Friday poll: Describe Tropicana Field

Okay, our second poll is now closed. And after 1,017 votes, here's what we can tell you:

• 42.1 percent of respondents said Tropicana Field was comfortable and functional, but not fancy.
• 30.9 percent said it was a dark dungeon that needs to go.
• 16.6 percent said it was a perfect place for baseball.
• 10.3 percent said it was a stadium that needs to be replaced, just not yet

The Rays actually might agree with these results, believe it or not. In a series of interviews over the past week, they have talked about the Trop as being both comfortable and functional.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Finances are in; what a day

So we learned a lot yesterday. Or did we. The Tampa Bay released their plan to pay for a $450-million waterfront stadium. You can read our story here.

And here's some questions and answers related to the plan:

Does the Rays’ financing plan cover all of the stadium costs?
The Rays say yes, including improving and moving Bayshore Drive.

Who would pay for any cost overruns at the new stadium?
The Rays, but only if they oversee construction.

Would the Rays pay rent at a new stadium?
Lease terms have not been discussed. The team pays rent at Tropicana Field based on the number of tickets sold. The Rays said Thursday they expect a lease agreement for a new ballpark would include similar or better terms for the city.

What parking spaces do the Rays want to buy?
The team would pay the city upfront for 2,500 off-street parking spaces downtown that are now unused on game nights. The Rays would then sell those spaces to season ticket holders. Specific lots might include those at The Pier and in city parking garages downtown.

Would the Rays own those spaces?
No. They would simply purchase the ability to park in those spots on game nights. They then would resell those parking spaces to fans.

Does that cover the $55-million cost the team has attached to parking revenue?
No. The Rays say they will still need to find $20-million more. One possibility, they said, is a $1 per car surcharge for game-day parking.

What’s the city’s risk?
$75-million for construction. That risk, the Rays say, would be offset by taxes generated by redeveloping the Tropicana Field site.

What’s the county’s risk?
$100-million for construction. The Rays say that money also would be offset by the site’s redevelopment.

The city must have a referendum on the plan, but does the county?
No. The city’s referendum would deal with moving the stadium to the waterfront. It is not needed to approve the financing plan.

What is needed to approve the financing plan?
The Pinellas County Commission and City Council have to approve it. Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch attended Thursday’s presentation. The Rays said they want to meet with the commission as soon as next week.

So what's next? For the city, it's pouring over the numbers in more detail. For the Times, we're reaching out to four of the leading sports ecomonists or stadium experts to rate the financing plan. We should have that in the newspaper tomorrow. We're asking the experts, Andrew Zimbalist, Victor Matheson, Mark Rosentraub abd Neil deMause to rate the financing plan based off of the poll question a couple posts down.

We're planning to publish the online results along with a couple of good comments in Saturday's paper as well. If you have something worth saying about the financing plan (and can keep it to a few sentences) please post that here. It'd be even better if you were willing to attach your name and where you're from to your post.

I'll be back with last week's poll results in a bit. I know we more than 1,000 votes this week!

Rays financing plan: Extend Tropicana Field payments

ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays' plan to finance a $450-million waterfront ballpark will ask local taxpayers to extend the loan payments tied to Tropicana Field to construct a new stadium at Al Lang Field.

Click here to read today's story.

Poll: Rays' stadium financing plan

Paying for a new stadium
Putting aside your other questions, how would you rate the Rays' financing plan?
Swing-and-a-miss (No chance)
Single (Problems apparent)
Double (Not quite convinced)
Triple (Almost there)
Home run (Build the ballpark)

Waiting on the financing plan

Just so you know, we should have something for you on the financing plan starting at 3 p.m. Please check back then.

Sternberg: Stadium in 2012 or bust

Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg was on New York sports talk radio this afternoon talking about the early success of the team, and the stadium came up. Listen to the interview here . (It's worth it).

If you don't feel like clicking, here's the gist of what Sternberg had to say, Courtesy of Rays Index:

• Sternberg made it clear that the stadium would either be open by 2012 or it will not happen. If the referendum does not pass this fall, there will not be another attempt to get it passed.

Rays financing press conference moved

Just in from One Tropicana Drive:

"Due to a scheduling conflict at Tropicana Field, the Tampa Bay Rays will present the preliminary financing plan for the proposed waterfront ballpark at the St. Petersburg City Council Meeting at City Hall tomorrow at 3 p.m.

"The team had originally planned to present the plan at noon on Thursday.  The Pinellas County Commissioners have been invited to attend. Rays officials will be available for media interviews following the presentation."

This means the press conference will no longer be a press conference. Rays officials will be making the financial pitch directly to the City Counci at the beginning of its meeting. Apparently, the council had a morning work session and would not have been able to make the Rays' press conference.

This also means the presentation will be broadcast on the city's TV network, WSPF, or Bright House Channel 615. We'll also have live coverage at www.tampabay.com starting at 3 p.m.

Fans for Waterfront Stadium parking slideshow

The pro-stadium group Fans For Waterfront Stadium today released a Power Point slideshow meant to allay some of the parking concerns associated with a new ballpark. The slideshow was created from photos taken during the Sunday running of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, when city leaders estimated 50-to-75,000 people were at the race downtown.

Fans For Waterfront Stadium says the slideshow is evidence that plenty of parking potentially exists downtown to accommodate a 34,000-seat ballpark.

Make up your own mind. View the slideshow (if you have Power Point on your computer) here.

Heatcheck Wednesday - Week 3

Week 3 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness. The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Five home games since last Wednesday (Four night games, one Sunday afternoon contest). It's only May --- and things will change --- but so far neither heat nor rain has been a factor. We did rate Sunday's 1:30 p.m. first pitch "Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure," based on the strength of the afternoon sun. (We acknowledge that the Rays' say that the retractable fabric roof would shade the stands from the sun, but we're deciding to be conservative in our estimates).

So after 22 homes games, 27 percent of the home schedule, here are our up-to-date standings:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 0

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 1

Take me out the ball game. ---- 21

NY Times weighs in on what Ballpark Frankness has been talking about all week

We're not saying the brass at the New York Times read Ballpark Frankness. But the NYT's story today about attendance at the Trop seems to mimic many of the points we all have been talking about here.

Take a look for yourselves.

We'll have more about attendance in tomorrow's print edition, as well. After less than 14,000 fans on Monday night, we're hearing that the crowd is not going to be that much bigger on Tuesday.