Rays face 'death sentence' without new stadium, proponent says

The Tampa Bay Rays face a "death sentence" unless the team eventually can obtain a new stadium and raise its revenues, a member of a stadium study group told the Pinellas County Commission Tuesday.

After the commission meeting, Craig Sher, a member of the ABC Coalition studying the Rays' stadium options, admitted he may have used overly dramatic language. However, he drove home the coalition's point that the Tampa Bay area faces losing the baseball team if it doesn't start planning for a new stadium.

"One could only imagine what our image would be if we lost the Rays," Sher told commissioners.

Pinellas County commissioners thanked the coalition for its presentation, but declined to discuss the Rays' future. It was the first time the group presented its ideas to a governmental body.

The ABC Coalition is a group of civic leaders studying whether the Rays need a new stadium, and if so, where it should be. Former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker formed the group, but the groups stopped talking when the coalition suggested two of the three best sites for a new stadium are in Hillsborough County. The three sites are the Mid-Pinellas area just over the Howard Frankland bridge, downtown Tampa and Tampa's West Shore area.

Sher wasn't shy about stressing the problems plaguing Tropicana Field's location. Chief among them is that downtown St. Petersburg is at the farthest end of a very large metropolitan area and is farther from the population base than its three preferred sites.

A new stadium would cost at least $500 million, and the public could be expected to pick up about $350 million, Sher acknowledged. However, he insisted that even if the community can't afford that today, it needs to at least start planning for the future.

After the ABC Coalition's presentation, Commissioner Ken Welch said the County Commission had been advised by its attorney not to discuss the Rays' stadium Tuesday, partly to respect the wishes of St. Petersburg. However, Welch said Pinellas County might be willing to openly discuss the Rays at some time in the future.

Michael Kalt, a Rays executive overseeing the stadium issue, said the team is focused on the new season and not the stadium right now. Still, he said he would prefer for St. Petersburg to hear out the ABC Coalition.

"I think the report deserves to be heard, but they (the city) need to do what they have to do," Kalt said.