February 7, 20251 yr Sternberg, Manfred Discuss Rays' Stadium - MLB Trade RumorsRays owner Stuart Sternberg spoke with Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday from this week’s owners meetings. He made clear that he is not having any conversations about selling the franchise amidst their stadium uncertainty.“If it was (for sale), people would know it,” Sternberg said. “I’ve always been, and I will continue to be, pretty transparent about our intentions. And pretty — not pretty — but very honest about them. And I have been.”The Rays need to decide in the coming weeks whether to move on plans to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg. Last summer, the Rays had reached a tentative agreement with the city and Pinellas County to construct a new $1.3 billion stadium by the 2028 season. That was delayed following the hurricanes in the Tampa area last fall. The County postponed approval on $312.5MM in public funding on the project. The County voted to approve the bonds in mid-December, but the Rays had already expressed frustration with the delay.The agreement leaves the team responsible for cost overruns in construction. The Rays have claimed the delayed bond approval makes it impossible to have the stadium ready until 2029. A county official said in December that the Rays had put the estimated price hike around $200MM; Topkin wrote yesterday that the overruns are expected to be close to $150MM. In either case, the team said in December it “cannot absorb this increase alone” and wanted to renegotiate with the city and county to “solve this funding gap together.” Local officials have stated that they will not commit more public money.The Rays have until March 31 to meet various construction benchmarks. If they have not done so, the agreement is nullified. Sternberg did not provide a specific timeline on when the team will make its final decision. “I’m not saying a decision or this or that, but I’ll be prepared coming out of this (meeting) and speaking to owners here,” he told Topkin. “There’s a lot that goes into it. … I don’t know what the rush is for anybody, or for us. If this is, in fact, a multi-generational decision, I don’t think anyone will care if it’s a date in January, February or March.”
February 8, 20251 yr If the Rays owneship cannot absorb 150 million in extra capital to make an extra 1 billion over the lifetime then they should sell the team and they are not a serious ownership group.Given the little they have historically spent on payroll v national revenues, they should have plenty stuck between the seat cushions.
February 9, 20251 yr 8 hours ago, Das Texan said:If the Rays owneship cannot absorb 150 million in extra capital to make an extra 1 billion over the lifetime then they should sell the team and they are not a serious ownership group.Given the little they have historically spent on payroll v national revenues, they should have plenty stuck between the seat cushions.Do not shut up, Das. These are good points.
February 9, 20251 yr 2 hours ago, Michael said:Do not shut up, Das. These are good points.I'm so tired of these fucking owners spending south of $100 million a year on salary crying fucking poverty.They are so fucking full of shit and the media not seriously holding these fucking assholes to the fire constantly is a true dissevice to those teams who spend a shit load of money. And to the industry as a whole.
February 9, 20251 yr 8 hours ago, Das Texan said:I'm so tired of these fucking owners spending south of $100 million a year on salary crying fucking poverty.They are so fucking full of shit and the media not seriously holding these fucking assholes to the fire constantly is a true dissevice to those teams who spend a shit load of money. And to the industry as a whole.
February 9, 20251 yr 13 hours ago, Das Texan said:I'm so tired of these fucking owners spending south of $100 million a year on salary crying fucking poverty.They are so fucking full of shit and the media not seriously holding these fucking assholes to the fire constantly is a true dissevice to those teams who spend a shit load of money. And to the industry as a whole.It sucks re: media because they have to give easy questions now or they won't get invited back. It's irritating and makes it impossible to really do their job.
February 9, 20251 yr 2 hours ago, Michael said:It sucks re: media because they have to give easy questions now or they won't get invited back. It's irritating and makes it impossible to really do their job.Its how it is in all areas of society.The days of the media doing in depth pieces exposing people is beyond over.And we all lose.
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