council member Gina Driscoll stated she introduced the thought ahead as a result of many constituents assume Tampa Bay actually simply means the town of Tampa.
“I think we owe it to our residents to have a discussion about this,” Driscoll stated.
It will not be one thing the Rays need, group co-president Brian Auld instructed the council, suggesting such a requirement may torpedo your complete $6.5 billion ballpark and downtown redevelopment undertaking that features inexpensive housing, a Black historical past museum, a lodge, retail and workplace area, bars and eating places.
“We are the Tampa Bay Rays. Our name is deliberately inclusive. Our fans live throughout Tampa Bay and central Florida,” stated Auld, noting that different native skilled sports activities groups are the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL. “There will not be a new ballpark nor development project if there’s a requirement to change our franchise’s name.”
The new $1.3 billion ballpark unveiled in September could be positioned on the identical 86-acre (34-hectare) tract of downtown land the place Tropicana Field now sits. That domed stadium, which the Rays have referred to as house since 1998, could be demolished. The deal would lock the Rays into their new house for at the very least 30 years starting in 2028, ending hypothesis the group would transfer to Tampa or maybe one other metropolis.
Supporters of a Rays title change say since St. Petersburg is placing $417.5 million in tax {dollars} into the deal, its title ought to come first – and that might enhance the town’s nationwide profile and tourism trade.
“To me, it does not make sense to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on Tampa. Tampa and Tampa Bay are one and the same,” resident Robert Kapusta instructed the council.
Other baseball groups have modified names. The Florida Marlins have been required to grow to be the Miami Marlins earlier than their new stadium opened in 2012. In Southern California, the Angels have been Los Angeles Angels, California Angels, Anaheim Angels and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Mayor Ken Welch, nevertheless, agreed with the Rays. Welch, the town’s first Black mayor, has made the brand new ballpark a cornerstone of redeveloping the Gas Plant District that was house to a thriving Black group earlier than Tropicana Field and an interstate freeway displaced these properties and companies.
“It would be detrimental to the promise we’ve made, if not fatal to this redevelopment,” to require a reputation change, Welch stated.
Pinellas County, which is placing up about $312.5 million for the brand new ballpark, has little interest in altering the group’s title. Janet Long, chair of the Pinellas County Commission, stated at a gathering final week that she doesn’t help a reputation change “unless they don’t want the money from the county.”
The decision adopted by the City Council directs Welch’s workers to organize a report on the difficulty by Jan. 4. Driscoll amended her decision to broaden its scope to incorporate different prospects resembling together with St. Petersburg within the new ballpark’s title, having gamers put on city-branded uniforms sometimes, inserting extra city-promoting indicators within the facility and directing broadcasters to precisely describe the placement.
Driscoll recommended it was an exaggeration to say your complete undertaking is threatened by having these talks.
“We’ve got some different options here,” she stated. “Suddenly, having this conversation puts the entire project in jeopardy? I don’t think that’s true.”
