Jeff Lyash at Tiger Bay today

My hunch is he'll split his time talking about energy and the stadium. My hunch, also, is that most of it will be boring. I'll report back this afternoon.

UPDATE: Back from Tiger Bay. First, I'm sorry I said it would be boring. I didn't mean that as a slight. I should have said I don't think news will be made. And in that regard, I was right. Lyash spent his first 20 minutes talking about energy policy.

(This is a stadium blog, but the big controversy there is Progress Energy Florida wants to build a new $17 billion nuclear power plant and charge customers for some of the construction costs up front). I was going to try to punk the Times' business editor and say Lyash announced that the utility was abandoning the plan amid public outcry, but that seemed like too much work.

Anyway, on the stadium Lyash continued to hit all the talking points -- nothing is off the table, interim reports due out in June, etc.

He also offered up the best one-liner of the afternoon.

"It actually is easier to build a nuclear power plant than it is to build a baseball stadium."

Seen in the audience: Hal Freedman and Hamilton Hanson of POWW Hugh Tulloch and Ed McGrath (who are no a part of POWW, but opposed the waterfront stadium) and former Pinellas County commissioner and ABC member Bob Stewart.

-- Aaron Sharockman, Times Staff Writer

Scott Wagman on Rays ballpark: Not necessarily in St. Pete

ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayoral hopeful Scott Wagman said he wouldn't require the Tampa Bay Rays to build their new stadium within city limits.

Wagman said he would like the Rays to stay in St. Petersburg, but it is more important that team officials and community leaders come up with a location that will benefit the entire region and ensure the team has a long future in the Tampa Bay area.

However, Wagman said he would oppose plans to build a new stadium along St. Petersburg's historic waterfront.

Wagman's position on the Rays' controversial stadium stands in stark opposition to Mayor Rick Baker's demand that the stadium be built in St. Petersburg.

Wagman clarified his position on the Rays' stadium during a campaign event at the Globe Coffee Lounge Friday.

During an informal question and answer discussion with supporters, Wagman said crime and job creation were his two top issues.

He also said that time-limited parking downtown should be more consistent.

UPDATE (1:40 p.m.): Fellow mayoral contender Deveron Gibbons just called Wagman's position on possibly letting the Rays leave St. Petersburg "crazy." 

"That comment shows a complete lack of sensitivity for the folks who lived in the Gas Plant area and gave up so much to get baseball here," Gibbons said, referencing the forced relocation of a predominantly African American neighborhood to make way for what is now Tropicana Field. "The people that gave up so much, that means nothing to Scott Wagman?"

Like Wagman, Gibbons said the waterfront should be off limits to the Rays. But, Gibbons said, "we ultimately have to figure out how to keep the Rays here."

-Cristina Silva and Aaron Sharockman, Times staff writers

Marlins' new stadium approved

The Florida-soon-to-be-Miami Marlins got the approvals for a new baseball stadium late Monday night.

You can read about the deal here. The project, which will cost $634 million, will be paid for primarily by city and county taxpayers. According to the Miami Herald, the Marlins are kicking in $120 million for construction and will pay back another $35 million in government money.

The Marlins' stadium approval leaves just the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays looking for new stadiums.

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Jamie Bennett proposes waterfront protection referendum

The official announcement is to come Thursday, but City Council member and mayoral candidate Jamie Bennett plans to sponsor potential referendum language protecting the St. Petersburg waterfront from future development.

While the ballot language has not yet been written, Bennett's aim is to make sure any major development along the downtown waterfront requires a referendum.

It's hard to see how this isn't a political move. Bennett, rightly or wrongly, has been somehow tied to the Tampa Bay Rays' push for a stadium at the site of Al Lang Field. In one move, Bennett can reverse those fears and possibly steal away some support from outspoken stadium critic and fellow mayoral contender Kathleen Ford. (The Rays' stadium proposal for Al Lang contemplated a referendum all along, under current City Charter protections. The referendum, which had tentatively been scheduled for November 2008, was shelved after the Rays withdrew their proposal). 

Bennett will be making his announcement at North Shore Park Thursday morning with POWW leader Hal Freedman.

Read more at here.

-- Aaron Sharockman, Times Staff Writer

Fake Toronto Blue Jays fans invade Canada

Not really a stadium issue, but some folks sent me a You Tube video documenting their trip to see the Toronto Blue Jays last year as "undercover" Blue Jays fans. It's good Friday viewing.

Aaron Sharockman, Times Staff Writer

Group may have something to report by June

ST. PETERSBURG — The group studying sites for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium said Tuesday it could have a series of interim findings by June.

But, they cautioned, the site for a possible new stadium will not be among them.

Jeff Lyash, chairman of the group called A Baseball Community, said he hoped to focus — at least initially — on areas where a stadium could be located, not specific properties. Talk mostly has centered around the Carillon and Gateway areas in north St. Petersburg and, to a lesser extent, downtown St. Petersburg and Tampa.

“This is not meant to be conclusionary,” said Lyash, Progress Energy Florida’s president and chief executive.

How they split the cost

Here's a good example of how difficult it could be to answer a simple question about baseball stadium financing: Who paid for what?

In today's story about the opening of the Charlotte Sports Park, we broke down the funding of the       $27.2 million facility this way -- 54 percent Charlotte County, 33 percent state, 13 percent Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays challenged the figure early this morning, saying their contribution was greater. In short, it is and it isn't. Here's why: The $27.2 million project will actually be paid off over a number of years. With interest, the money going out the door over time is more like $47 million. Of every dollar being put in to paying off the stadium renovations, the Rays are indeed contributing around 13 percent.

But the team says its contributing more of its money early on, meaning its dollars have greater buying power. Following?

Put another way, the Rays are contributing about 13 percent of all the cash needed for the project, but because they are contributing more cash sooner than the state and the county, they say they are actually paying for more of the work.

How much more? We're trying to figure that out. When we do, we'll let you know.

Then take an aspirin.

Aaron Sharockman, Times Staff Writer

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'We know how to build baseball stadiums'

Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg didn't say a lot about the prospects for a new stadium in St. Petersburg Wednesday. He didn't have to. Sternberg let the Rays' new $27.2-million spring training facility do most of the (figurative) talking.

On his way to the field, he did offer Ballpark Frankness this little gem:

"We know how to build baseball stadiums. We know what fans want.”

His point is obvious. But I also thought City Council member Jeff Danner offered a pretty good retort.

“I’ve always had confidence they would know how to build a good stadium. The question (for St. Petersburg) is where and how to pay for it.”

So what say you? Is this all talk?

-- Aaron Sharockman, Times Staff Writer

Marlins ballpark vote today

MIAMI (AP) — For the Florida Marlins, this day has been a long time coming.

The franchise has won two World Series titles since its inaugural season in 1993, but still has no home of its own. Sixteen years after the team's first game, South Florida politicians might be ready to change that.

City of Miami and Miami-Dade County commissioners are scheduled to cast their final votes Friday on a proposal for a retractable-roof, $515 million stadium in Miami's blighted Little Havana neighborhood. If the proposal is approved, it will be the last step before groundbreaking for the stadium, which is projected to open in 2012.

"I'm always humbly concerned," club president David Samson said of the upcoming vote. "Until the votes actually happen, of course I'm going to be concerned. But I'm cautiously optimistic. We are in their hands."

Is this in our future?

The Florida Marlins released new drawings for their ballpark recently. As you can tell, the Miami stadium -- set to be built at the site of the former Orange Bowl -- will include a retractable roof.

The $515-million Miami stadium project is being paid for mostly through taxpayer dollars. Here's the breakdown, courtesy of the Miami Herald:

• Miami-Dade County will spend $347 million in mostly tourist created taxes;
• The city of Miami will spend $13 million;
• The Marlins will contribute $155 million ($35 million of that will be fronted by the county and repaid through rent payments).
• The county and Miami are each also responsible for infrastructure costs like moving electrical lines and road improvements that are expected to cost up to $10 million each.
• And both governments will also shell out $1.7 million in an attempt to keep the Little Havana ballpark as green as possible, the Herald reports.

You can see more renderings of the Marlins park here. The Marlins are hoping to be in their new home for the 2012 season.

How does this impact talks in St. Petersburg? Well, members of the committee studying a potential new home for the Tampa Bay Rays seem pretty set on a retractable roof --- so if this is the latest in retractable roof technology, this is what might be on our horizon.

The funding terms may also end up comparable, if a deal is struck. Putting aside the notion of prepaid rent for a second, the Marlins are contributing about 30 percent of the cost toward constructing a new stadium (it's shrinks to around 28 percent if you factor in the infrastructure the city and county are required to build).

You might remember that there was a lot of debate during the Al Lang funding proposal how much the Rays would be kicking in to that stadium. But in short, the Rays said they would contribute $150 million to the $435 million project, or about 34.5 percent (again putting aside the rent question, which was never resolved in St. Petersburg. The Rays and city never discussed a possible rent payment).

-- Aaron Sharockman, Times Staff Writer