For the umpteenth time, the Tampa Bay Rays have announced a plan to build a stadium to keep the Rays in nearby Tampa Bay.
Will this time be the right one?
According to the club, it helps that discussions are further along than other plans and that a financial plan is in place. The club believes it is at the stage of closer THE deal.
I’ll believe it when I see it, but oh well.
I explained yesterday that I believe this is all a mistake. After all, the club has unveiled a plan which will only serve to repeat the same mistakes as for the Trop… but with a new stadium.
Traffic to get to St. Pete is still a problem and so is the roof.
But OK. Major baseball seems to be in a hurry (to talk more seriously about expansion, perhaps) and now the people of Tampa will have a stadium nearby.
Here are images of this stadium, which should open its doors in 2028, i.e. after the expiry of the lease for Too much. There are some family resemblances with Tropicana Field, right?
What you need to know, however, is that there is some positive in all of this. I’m the first to not understand the location of the stadium, but at least there will be improvements over the Too much.
In a plan featured on their website, the Rays say that with people coming from far and wide to see the games, having hotels and restaurants nearby will liven up the place and attract people.
It’s certain that people come from far away: the stadium will be built far from Tampa… ok, I’ll stop.
To build it all, jobs will be created (in construction and even later, to work in hotels, for example) and a tax on hotels will help pay the bill borne by the county.
If there is one aspect that can inspire Montreal, it is this: in Florida, we have chosen to invest to generate jobs. It is therefore not seen as an expense.
I can not wait to see the result. If you build it, they will come, as the popular film said…
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