May 9, 200719 yr Sternberg Says Rays Will Need New Stadium Skip directly to the full story. By CARTER GADDIS The Tampa Tribune Published: May 8, 2007 TAMPA - How soon Tropicana Field will be relegated to the wrecking ball, Devil Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg does not exactly know. Yet, even though 20 years remain on the lease with the city of St. Petersburg, it's not a matter of if the 17-year-old Trop will become obsolete, Sternberg said. It's a matter of when. ''It's sort of like living in a house or an apartment,'' Sternberg said. ''At some point, it just pays to move rather than fix it up.'' Sternberg was quoted in Monday's edition of the New York Times as saying Tropicana Field ''has a shelf life of five years.'' Tuesday, he backed off the implication that the team would need a new stadium in five years. But, he added, it's very unlikely Tropicana Field would remain a viable building until the lease runs out in 2027. And while he reiterated his vow that the franchise will never use the threat to move as leverage for a new stadium, he acknowledged there will come a time ? certainly within the next decade ? when the organization will begin to pursue a new stadium in earnest. ''It's a real issue for us,'' Sternberg said. ''It's going to remain one. As time goes by, we're going to have to focus on it.'' The ongoing effort by the Florida Marlins to secure from the Florida Legislature a $60-million sales tax rebate to help pay for a new stadium in South Florida has been watched closely by the Rays organization. The issue was left unresolved in the state senate when the legislative session ended on Friday. Sternberg's ownership group has spent about $17 million over the past two seasons on renovations at the Trop. That's an indication, he said, that the team is willing to bide its time at the Trop until the timing is right to seek a new stadium. ''It's like they say, you follow the money,'' Sternberg said. ''If we were coming in there with the idea of trying to get out of there, I wouldn't have put two cents into the place. We'd be complaining left and right and looking to get out of here.'' Assuming the Marlins find financing for a new stadium (their lease with Dolphins Stadium ends in 2010), by the time the Oakland Athletics' new stadium opens in 2011, Tropicana Field, which was built in 1990, will be the sixth-oldest ballpark in the majors. Only Fenway Park (1912), Wrigley Field (1914), Kauffman Stadium (1973), Dodger Stadium (1962) and Rogers Centre (1989) will be older. Angels Stadium originally was built in 1966, but extensive renovations in 1997 made it essentially a new stadium. LINK :blink: Ha Ha! Good Luck. Hope they're willing to pony up the cash themselves.
May 9, 200719 yr Tampa Bay could probably get away with a 25-28K stadium IMO. Basically a souped up Minor League park, with the large lower bowl seating and an extended smaller upper bowl...think Autozone Park or Louisville Slugger Field on steroids. JMHO. BTW, I said in a Marlins stadium thread the other day that the D-Rays would be wanting a stadium sooner than later and the statement was scoffed at. Guess I wasnt so wrong.
May 9, 200719 yr They have a lease with the City of St. Pete. They are not getting out of it unless some very extraordinary dealing goes on. Like the Rays paying the rest of the Trop debt and then building the new ballpark in St. Pete.
May 9, 200719 yr I actually really like Tropicana. It's not beautiful, but I liked what they have to offer. We ate a big meal (BBQ beans, I think pulled pork, mac & cheese) for $8! It was so much food, we didn't even finish the entire plate. They had lots of other stuff to eat. Plus, it was nice watching a game under a roof. It was raining the night we were there. Oh yea, and the Rays tank is awesome.
May 9, 200719 yr I actually really like Tropicana. It's not beautiful, but I liked what they have to offer. We ate a big meal (BBQ beans, I think pulled pork, mac & cheese) for $8! It was so much food, we didn't even finish the entire plate. They had lots of other stuff to eat. Plus, it was nice watching a game under a roof. It was raining the night we were there. Oh yea, and the Rays tank is awesome. Well, to me watching a baseball game under a roof is unnatural and a horrible experience. Baseball is meant to be played outdoors on real grass. I hated going to games at Olympic Stadium because of the closed-in experience of being in a dome. I can also imagine that the atmosphere at Tropicana is probably similar to that of Stade Olympique when I attended games there between 1995 and 1997 (cold and concrete infested). Maybe I'm just old school, but a retractable roof is as far as I'll go, and if we get one built down here, I would hope it stays open 90% of the time and only closes when it's raining. However, am I the only one out there who envisions listening to local sports radio in the year 2014 and hearing 150 calls from cranky old farts complaining why the roof wasn't closed for last night's game, yada yada yada . . . .
May 9, 200719 yr However, am I the only one out there who envisions listening to local sports radio in the year 2014 and hearing 150 calls from cranky old farts complaining why the roof wasn't closed for last night's game, yada yada yada . . . . that would be awesome.
May 9, 200719 yr The Trop feels worse on TV than in person. I always enjoyed games there except for that Marlins-Rays game I went to once where Fish Fans outnumbered Rays Fans and the Rays Fans (drunk and rude) were unbearable. I've had no other issues than that. I'm sure the recent renovations have been very helpful.
May 9, 200719 yr Tampa Tribune being torn to shreds over this article on 620 WDAE: http://www.620wdae.com/main.html The Rays say they will need a stadium sometime in the future, but the papers make assumptions over use of public money/Rays leaving. It is not a secret that the Tampa Tribune is Yankees>Rays in attitude, while the St. Pete Times (a big sponsor of the Rays) is liberal in its editorials. But this situation should be interesting to watch....Tampon Bay Ballpark Battle
May 9, 200719 yr I would hope it stays open 90% of the time and only closes when it's raining. I wouldn't. I hate going to sunday games, because you practically melt. Same thing applies to all 1:05 games. I hate sweating so much that my underwear sticks to the seat and I have to buy three $15 water bottles, so I don't get completely dehyrdrated.
May 9, 200719 yr http://www.620wdae.com/cc-common/mainheadl...article=2101919 Rays Owner clears the record with the St. Pete Times: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/09/Tampabay...n_on_deck.shtml
May 10, 200719 yr I think it would be awesome if the Rays could get a nice stadium in the North Tampa area. But I don't exactly know when that would take place - they put 17 mil in the Trop over the last two years. I don't mind the Trop, but I've never been the biggest fan of indoor baseball.
May 10, 200719 yr I have no objections to the d-rays getting a stadium as long as we get ours first btw i like the trop, much better than roasting and getting dehydrated at d.s. which is pretty much what happens to me every sunday
May 10, 200719 yr they already have a their own stadium, and they can't draw fans. Why should they get a new one? ..and I doubt Stu puts up as much club money as Loria did.
May 10, 200719 yr I also doubt they would want the $500+ million art deco stadium Loria has tried to get twice(Labat Stadium or whatever it was going to be called in Montreal was of the same weird type of alternative artistry that the original drawings for our stadium were).
May 10, 200719 yr The Trop really isn't that bad, it's facilities are top notch and make for a nice experience. It's not in the top 2/3 of ballparks but to create an impression of it as "crumbling" or "cold" is very off-target because it is rather nice. Although I love the way DS looks on TV, going to a game there is a much less enjoyable experience. The food facilities are laughable and the scoreboards, while large, aren't as neatly arranged as those in the Trop.
May 11, 200719 yr The Trop is such a POS. :notworthy Worst park in baseball IMO. Eh, the Metrodome is TERRIBLE.
May 11, 200719 yr The Trop is such a POS. :notworthy Worst park in baseball IMO. Eh, the Metrodome is TERRIBLE. Their deal for a new park is already in the bag though, so I gave them a free pass.
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