Tampa Bay Rays Reach Agreement to Search for New Stadium Site

St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman has granted the Rays permission to search for a new stadium site in Hillsborough County, Florida. Rays owner Stu Steinberg has indicated he will sell the team if a new stadium fails to come to fruition. The St. Petersburg city council voted down the agreement that would let the team search for a new ballpark.

Continue for updates.

Thursday, Jan. 8

No Timetable for Talks to Resume

Jon Morosi of Fox Sports provides an update on the Rays' search for a new stadium:

Thursday, Dec. 18

City Council Rejects Agreement That Would Let Rays Search for New Ballpark in Tampa Bay

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times provides an update on the Rays' search for a new ballpark:

Rays President Brian Auld provided a statement on the decision:

Wednesday, Dec. 10

Date for Vote on New Stadium Pushed Back

The vote for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium has been delayed, according to Charlie Frago and Stephen Nohlgren of the Tampa Bay Times:

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The City Council has delayed its meeting on the Tampa Bay Rays stadium issue for a week, Mayor Rick Kriseman's chief of staff Kevin King told the Tampa Bay Times.

"The mayor wanted to make sure that council had time to get comfortable" with an agreement that would allow the Rays to explore new stadium sites in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties... Kriseman asked council chairman Bill Dudley to reschedule that vote for Dec. 18 and Dudley agreed, King said.

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Tuesday, Dec. 9

Rays Owner Says He Will Sell Team If New Stadium Isn't Built

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times provides comments from Rays owner Stu Steinberg:

Monday, Dec. 8

Rays Approved to Search for New Stadium Site

St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman has granted the Tampa Bay Rays the freedom to search for a new stadium site in Hillsborough County, Florida, should the team leave prior to its contract with Tropicana Field ending in 2027.      

According to the Tampa Bay Times' Stephen Nohlgren, the team would have to pay the city certain annual allotments based on when the team breaks the lease. Here's the breakdown: 

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Payments would be based on how many years would remain on the Trop lease if the Rays left, starting at $4 million a season until December 2018, dropping to $3 million a season from 2019 to 2022 and $2 million from 2023 through 2026.

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Fox Sports' Jon Morosi applauded the deal:

Tropicana Field has been the home of the Rays since the team's inception in 1998, but the attendance numbers have been consistently underwhelming. 

Last season, the Rays drew an average of 17,857 fans (52.4 percent of the stadium's capacity) per game, which was last in the league, per ESPN. The season prior, when they went to the postseason, that number was only slightly higher at 18,645 (54.7 percent). 

They haven't attracted more than 20,000 per game since the 2010 MLB campaign. 

It has been clear for a while that change is needed when it comes to the Rays' home ballpark. While this is just one of the first steps in what will be a long, exhaustive process, it's a good start for invoking the transition.