Could rival cities be leverage in Rays stadium deal?

Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride.

That about sums up the Major League Baseball ambitions of Portland, Ore., Charlotte, N.C., San Antonio, Texas, and Las Vegas, Nev. which seemingly are trotted out as potential suitors every time a ballclub wants a new stadium.

Unlucky in love, these cities have provided great leverage to baseball owners. Even the cities themselves acknowledge their zest for a team has allowed owners to pit one city against another to win a new stadium.

So far, they haven't emerged in the Tampa Bay Rays' stadium debate, which ratcheted up this week when Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said he wanted to look at stadium sites outside of St. Petersburg, including in Tampa. St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster still isn't keen on a Tampa stadium, but on Thursday he signaled the city may consider an alternative site as long as it's within city limits.

With the two sides in standoff, TBO.com talked to organizers of baseball efforts in bridesmaid cities to see how much leverage they provide. The answer: not as much as in the past.

Portland still harbors big-league dreams and has a wad of cash from the state to fulfill them, but efforts in the other cities seem dormant at best - hamstrung partly by the recession's fallout.

"I can't imagine a city ponying up for a new stadium right now," said Michael Sculley, an employee of Bexar County, Texas, who sought a new professional sports franchise for San Antonio a few years ago. "Reality check is, no, it's not going to happen."

This week, St. Petersburg city attorney John Wolfe studied up on his legal options regarding the Rays. Among other things, he's been reviewing how Major League Baseball has used other cities as bargaining tools.

It's an awkward truth, but St. Petersburg was in that role for years before landing the Rays in 1995. The city thought it had lured the Chicago White Sox south, but lost out when the Illinois Legislature put up money for a new ballpark.

"We're responsible for quite a few stadiums being built," Wolfe said with a chuckle.

This is not an especially good time to be seeking public financing for a stadium, which could run $500 million or more. The Tampa Bay area's unemployment rate is 11.7 percent and local governments have had to cut staff to cope with falling tax revenues. Meantime, other cities that ordinarily might come calling have their own issues.

Among them:

Portland
This Pacific Northwest city chased hard after the Montreal Expos before that team found its permanent home in Washington, D.C. Over the years, it also has looked at the Oakland Athletics, which want a new stadium, and the Florida Marlins, which are getting one.

For now, its baseball effort is on hold, but organizers there are ready to spring to action if a team announces it wants to move, said Steve Kanter, a law professor at Lewis and Clark College and head of the Portland Baseball Group.

The city's ace in the hole is $150 million in state money. While Portland was chasing the Expos in the early 2000s, the Oregon Legislature agreed to issue $150 million in bonds to support a new ballpark. The state never put a timetable on its funding promise, so the money is still there, Kanter said.

Leaders of Portland's effort are watching what's going on in St. Petersburg, but don't want to be seen as trying to steal the Rays or anyone else.

"In my life, we're going to get Major League Baseball by default," said Lynn Lashbrook, another leader of Portland's effort. "There's no where else to go."

San Antonio
A few years ago, the Marlins toured the Alamo city as it was threatening to leave Miami over its demand for a new stadium. Sculley, the Bexar County official, arrived in San Antonio after the Marlins chose to stay in Miami. But, he said San Antonio leaders felt they "got played" by the Marlins and Major League Baseball.

Eventually, Sculley led an effort to try to recruit a professional sports team to San Antonio to complement its Spurs basketball team. Today, community leaders seem more interested in a football team than baseball, he said.

Instead of issuing bonds to build a ballpark for the Marlins, the county issued $415 million in bonds to pay for 21 tourism-related projects including a performing arts center and 13 amateur sports facilities.

"We really achieved more with 21 projects than providing an (baseball) owner with a new facility," Sculley said.

Las Vegas
Sin City's colorful mayor, Oscar Goodman, is known to covet a professional sports franchise. Hoping to land baseball, he once walked into a meeting of baseball officials with a showgirl on each arm and an Elvis impersonator in tow.

Among other teams, he courted the Expos and Marlins. This week, Goodman declined to speak with the Tribune about whether he still hopes to land a team. However, Nevada has the nation's highest unemployment rate, at more than 14 percent, so building a new ballpark may not be a priority.

Charlotte
Jerry Reeves, a lawyer and developer in Charlotte, may be the biggest proponent of baseball in the Queen City. For years, he has proposed a huge real estate project in Charlotte called the Brooklyn Renaissance Project, which would feature a retractable-roof stadium as its centerpiece.

He's so eager to lure a Major League Baseball team that he sued to block the Charlotte Knights, a minor-league baseball team, from moving from a Charlotte suburb into the city's core.

For now, Charlotte lacks the political will to build a new ballpark, he admits. Its economy has suffered from the banking crisis, and the city built the Time Warner Cable Arena for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats in 2005. Even with a new arena, attendance and corporate support for the Bobcats has been "woefully bad," Reese said this week.

Still, he insists Charlotte is ready for baseball.

"The recession has caused Charlotte to have to back up, but it's a very vibrant city and I have no doubt it could support a major league team," he said.