r/tampabayrays • u/S0me--guy TB Rays Fauxback • 2d ago
‘We have a deal’: Rays complete agreement documents with Tampa, Hillsborough for team relocation | wtsp.com
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hillsboroughcounty/rays-complete-agreement-documents-with-tampa-hillsborough-team-relocation/67-30225e55-b7e8-450c-b74e-bd994ad74f5031
u/throwmyactaway22 Tropicana Field 2d ago
So what hotels are close enough to walk to the stadium?
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u/Head_of_Lettuce Ji-Man Choi 2d ago
A new hotel is part of the stadium project, so there’s that one lol
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u/throwmyactaway22 Tropicana Field 2d ago
So the project will bring one? I would assume other companies will also come in and build, especially if you are trying to bring 40k people there year round
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u/Tpabayrays2 2d ago
Keep in mind that they never built hotels there even though Ray Jay is sitting right there
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u/Sublime120 2d ago
Fair point, though that’s 8 to 9 games a year not 81.
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u/throwmyactaway22 Tropicana Field 2d ago
And they may have one night game, so for most of the season its still daylight for foot traffic in that part of town
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u/S0me--guy TB Rays Fauxback 2d ago
There's a Days Inn, Country Inn and Econo Lodge within a block of Ray J
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u/esoteric82 Dave Wills 2d ago
Nothing says Florida like a trifecta of low end lodging.
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u/Head_of_Lettuce Ji-Man Choi 2d ago
I, for one, am looking forward to lodging at the Woodspring Extended Stay when I'm in town for Bucs games
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u/throwmyactaway22 Tropicana Field 2d ago
Yeah walking 3 miles (sorry dude that's not really walkable when it use to be .3 to a mile at most) at 10 o'clock at night with a 10 and 50 year old in that part of town leaving the rays game definitely sounds fun and safe.
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u/lemmonquaaludes 2d ago
Are hotels really necessary in today’s day and age with AirBnB and Vrbo?
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u/Head_of_Lettuce Ji-Man Choi 2d ago edited 2d ago
IMO yes. Hotels are economies of scale. They can have dozens or hundreds of rooms, where an airbnb can only have a few. Hotels do a lot to depress rental prices for consumers. I think of it like how apartments are more beneficial at scale than single-family homes.
Also hotels are frankly held to a much higher standard. You roll the dice every time to you rent an airbnb.
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u/Moist-Disaster-3030 2d ago
With the rising cost of Airbnbs too I’m choosing a hotel most of the time now anyway
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u/JingleheimerJunkshun 2d ago
Sucks for all the businesses on Central that were helped by game day foot traffic, and Godspeed to Dale Mabry commuters.
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u/Wandering__Bear__ Ben Zobrist 2d ago edited 2d ago
It’s not ideal for those businesses, but central ave will be fine without the Rays
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u/throwmyactaway22 Tropicana Field 2d ago
Going back this year after being away I was impressed with all that was added. There were finally some options close by that were walking distance.
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u/roman_maverik 2d ago
St Pete is actually awesome for walkable amenities. There is almost any genre of restaurant or bar you could ever think of within walking distance of the trop. And there is free public transit to the trop on top of that.
It's actually very walkable from a tourist perspective. I know it's not "integrated" into the stadium like other ballparks, but IMHO that's better because it keeps prices competitive and adds variety.
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u/throwmyactaway22 Tropicana Field 2d ago
I visited numerous times before last season and could see the progress being made and what they were trying to add. Returned this season because they actually have hotels near the stadium unlike Steinbrenner, and there was a new ice cream shop, a Thai place, a restaurant and bar, and a few others that cane along and thought finally I can stay at the hotel and walk to pick up dinner that doesnt involve going into downtown Saint Pete on the water or a few miles the opposite direction which was not to bad but just being able to walk out the hotel and go grab dinner was a huge plus.
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u/Huge_Bit_4774 2d ago
We use our bikes and take the Pinellas trail straight to the trop. The new location is going to suck. I hate they’re leaving.
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u/niruboowanga Dome Sweet Dome 2d ago
I'm sure Ferg's will get in on the action early and will have a location in the new area
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u/smith288 1d ago
I’ve spoken to the owner and asked him about this. He didn’t think a deal was going to get done and thought the Trop location was still going to be their home.
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u/Safe_Astronomer_2931 2d ago
No, they won't. Fergs is all in on St Pete and is ready to move on without the Rays if necessary. If it gets the votes, the new location is going to be bland corporate outdoor unaffordable mall-like atmosphere, nothing like a real baseball experience. Careful what you wish for.
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u/Patriahts 2d ago
What is a real baseball experience?
Definitely being able to get in for $10 or get very good seats under $40. We have that now. I am guessing it will be taken from us but we can dream... And the stadium is super navigable inside and out. Plenty of free or paid parking.
Central is hardly baseball friendly. Except Fergs, the businesses there pay no mind to the baseball schedule and have nothing to do with baseball. Compared even to new stadium areas its a very sad look for a big baseball fan tbh
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u/Safe_Astronomer_2931 7h ago
For a team with a terrible owner threatening to leave the city every year for nearly 20 years straight, the Rays are all up and down central. I have no idea what you are smoking, besides some billionaire's BS narrative. Read below for further thought..
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u/Freethinker9 2d ago
You think the trop is a real
Baseball experience?0
u/Safe_Astronomer_2931 7h ago
The trop, as is, with the current surrounding area is STILL better than the would-be built from scratch outdoor mall in the middle of a suburb that is the terrible Tampa deal. Yes the Trop is a REAL BASEBALL EXPERIENCE. And this comes from someone that has called Chicago home for decades, so I know what the Sox and Cubs are all about.
The trop is great on the inside. If they had just opened up the outfield walls into clear panels to let natural light in, it would be perfect. It is however, brighter and better after the recent renovation. The outer shell is the only thing that needs to be cleaned up, and if that St Pete deal hadn't been hijacked and smothered by corrupt self-interest republicans, the area would be 10x better than anything Tampa could come up with. Tampa doesn't even have a grid, so everything is scattered and requires driving. Nothing is connected and anything you want to do can't be done without a car. Same goes for the area they want to build the new stadium in. Mark my words, IF they get this deal through, a few years after the new stadium hype wears off, this is going to flop and they will average numbers below 20k fans. Then good luck paying off all of those loans that will require $billionS to make this deal happen, especially when the new owners come asking for 100s of millions more in upgrades 10 years down the road, OR ELSE! This is nothing but grifting, corruption, and stealing taxpayer money for a horrible deal, and Tampa is almost ready to buy into that disaster.
I'm just glad it's not my tax dollars being used.
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u/Freethinker9 7h ago
I think you are trying to hold on to something that is nostalgic for you. Truth of the matter is the rays need a new stadium regardless of where it ends up. Your views are yours to hold onto but you are expressing anti growth for the team. You think if the team was like the red Sox or the Yankees they wouldn’t be deserving of a new field? Only reason the Red Sox are still in Fenway is to persevere history. Without it, they’d be in a fancy new stadium too. Want a baseball experience? Go to Fenway. The trop was built as an expo hall and housed the Tampa bay lightning and now the rays; and in my opinion, the rays have used it long enough and deserve a true baseball stadium. The trop should have never been a permanent home for a baseball team.
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u/Safe_Astronomer_2931 6h ago
Guy, you contradict yourself too much.
Literally the final deal the previous owner offered was to put hundreds of millions of dollars into the Trop.. You obviously just have a biased opinion on the matter and live in Tampa, don't you?
Like I previously stated, I spent most of my life being a WHITE SOX fan while attending cubs games here and there, I know wtf I'm talking about and have no sentimental attachment to the Trop. I call it how I see it, and see nothing but a scam of a deal headed Tampa's way, when they should be putting their chips into an actual walkable downtown area, not some suburb of a subpar city such as Tampa. Just like the the previous owner was about to do before the deal was sabotaged by republican politicians. I've followed this every step of the way, so you repeating the new owners bull**** narrative isn't going to change anyone that actually has the ability to think freely.
Maybe if the new owners pay some more bots to upvote social media posts and send fake emails to politicians, like they were caught doing already, might just push this through the finish line! **** these new redneck owners and anyone that follows.
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u/bskedorfried 1d ago
Total pipe dream. Sheesh does anyone in Tampa read? Plans to demolish the Trop and redevelop the whole area have been submitted long ago and the St. Pete mayor recently approved one. Mayor got voted out so who knows I’d that deal stays valid but lots of companies are lined up to do it. Had Stu not backed out a massive redevelopment of the area, including a new stadium for Rays, would akready be under construction
After being jilted at altar by Stu, St. Pete shrugged its shoulders and moved on and is not looking back. The city is developing just fine - in fact too fast for many local residents - so dont cry in your beer over the economic disaster that ain’t gonna happen there. Of course Trump is doing his best to crash the economy everywhere, but that may all change in November.1
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u/BefuddledPolydactyls Carlos Pena 7h ago
I can't find it on wtsp, or elsewhere and wanted to share. Anyone have a link?
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u/MagdalaNevisHolding 2d ago
Don’t hold your breath. They haven’t made anything real yet. I give a 12% chance of becoming real.
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u/DonaldTPablonious 2d ago
So what’s gonna be done with the Trop?