What you're saying about Sunday's story

As you can imagine, there has been a lot of feedback to our story Sunday, "Do the Rays have a future in bay area?" There has been some common themes in reader responses, and I wanted to address a couple of the most common here.

Look at the Bucs and the Lightning. When they won, people showed up. Just give it time.

This is probably the comment I've gotten the most. And time, as we said, is the only way we're going to get an answer.

But comparing baseball to other pro sports just doesn't work. Let's do the math. The Bucs play eight regular-season home games and have about 530,000 tickets to sell. The Lightning play 41 regular-season home games and have about 841,000 tickets to sell. The Rays -- they play 81 home games -- and not including the tarped off seats, have 2.92-million seats to sell. I hope that sinks in. The Rays have more than five times as many tickets to sell as the Bucs.

Move the team to Hillsborough County, the demographics will be better there.

All of the data we reported Sunday (age, income, cost of living, etc.) included Hillsborough County. We set the boundaries of the Tampa Bay area the way the federal government does, which includes Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough, and Hernando counties.

Why not include Sarasota and Manatee? That would change the numbers.

We decided to stick with the boundaries set by the federal government. Yes, Manatee and Sarasota counties may have altered the numbers slightly. But the point here is that the vast majority of the Tampa Bay fan base comes from Pinellas and Hillsborough.

Numbers can say whatever you want them to.

We looked at every indicator we could think of that would make a major league market successful and then compared it to the 24 other MLB markets. Using comparisons negates the fuzzy math factor. Moreover, we included the best number for the Rays, which is the size of the television market. If there's something you think we should have checked but didn't, let me know.

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Are we a baseball town?

The upstart Tampa Bay Rays were about to take the field in the World Series. Tropicana Field was gorging with fans and media. A national TV audience looked on. Yet one big question continued to hang in the air.

Do the Rays have a future in the Tampa Bay area?

The answer, Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg recently said, may not be clear until next spring, or possibly September.

"To operate here, we have to have sponsors, and have season-ticket holders, and have TV revenue, to have any chance of this thing working," he told a visiting reporter.

Sternberg's remarks could simply be a push for a new stadium. But he has good reason to question whether the Tampa Bay area can support a baseball team in the long run.

Despite two relatively large population centers and a history of spring training, the Tampa Bay area remains one of the poorest, oldest and most fractured communities with a Major League Baseball team, according to a St. Petersburg Times analysis of the 25 U.S. baseball markets.

Read the full story here.

Coming Sunday: Are we a baseball town?

Using bellwether population and demographic data from baseball’s 25 U.S. metropolitan areas (four areas have two teams, and the Toronto Blue Jays play in Canada), we were able to compare Tampa Bay to other Major League Baseball cities.

The data shows .... we'll you'll have to wait for that.

If I get the OK, I'll post the story here Friday. Otherwise, look for it on doorsteps Sunday.

In New York, benefits of new stadiums in question

Because there's nothing else going on today, right?

The New York Times has an interesting report today on the construction of new baseball stadiums for the New York Yankees and Mets. Read it here. If you don't remember Rays senior VP Michael Kalt, the team's stadium point person, worked on behalf of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to strike the deals with both New York ball clubs.

Oh, and I couldn't help thinking on my drive to work that we were supposed to be voting on a new stadium plan of our own today. Kind of crazy, huh?

'The Onion': Yankees building new vacation stadium

Yankees Building New Vacation Stadium In the Hamptons

Only the Onion ... (For folks who might not be sure, this is satire).

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D.C.'s ballpark revenue projections fall short

Okay. The Washington Nationals are bad. Shockingly bad. But this isn't good news: The Washington Post is reporting that the new ballpark along the Anacostia River is going to miss its sales tax revenue projection mark by $2.6-million this year. The city was expecting about $16.1-million to pay off construction bonds and will collect somewhere around $13.5-million, according to the city.

The city says it has enough money to pay off its bonds. But if projections are already off the mark in year 1, imagine what they might look like in year 10. I'm happy to say I personally contributed to the Nationals Park this year ... attending two games in the cheap seats. And believe it or not, the Nats won both games I saw. If you also remember, the Post estimated, and we reported, that the Nationals may double their ticket revenues in the new ballpark compared to old RFK.

The Rays, in their original proposal, weren't saying new taxes would be used to pay for the park, but they sure suggested that new taxes from the Tropicana Field redevelopment could more than cover the city's costs. In Washington, that plan's not working so far.

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Indy's new stadium expenses could be twice what was projected

A lesson from Indianapolis, where the city just opened a new football stadium for the Indianapolis Colts. The city's operating expenses, which were expected to be about $10-million a year, will likely be closer to $20-million annually. Read the coverage from the Indianapolis Star here.

This kind of sounds like a story we heard here once in St. Petersburg. You know, the one where the Trop would pay for itself.

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TIF financing okay, court rules

Big news out of Tallahassee this morning:

• TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Supreme Court now says that voter approval isn't needed for billions of dollars in roads, buildings and other local public works projects across the state. The justices on Thursday reversed a decision they made last year to require local referendums on redevelopment bond sales backed by property taxes. After a rehearing, the justices reverted to a legal precedent they set 27 years earlier by not requiring voter approval for tax increment financing.

What does this mean for a new ballpark? Well, it potentially gives the city and county a new funding mechanism, tax increment financing, that would not require a referendum. It likely will only come into play if a ballpark is envisioned for downtown. In Miami, the court's ruling essentially paves the way for the Marlins new ballpark.

Back in November, the Times estimated that the redevelopment of Tropicana Field could generate almost $150-million in TIF dollars for a downtown ballpark.

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Congressional panel rips Yankees' stadium deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional panel has taken tough swings at the New York Yankees and New York City government over a new stadium for the Yankees. But neither the team nor the city budged from their positions on the $1.3 billion structure.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich said Thursday he found "waste and abuse of public dollars" in the financing of the new stadium under construction in the South Bronx.

Kucinich is an Ohio Democrat who heads a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee. He charged that city officials misrepresented to the IRS the value of the property, helping them to get special tax deals from the federal government and in effect dumping the cost of construction onto taxpayers. No one from the either the city or the Yankees spoke at the hearing.

Where we've been; where we're going

We here at Ballpark Frankness haven't had too much to post these past few months (with the news that the Rays were abandoning their plans for a waterfront ballpark and all). But now that Jeff Lyash's ABC coalition is kicking into gear and the Rays are in the playoff hunt, it's time to pick things back up.

So starting next week, we're going to try to rev things up a bit. We hope you come back to see what we're up to. Suggest what you may like to see more of.

I'm going to include more video pieces about stadiums that I can find on the Net. I'll also try to keep folks up to date on stadium sagas in places outside St. Petersburg. We'll also finish our HeatCheck work, which is testing how baseball would have been this year had it been played outdoors.

And I plan to have some online-only Q&A's with people at the forefront of the stadium debate.

See you all next week.

Aaron

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A sign of things to come? Miami judge says taxpayer-funded ballpark serves public good

From our colleagues at the Miami Herald:

The Florida Marlins took a major stride Tuesday in their lengthy quest for a permanent South Florida home, when a judge ruled that a new ballpark funded primarily through tax dollars serves the public good.

With Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jeri Beth Cohen's ruling, the county and Marlins said they will move ahead with construction of the $515 million, 37,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium in Little Havana.

''This is the one we've been waiting for,'' said Marlins president David Samson. ``It's a complete victory. It took a long time.''

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Hello. Anybody there?

Under the category "it could be worse" we get this report this afternoon from Miami, where the Marlins were playing the Atlanta Braves. Apparently at first pitch there were fewer than 600 fans in the seats.

Ouch!

Here's the top of the Associated Press story

MIAMI — Before the game even began, the Florida Marlins were guessing.

How many fans would show to watch two teams far out of first place on a weekday afternoon game with sweltering humidity and the heat topping 90 degrees? "I was way off," Marlins reliever Joe Nelson joked. "I had predicted 418."

Only missed by a couple hundred.

Hanley Ramirez homered and doubled to lead the Marlins past the Atlanta Braves 5-3 Wednesday in front of an incredibly sparse crowd of just 600 fans at the first pitch.

Dolphin Stadium's bright orange and aqua seats were more visible than normal, leaving most fans to reflect the afternoon sun. While the official attendance, based on tickets sold, was 11,211, the ballpark was so quiet that home-plate chatter could be heard.

Just wanted to let you all know we're still here

As you know, there hasn't been a lot happening on the stadium front, so nothing really to post here at Ballpark Frankness. I owe you all a heat check, but I'm going to wait until after tonight's game.

I can tell you we're working on something quite indepth related to the stadium pursuit. Hopefully I can share more soon... say maybe a week. Until then.

Some more on the ABC coalition

Just got off the phone with coalition spokesperson Melissa Seixas. She says more than 300 people have applied for one of eight slots on Jeff Lyash's coalition. We're still waiting, however, to see if those names will be released.

Coalition nominations due Monday -- who applied?

Well, we don't know. The nominations for Jeff Lyash's coalition were due yesterday at midnight, but we haven't heard yet who has sought one of the seven eight open board slots. We've left a message with our friends at Progress Energy, but are still waiting for a return call. If I find something out tonight, I'll post it here.

No easy wins for stadium panel

ST. PETERSBURG — So far, Jeff Lyash's only decision as head of a coalition seeking a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays is that the group should have nine members.

That launched an immediate round of criticism from those who thought the coalition should be bigger, more inclusive. Imagine the reaction later this year when the group actually talks about the stadium.

The coalition may well yield a more direct and simpler path to a new ballpark than the route taken by the Rays, who desperately wanted a waterfront stadium at Al Lang Field by 2012.

But political observers, civic activists and local elected leaders also caution that the group, either by its organization or actions, could further taint or derail a stadium search already replete with problems. Personal interests could take precedence over the common good. Talks could turn secretive and deals could be cut behind closed doors.

Which path the group takes is very much in the hands of Lyash, the plain-spoken Progress Energy executive selected by Mayor Rick Baker to lead the stadium discussion in place of the baseball club.

Lyash said he understands the armchair quarterbacking he already faces.

"I'm getting input at the checkout line at the grocery store, I'm getting input at the gas pump when I'm filling up my vehicle. I need input," Lyash said. "I'm using that in consideration of how to proceed."

Except Lyash, Progress Energy execs not on coalition board

I have heard from several people now who are questioning the still unformed baseball coalition based on its incorporating documents on file with the Florida Department of State. Those documents list Jeff Lyash as president of the group, formally called A Baseball Community Inc., and two other Progress Energy executives (who don't live in St. Petersburg) as the group's only other officers.

Some have wondered if that means this group will be a pawn for the local energy company.

Interim coalition spokeswoman Melissa Seixas (also a Progress Energy employee) says no: "With the exception of Jeff as the coalition chairman, the other officers are temporary and will be replaced with permanent members of the coalition once they are selected," Seixas responded to Ballpark Frankness via e-mail. Even Seixas expects to have her duties transferred to someone else at some point.

The Team of Nine: What it might look like

So I'm back from three weeks of vacation (me pictured behind a stein of beer in Tallinn, Estonia). And what did I miss on the stadium front? It seems like not all that much. We still don't know who's going to be on this baseball coalition, other than Progress Energy CEO Jeff Lyash.

We do know the size of the committee, however, nine. And we know the group also has a name, A Baseball Community, Inc. If I had to guess, here's what I think the committee will look like when it's seated in September.

1. Lyash, chairman
2. St. Petersburg resident leader (CONA?)
3. Pinellas County civic/community leader
4. Rays season ticket holder.
5. St. Petersburg business leader (chamber, partnership, Steve Raymund of Tech Data?)
6. Pinellas beach business leader (Clearwater perhaps)
7. Somebody from Hillsborough/Tampa
8. Ex-politician
9. ????????????? (Could this be the POWW seat? Will Lyash give them one?)

Am I missing something?

Lyash dishes out coalition details

[Times photos | Willie J. Allen Jr.]

The coalition tasked to find a viable location for a new Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium will include nine members from the Tampa Bay area and will likely conclude its work within 18 months, coalition chairman and Progress Energy CEO Jeff Lyash said at a morning press conference announcing details of the groups' plans.

The coalition, which will be formally called A Baseball Community, will also attempt to build fan and business support for the Rays, Lyash said. But it's primary focus, at least publicly, will be to vet possible stadium locations.

Nominations to join the nine-member group are now being accepted at the coalition's web site, www.abc-baseball.com (photo above). Nominations must be submitted by midnight Aug. 4. Lyash said he hopes to have the coalition seated sometime around Labor Day.

"One primary qualification," said Lyash (photo at right), who was flanked during the announcement by Mayor Rick Baker, members of the Pinellas County Commission and Rays president Matt Silverman. "You must be a baseball fan. You must be committed to helping the Rays succeed in the longterm."

Lyash said later that means you must be open to the idea of the Rays needing a new stadium. No location in the Tampa Bay area will initially be off the table, Lyash said, but local elected leaders seem set on a site somewhere within the city limits of St. Petersburg.

"It's important that the members of the coalition recognize the importance of Major League Baseball here and what it can bring to the community," the Rays' Silverman said afterwards.

Everyone wants a voice on Jeff Lyash's coalition

Read more about the political tug of war surrounding Jeff Lyash's new baseball coalition.

Rays president talks baseball

Read Aaron Sharockman's interview with Matt Silverman from Sunday's newspaper.

Sarasota/St. Petersburg and Red Sox/Rays

Read this story from Sarasota and then replace Sarasota with St. Petersburg and Red Sox with Rays. It's kind of fun.

On the Rays' announcement

Shelton: "Eventually, this will be about a building a ballpark, or it will be about losing a ball club. Me? I say they get it built. Near Toytown. By opening day, 2013. With a retractable roof. And, as happened with Miami's new stadium, without a vote."

Times ed board: "The decision to abandon the November referendum on a new waterfront stadium sends two encouraging signals about Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg: 1) He is willing to listen; 2) He's not spoiling for a fight."

DRaysBay (Rays fan blog): "The stadium news coming down today seems to be the logical course of action. This has seemed rushed from the beginning, trying to go from intial plans and presentation to having everything basically finalized within a year. That's a pretty short time considering the various approvals needed to go forward with it and the brief timeframe plays into the hands of groups like POWW using fear-mongering tactics to sway people to their side while presenting little in the way of actual facts."

St. Pete POWW: "We may have won the battle but that does not mean we have won the war.   Please do not get complacent about the Rays decision to not ask City Council to put this to a vote this November.  Until our waterfront is no longer under attack, and our purse strings are not being pulled in all directions, we must keep vigilant and keep working to preserve our wallets and waterfront.  Don't rush to get rid of your red signs -- keep them in your yard."

Fans For Waterfront Stadium: "There is VERY GOOD news that is coming out of this announcement.  Elected officials and business leaders acknowledge that the Rays need a new ballpark and are very committed to working with the Rays to find alternative locations.  In addition, they recognize the need to do it in the short-term."

Field of Schemes: "As for whether the team will stick with its proposal for a waterfront stadium with a fabric roof, paid for in part by a land swap for the site of their current home, the Tropicana Dome, newly anointed coalition leader (and Progress Energy president) Jeff Lyash said, "I think the waterfront stadium is a viable option. I wouldn't foreclose that as an option going forward just because I think what we want to do is step back very broadly and try to identify all the possibilities." In other words: We're open to anything we think we can win a vote with."

The Sports Economist: "It appears the decision has earned the team a good deal of goodwill as groups across the area have signed on in support of a broad search for a suitable site for a new facility."

Näkemiin (Goodbye) Ballpark Frankness

I wanted to let everyone also know that starting Saturday I'm off for three weeks for summer vacation. I'm heading to Europe (starting in Finland). In the meantime, the plan as of this a.m. is to keep Ballpark Frankness alive. Cristina will be your primary host, but hopefully other folks we'll be popping in from time to time. Our game plan is a little bit different now, with the Rays' news yesterday and all, but we think we can keep this blog cooking.

Let me or Cristina know if you have any ideas as we enter this next phase of the stadium discussion.

What a Wednesday

How's everyone holding up?

Unless you've been living in a cave, you know by now that the Tampa Bay Rays trashed their waterfront stadium plans on Wednesday in favor of the creation of a community task force created in part to help the Rays find a new stadium.

We also know Progress Energy CEO Jeff Lyash will chair the group, but other members haven't been decided yet, and to be honest, we don't know who will be doing the picking. It doesn't sound like it will be the Rays.

So where do we go from here?  Who knows. I will tell you the St. Pete Chamber is coming to the Times today to talk about the results of its baseball committee. We'll also today try to start poking around to see who's going to be on this baseball coalition.

Talk is flying fast and furious now...

In the past couple of hours we've heard that the Rays may in fact be delaying a potential referendum indefinitely, not just until 2010. Apparently, this may be to accommodate a full examination of all potential locations.

We've also heard two credible sources say two different things regarding the waterfront location. One said the Rays today will say the waterfront site is off the table. The other says they won't.

I guess we'll find out in about 2 1/2 hours.

UPDATE: The Chamber of Commerce's baseball task force apparently this afternoon also is meeting at Valpak, and that's why the Rays chose it as a site.

From the Rays PR desk

WHAT:  The Rays will make a major announcement regarding the proposed ballpark.

WHEN:   Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 3:30 p.m.

WHERE:   Valpak, One Valpak Avenue North, St. Petersburg, 33716.

UPDATE: Our partners at Bay News 9 say they are planning to carry the press conference live.

Rays a no-show at this morning's Big C meeting

Rays senior vp Michael Kalt was expected to give a presentation to a group of beach community governments this morning. He didn't attend.

At this morning's meeting, Indian Shores Mayor Jim Lawrence said Kalt called him yesterday at 2 p.m. to cancel an appearance before the council today.

"It didn't upset me. It certainly surprised me," Lawrence said. "As we talked, it became clear that the Rays had other plans, other considerations, that are afoot right now and he (Kalt) didn't want to answer questions publicly."

-- Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer

Rays to announce delay of possible stadium vote

The Tampa Bay Rays may soon abandon their push for a November referendum to build a $450-million waterfront stadium.

An announcement could come as early as Wednesday, city and county officials with knowledge of the Rays’ plan told the St. Petersburg Times. The Rays have contemplated delaying a vote on the stadium until 2010.

The team is “considering a change of direction,” said Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch. “I’m just glad from the county’s perspective that folks are not talking about forcing a November referendum.”

Rays executives did not return calls for comment on Tuesday, and team officials denied as late as Monday the possibility of pushing back the referendum. Senior vice president Michael Kalt was scheduled to make a stadium presentation to a coalition of beach communities Wednesday morning.

News of a delay, if true, would slow down a process that city and county leaders from the beginning said was moving too quickly. The Rays announced their proposal to build a 34,000-seat ballpark at the site of Al Lang Field on Nov. 28.

No one the Times spoke with on Tuesday expected the Rays to halt their quest for a new ballpark, or even one on the waterfront. But the extra time would allow the city and county to possibly consider alternative locations for a new stadium.

“It’s fairly obvious this process needs to slow down,” said Welch, who spoke with Rays president Matt Silverman this week about delaying a citywide vote on the stadium plan.

Mayor Rick Baker, who knows of the Rays’ plans, officials say, did not return calls for comment.

Members of the St. Petersburg City Council were unaware of a possible delay. “If the rumor is in fact true, I am pleased to hear it,” said City Council member Herb Polson.

City Council member Jeff Danner said he heard the Rays were preparing to make a big announcement, but he did not know what it was.

From the beginning, the Rays argued for a 2008 referendum to capitalize off the high voter turnout associated with a presidential campaign.

Quietly, team officials believed that a broader electorate might help the Rays. They also said the project cost would likely escalate if a vote was pushed back because of the rising price of steel and concrete.

But city and county leaders consistently have argued for a possible “Plan B.” Former City Council member and likely mayoral candidate Bill Foster became the latest to advocate a more protracted approach last week, when he suggested forming a baseball blue ribbon committee.

St. Petersburg’s Council of Neighborhood Associations, which opposes a November referendum, also has asked the team and city to slow down their plans.

A referendum of St. Petersburg voters is required because the Rays are seeking to lease waterfront property for the new ballpark. A non-waterfront location would not require a citywide vote, though city officials could insist on one anyway.

Plan B: What is it?

So, anyone who's been to the blog recently has noticed much of the discussion is surrounding a Plan B for the Rays. So the question is, what is that?

Former City Council member Bill Foster and CONA offered one template -- to form a "blue ribbon" panel to come up with a viable alternative. It seems plausible. But it may just be a waste of time if you believe the St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll from earlier this month.

If you remember, when voters were asked if they would be willing to extend the tax payments at Tropicana Field to pay for a new stadium if it did increase your taxes, 59 percent said "No." And when asked what your biggest one or two concerns is surrounding the new stadium, 56 percent of voters said "The cost to taxpayers." Actually, among the six options we listed, "Waterfront Location" finished last with only 11 percent.

So what does that all mean? If you believe the numbers, there are only two viable options. The Rays stay at Tropicana Field. Or the Rays pay for a new stadium entirely themselves.

But here's the rub. Maybe none of that would matter. As you might know, the reason the city is contemplating a referendum in November is because of the waterfront location of the proposed stadium. If the stadium were to be built at the Trop or Toytown, a referendum would no longer be required.

Could the city get away without holding one?

And if it did, is there any likely outcome where the Rays get a new stadium?

Those are just two more of the questions to chew on as this process moves along.

Baseball chief needs to butt out

From the Times editorial board

Memo to baseball commissioner Bud Selig: Butt out.

Out on the beaches

My colleague Nick Johnson reports in tomorrow's Neighborhood Times about the Rays' pitch to a small group of beach hoteliers. I got the story posted here on the jump.

Rays parking downtown

Also over the weekend, the Times' performed its own analysis of one aspect of the Rays' plan for parking at a downtown stadium. See the results in a special interactive report here.

If not on the waterfront, where?

Why the waterfront — why not somewhere else? That question, largely unaddressed publicly by the Tampa Bay Rays, continues to flavor public debate over a new baseball stadium for St. Petersburg. Teams are pushing for modern stadiums in tight urban settings, ringed with shops, restaurants and off-site parking. Rays officials say they need a new home before their Trop lease expires in 2027. That said, much of the reaction to the Rays' waterfront concept has been chillier than Fenway in April. Two-thirds of respondents in a recent St. Petersburg Times-Bay News 9 poll opposed the idea. Public officials keep asking why other sites won't suffice. Okay, where else?

-- Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer

Rays must overcome missteps in stadium plan

Lots of news to get to from over the weekend... I'll start with my story (since I run this blog) about the Rays' missteps to date.

ST. PETERSBURG — After 20 months of secret planning, the Tampa Bay Rays circled December 2007 for the public launch of their ambitious waterfront stadium and redevelopment proposal.

The news, however, hit the pages of the St. Petersburg Times a month early, and the Rays have been playing catchup ever since.

At each pivotal step, the Rays have been caught off guard, either by criticisms or questions, according to local elected leaders.

The reactions and responses of team officials have further frustrated these leaders, who say they are getting an earful from opponents and little political cover from the team.

Now, with less than 60 days before the city and Rays must reach agreement on a $450-million ballpark, the team faces certain defeat unless the dynamics change and substantive negotiations begin.

The time for "we're working on that'' has ended.

"It's almost like they didn't have a road map of how county government works or how local government works in Pinellas," said Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.

City staff to announce Trop site pick today

So, each morning I usually start my day here by glimpsing through the comments from the night before. I have to tell you, I don't how you guys end up talking about the things you do!

Anyway, we're supposed to hear from city staff today who they want to redevelop the Trop site, if the Trop site gets redeveloped. (The City Council would have to sign off at a meeting June 19).

On the surface, it seems like an easy call. If you believe Archstone-Madison, which is proposing to build more on the 86-acre Trop site, you pick them. If you don't, you pick Hines.... We'll see, hopefully, in a couple of hours.

UPDATE (3:12 p.m.): Still no word from the city.

More on the bed tax

An add-on to today's story about the hotel bed tax (I'm hoping this is easy to follow):

• The county's hotel bed tax is 5 percent on hotel stays
• Currently, the county contributes the entire "4th cent" (or one-fifth of the entire tax) to help pay off the debt of Tropicana Field.
• The Rays propose to extend the use of that tax to fund a new ballpark, but the team says it wants to cap the committment of county funds. Put another way, the Rays don't want all of the money generated by the 4th cent (as they now receive at the Trop), just enough to pay for $100-million of the construction of the ballpark.
• That means that between 2016-2046, according to the Rays, the 4th cent will generate $140-million that will not be directed to ballpark construction. That money can be used for tourism advertising, which in turn could free up more money for beach renourishment.

The Rays are asking the county to contribute $100-million to the project. Because the county would have to borrow the money and then repay it over 30 years, the cost would be much greater, like a mortgage.

The Tourist Development Council is expected to make a recommendation on extending the use of the hotel tax on July 9. And the county commission is tentatively scheduled to follow with a decision July 22. The 4th cent, in case anyone was wondering, will not expire if the Rays proposal is denied. It's simply a question of how the money should be spent.

Uhurus link weekend death to new stadium proposal

The Uhurus just posted the below announcement on Craig's list. In short, the Uhurus claim that the death of 17-year-old Javon Dawson this weekend is tied to the Rays' plan to build a new waterfront baseball stadium. The group is planning a June 22 "information conference" to announce their opposition to the ballpark plans.

“Not one more black life!”

Mailbag Time

Here's a couple of questions I've received in the past few days. Thought they'd be worth sharing.

Chris asks, "Just wondering... What will be the name of the new stadium? Will it still be called Tropicana Field or something new?"

Chris, the team hasn't started talking about a new name for the stadium. While Tropicana Field has naming rights at the dome until 2027, if a new stadium opened, the team could resell naming rights. The team likes the Tropicana brand but I'm sure other companies might be interested.

Mary Ann asks, "Who would pay for the balance of the loan that I am sure is not satisfied at this time for the present facility (Tropicana Field)?"

Mary Ann, The Rays' plan to pay for a new $450-million ballpark includes paying off the money still owed at Tropicana Field (about $90-million today). The Rays say the developers purchasing the site should agree (as their purchase price) to pay off the Trop debt. Currently the developers' offer for the land falls about $2-to-$5-million short of paying off that debt. The city hopes the developers can close the gap. We'll see.

Jack asks, "How many years would the city be in debt paying off a new stadium?"

Jack, 25-to-30 years.

Rays count on heavy hitting lawyer to deliver stadium

The Tampa Bay Rays, needing a critical "yes'' vote from Pinellas County commissioners this summer, have hired a college pitcher-turned-lawyer whose political connections reach far into the courthouse.

Clearwater land use attorney Ed Armstrong joined the Rays' lineup in May — not because the team needed legal work, but because it needed access.

Armstrong, 51, has contributed both cash and savvy advice to help elect most of the seven-member commission. He counsels commissioners on everything from policy to media relations, and he represents developers before them.

"There is nobody that has more influence than Ed Armstrong when it comes to changing public policy," St. Petersburg City Council member Karl Nurse said.

Read the entire story by Will Van Sant here.

SPPD creates new "code" for stadium sign stealing

From my colleague, Abhi Raghunathan

ST. PETERSBURG — One culprit left a large boot print in Caesar Civitella's front yard but not much else in the way of evidence when he stole an anti-ballpark sign. Others were bold enough to steal signs from yards in broad daylight from lawns on Snell Isle.

Now, the theft of anti-stadium signs has grown so widespread that police have created a master report number to track the phenomenon.

Creating a master report is a step the Police Department takes to track crimes that fit a similar pattern, such as a series of broken car windows in a neighborhood.

For opponents of the proposed Tampa Bay Rays stadium, the thefts reveal how heated the debate has become.

"This is getting ugly," said Civitella, 84, who lives in the 200 block of Westwood Terrace N. "Who knows what type of characters these people are going around destroying, or in this case stealing something off your lawn."

Nurse's response to SP Times ed board

Here it is:

Being on the receiving end of two editorials in two days, both of which personally attacked me, I would like to correct some impressions.

UPDATE: Nurse just emailed Ballpark Frankness with two paragraphs in his letter that he says were edited out. We agreed to publish them below.

"You are correct that I sought the appointment to City Council to bring change.  In the first weeks I have pushed on a number of issues which can have a real impact on our community but received no press attention.  I asked the City to redirect housing funds to radically boost the foreclosure prevention services available in St. Petersburg.  Staff is preparing a plan to do this.  Hundreds of foreclosures may be avoided to do this shift in resources.   I asked that we make a policy shift in our code enforcement resources toward the most violations and away from the “Hatfield’s vs McCoy’s complaints.   This is likely to happen.

"During the capital budget workshops, I have been advocating for a faster implementation of the energy efficiency opportunities at city buildings and in fleet replacement.  We can literally save millions of dollars each year this way.   Yesterday at Council, I suggested that developers, as a matter of course, not be allowed to demolish buildings downtown until they have approved building plans and the financing in place.  Councilman Danner and the Mayor reinforced the idea and the legal department is researching how to implement it.  This will prevent the missing tooth appearance that happens when projects collapse early in the process."

Waterfront loved, but it isn't sacred

ST. PETERSBURG — For months, the heated debate over whether to build a baseball stadium on the downtown waterfront dominated dinnertime conversations and chatter at City Hall.

Backers said it would draw tourists and keep Major League Baseball in St. Petersburg.

Opponents claimed it would ruin the waterfront.

The year was 1940, and the ballpark was Al Lang Field, now the site of the Tampa Bay Rays proposed downtown stadium.

Today, as elected officials debate the merits of building a $450-million stadium, the question of whether voters would approve a new stadium along downtown's distinctive waterfront has re-emerged.

Read Cristina Silva's full story here.

Nurse's alternative shot down

Karl Nurse's referendum alternative was just shot down without a council vote, according to my colleague Cristina Silva.

Silva reports that during the discussion council member Wengay Newton called Nurse a "mole" for antistadium group POWW.

Read more about Nurse was proposing here.

Troxler: No vote today is okay

Here’s a perfectly good reason for the St. Petersburg City Council to vote today against holding a November election on a stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays:

Because it’s not the same deal that started all this.

Here was the deal when it first became public late last year:

(1) No new taxes.

(2) The public’s share will come from selling and redeveloping Tropicana Field.

Here is the deal today:

(1) The taxpayers have to extend the annual payments that they’re now making well into the future.

(2) There’s no connection, and no guarantee, between what happens at Tropicana Field and paying for the new stadium.

Mr. Bait, meet Mr. Switch.

Read here.

Nurse: limit Al Lang development; prohibit Rays' stadium

St. Petersburg City Council member Karl Nurse said he plans to introduce a referendum question on Thursday initiated by opponents of the stadium. The referendum, which could appear opposite the Rays' proposal on November city ballots, would limit the development potential at Al Lang Field and possibly stop the Rays' plans — even if voters approved them.

The question would ask voters to cap the development potential of the Al Lang Field site to its current level. The intention, according to Nurse, is to prevent anything bigger (including the Rays' proposed 34,000-seat stadium) from being built there.

UPDATE: Anti-stadium group POWW has a bulletin on its web site this morning asking its supporters to back the Nurse/POWW referendum alternative.

MLB commish: Rays need a new stadium 'expeditiously'

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig waded into the increasingly tense stadium debate on Tuesday, saying the Tampa Bay Rays need a new ballpark "expeditiously."

Selig, who spoke exclusively to the St. Petersburg Times, said the small-market Rays cannot compete with larger ball clubs without the guaranteed revenue that comes with a new stadium.

He called the proposed Al Lang location outstanding, and promised St. Petersburg an All-Star Game if a waterfront stadium were built.

"There's no question that the Rays need a new stadium. There's just no question," Selig said by phone from his offices in Milwaukee. "Look, and I've said this in a lot of other places, I'm grateful they're having a wonderful year this year.

BayNews 9: Talk of bed tax stirring debate along beaches

Our friends at BayNews 9 did a nice piece on the 1 percent hotel bed tax in play in the Rays' $450-million financing plan for a new waterfront stadium. You can see the report here.

Currently, a five percent hotel tax is attached to people staying in Pinellas hotels. Of that, one percent is dedicated to fund Tropicana Field construction. The Rays are asking that tax to be extended and redirected to fund a new ballpark.

The money, about $5.4-million last year, can only be used to fund sports stadiums or convention centers or fund beach renourishment or on tourism marketing. The Tourist Development Commission is expected to make a non-binding recommendation to the Pinellas County Commission on extending the tax in July. The county will then be free to vote either to extend the tax or not. It needs four of seven votes to pass.

Rays alter stadium design slightly

ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays have slightly altered their plans for a $450-million waterfront stadium, according to new documents released by the city on Monday.

View the documents here.

Rant: Trip shouldn't stop Tampa's Rays fans from reaching Trop

From my colleague, Kyle Krieger:

I was on a bridge over troubled waters, keenly on guard for the danger that lay ahead.

I was ready to slam on the brakes. I wasn't going to crash into that invisible, yet impenetrable, wall that aliens (or maybe the Yankees) have installed on the bay bridges to stop Tampa's baseball fans from reaching Tropicana Field.

Then it hit me.

Why are Tampa sports fans such wimps?

Read the whole story here.

What about the sample size? It seems so small.

Probably the most questions I have received so far on the poll relate to sample size. The question goes something like this: How can you publish the results based on the opinions of just 601 people? Isn't St. Petersburg a city of 250,000?

Now, I'm not a stats guru, though I did take a statistics class in college. But basically there is some statiscal formula that guides how many respondents you need for a poll. If you follow politics, you'll notice that a lot of the national presidential polls are based on as few as 300-and-some surveys.

If you don't believe me, go to this web site. It does the heavy lifting for you. You can put in your desired margin of error (we used four percent). And you then can put in sample size (For St. Petersburg, since we're talking about only registered voters, the applicable number is about 160,000). From there it will calculate the number of respondents you need. In our example, to reach a 95 percent confidence level, we needed to survery 598 folks.

Confidence level, by the way, is how confident we are about our margin or error. In short, we are 95 percent sure that our results are within a four percent margin of error. Using the same calculator, you can figure out that we are almost 99 percent sure that our results are within a five perent margin of error.

The rest of the poll results

You can view the entire poll results here. The specific wording of each question is in the post below.

But if you don't feel like a click, here are some of the highlights:

• Mayor Rick Baker's approval rating remains relatively high. 58 percent of voters say Baker is doing an excellent or good job.
• The approval ratings for the council are lower. 3 percent say council is doing an excellent job; 41 percent say council is doing a good job.
• 78 percent of voters say they have heard "a lot" about the Rays' proposal. It would have been interesting, if we asked, where people are getting their information from.
• 47 percent say they did not attend a Rays game in 2007.
• We also asked about the impending budget cuts. 27 percent of voters said the city should cut code enforcement to save money. 32 percent didn't know what to cut.

The survery was of 601 registered St. Petersburg voters and carries a margin of error of plus or minus four percent.

Enjoy!

Voters want referendum (maybe just to say no)

So the results of our Times/Bay News 9 poll are in. And it's not great news for the Rays.

Yes, 60 percent of voters want a November referendum, but:

68 percent oppose the Rays proposal;

82 percent says there is not enough parking downtown;

58 percent are unwilling to extend the tax payments at Tropicana Field to pay for a new ballpark.

The poll is of 601 registered St. Petersburg voters and have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. We asked several other questions in the poll, including how voters rate Mayor Rick Baker and the City Council. We plan to release those results right here on Monday.

But here's the questionnaire if you're interested in seeing what we asked.

Times/Bay News 9 poll preview: Parking will be a huge problem, voters say

As debate rages over a proposed waterfront baseball stadium in St. Petersburg, most everyone agrees on one point: Downtown lacks the necessary parking.

According to an exclusive St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll to be released Sunday, 82 percent of the city's voters think parking would be a huge problem.

The poll, which surveyed 601 St. Petersburg voters May 27-28 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, was aimed primarily at determining whether voters think the proposal should be placed on a November ballot, and whether they support a new stadium.

Check the St. Petersburg Times or Bay News 9 starting Sunday for stories detailing the results. On Monday, log on to the Times’ stadium blog, Ballpark Frankness, to see and comment on the poll results.

Shelton on the Rays: Lead in standings, trail in attendance

ST. PETERSBURG — School isn’t out in Milwaukee, either.

Gas prices are up in Kansas City, too.

Also, there are a lot of other things to do in San Diego.

Things are tough all over. The economy is rotten in Minnesota, and the sun is hot in Texas and the ballpark in Denver is a long way from a lot of people’s homes.

Still, customers seem to find their way to the baseball park.

Just not here.

You've seen our polls, here's one from the Tampa Bay Business Journal

From the Tampa Bay Business Journal:

"St. Petersburg elected officials will soon decide whether to give residents the chance to vote on the proposed Rays stadium land use. But when the issue was offered up to a wider audience, readers were narrowly in favor of the stadium plan -- but not by much.

"That's the finding of the latest Business Pulse Survey, the nonscientific weekly online poll from the Tampa Bay Business Journal. The vote attracted 570 responses with 41 percent, or 239, in favor of the plan and 227, or 39 percent, opposed. Nearly 1 in 5 said they need to know more before they can decide."

Read the full article here.

Sneak peak: Wednesday's story on Tuesday

I'm working on a story for tomorrow's paper that should go somthing like this:

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Times Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is asking the city to place a deed restriction on Tropicana Field saying that soil underneath the dome’s asphalt parking lots is contaminated.

But it’s unclear if the state regulatory agency’s request, which was first made in 2000 and is being renewed this month, impacts the possible redevelopment of the stadium property the city is now considering.

Stadium fan, critic TV showdown

I've been told that Kenny Locke from Fans for Waterfront Stadium and Niel Allen from POWW are going to be on FOX 13 with Kathy Fountain today starting at 12:30 p.m. If anyone's near a TV, it might be worth watching. If I have a chance, I'll update this post and let you know how it went.

Sorry, it's Hamilton Hanson, not Niel for POWW.

UPDATE: Hamilton and Kenny were also on 620 WDAE "The Sports Animal" this morning. Our friends at 620 are working on getting us the audio. We hear it was pretty entertaining. Here's the link to audio.

Chamber official: Only a new stadium can keep Rays in St. Pete

ST. PETERSBURG — The leader of a group studying the Tampa Bay Rays' $450-million waterfront stadium proposal said Tuesday rejecting the plan may be the end of Major League Baseball in St. Petersburg.

Steve Raymund, co-chairman of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce's baseball task force, said that if St. Petersburg won't build the Rays a new stadium, some other city will.

St. Petersburg's lease with the team, which will not expire until 2027, is unlikely to stop the Rays, Raymund said.

"The reality is that the Rays say they need a new stadium to remain viable, that it's critical to their organization," said Raymund, the former chief executive of Tech Data. "If it's not here, it'll be somewhere else."

More here.

Rays' revitalization extends beyond field

From my colleague, Tom Zucco:

The win-loss column isn't the only place where the Tampa Bay Rays are doing well. As the Rays hover around first place, they're also succeeding nicely in sporting goods stores, online and on television.

With slightly more than a quarter of the 2008 Major League Baseball season in the books, sales of Rays merchandise have risen faster than all but one other big league club — the National League champion Colorado Rockies. The Rays have shown a 70 percent increase in sales over last year, but the team still ranks second to last in total market share, ahead of only the Toronto Blue Jays, according to SportScan INFO, which tracks retail sporting goods sales.

Read more here.

A hectic Tuesday afternoon

Lots of news in the past couple of hours:

1. The Chamber of Commerce's baseball task force met with the Times' editorial board this afternoon. We'll have a short story on that tomorrow. But to recap quickly, baseball task force co-chairman Steve Raymund said the right question surrounding this debate shouldn't be "Do you want the Rays to play at the Trop or at a waterfront stadium?" It should be, he said, "Do you want Major League Baseball in St. Petersburg." Raymund also said there's been much misinformation about the Rays' plan when it comes to financing and parking. The chamber study group released a preliminary report that suggest the parking situation downtown will be manageable. Raymund also called the financing plan credible. "The people that don't want the stadium are maybe looking for excuses," Raymund said. AND lastly, the chamber issued a letter to the City Council asking the group to tentatively approve the referendum June 5. Raymund pointed out that the council has until the middle of August to decide if the stadium question should be posed to voters. Raymund and chamber officials said the city should use that time to continue evaluating the proposal.
2. Next, the city released its financial analysis of the potential redevelopment of Tropicana Field. To summarize, the city ran three different projections (one based on the city's numbers, one based on the city's numbers factoring in some business displacement and one based on the developers' numbers) to see how much $$$$ the city and all taxing authorities would see out of the development.  At buildout, the estimated total annual taxes range from $23-million to $45-million. The estimated St. Petersburg annual taxes range from $4.3-million to over $7.6-million. If you're trying to do the math at home, the Rays say they will be asking for somewhere between $5-million and $6-million from the city from 2009-2016. That number will increase at about 3 percent a year starting in 2017 for the next 25 to 30 years. (I'm not sure if the city's projections factor in an escalation of taxable value at the Trop site).
3. The Rays met with the County Commission this afternoon in Clearwater. The only real bit of news there is that the county probably will not make a decision on extending the 1 percent tourist development tax until July. Theoretically, that shouldn't be much of a problem.
4. The city released a list of questions to the Rays related to the financing plan. It's many of the ones you probably have yourself. A sampling: Is the $150-million payment to be made upfront or over time?; How was the $70-million developer payment derived?; How much of the $55-million is expected to come from team payments for city parking spaces?

There are lots of documents to go along with these points. Hopefully I'll be able to have them scanned in and posted by tomorrow.