Selig's clout on stadium appraised

In all the ugly spats over professional sports stadiums through the years, the debate about a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays is barely a pillow fight.

The Rays haven't threatened to leave the Bay area, and some sports law experts say team owner Stuart Sternberg has been classier than other owners seeking a new ballpark.

But in the background, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig could become a far bigger player in the team's quest for a stadium, the sports law experts say.

Selig hasn't been that involved so far, at least not publicly. But he has a history of making threats -implied or real - that teams may leave unless they get a new stadium. In the early 2000s, a South Florida politician compared his actions in the Florida Marlins stadium fight to a character from HBO's mafia drama "The Sopranos."

"Baseball's really been aggressive about pursuing public financing," said Geoffrey Rapp, a sports law expert at the University of Toledo. "And, so far, communities have been shy about calling their bluff."

Spokesmen for Major League Baseball did not return calls or an e-mail from the Tribune last week.

The Rays have said they can't stay at Tropicana Field until their stadium use agreement runs out in 2027, but have been cautious not to offend.

Two years ago, they pushed for a new waterfront stadium in downtown St. Petersburg, but the team eventually withdrew the plan.

Since then, a group of business leaders dubbed the ABC Coalition has been meeting to determine whether the team needs a new stadium and, if so, where it should be. The answer to the first question is yes, the group determined, and the answer to the second is either the mid-Pinellas County area near the Howard Frankland Bridge, downtown Tampa or Tampa's West Shore area.

A stadium might cost $500 million. The public often covers 70 percent of that cost, the ABC Coalition found in its research.

Selig in the background

Selig has begun advocating for a stadium to replace Tropicana Field.

"I know it's the same message I've delivered a lot of other places, but it's so true here," Selig said during a February trip to the Bay area. "It almost boggles my mind that there's a debate. They need a new stadium."

Selig has repeated the same message in Miami, Minneapolis, Oakland and elsewhere, so much that some observers have come to expect it. Marc Edelman, a law professor at Barry University in South Florida, said there is a history of keeping certain baseball-hungry cities in reserve, threatening to move a team to these cities if the ball club's hometown won't ante up for a new stadium.

Portland, Ore., Charlotte, N.C., and Las Vegas are among the cities often held in reserve, Edelman said. Although Selig can aggressively lobby cities for new stadiums, the commissioner doesn't have the power to relocate a team. Such a move requires the approval of 75 percent of the league's owners, he said.

"I would not be surprised to see Bud Selig and other high-ranking baseball officials, if requested by the Rays ownership, to begin actively lobbying local councilmen to support paying a significant portion of a new stadium," Edelman said.

Among the recent cases in which Selig has intervened:

• Florida Marlins. Selig or senior Major League Baseball executives pushed for a new stadium for the Marlins for much of the 2000s, and eventually succeeded last year in getting local government funding for a new $640 million ballpark with a retractable roof.

Selig made waves in South Florida as early as 2001, when he wrote to state Sen. J. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami lobbying to put state sales tax money toward a stadium.

"This current (tax rebate) plan provides a final opportunity for the Marlins to remain in South Florida," Selig wrote, according to an April 2001 Miami Herald article. "Bluntly, the Marlins cannot and will not survive in South Florida without a new stadium."

Then-state Sen. Kendrick Meek, now a U.S. Senate candidate, bristled at the letter.

"It sounds like Johnny Soprano writing that letter, trying to threaten and put pressure on us," U.S. Rep. Meek, D-Miami, told the Herald, perhaps alluding to TV mafia character Tony Soprano.

A representative said last week that Meek was unavailable for comment.

At the latter end of the 2000s, it was baseball's Chief Operating Officer Bob DuPuy, more than Selig, who was a regular presence in South Florida during stadium negotiations, said Marc Sarnoff, a member of the Miami City Commission.

DuPuy was present whenever Marlins President David Samson threatened to move the team without a new stadium, said Sarnoff, who is now chairman of the city commission.

"Baseball was always supporting Samson's threat of moving," said Sarnoff, a stadium opponent.

• Minnesota Twins. As in Miami, the fight to bring about the Twins' new $550 million ballpark stretched out for a decade.

In the early 2000s, Selig talked about eliminating two teams in a process called contraction, and the Twins were believed to be a contraction candidate. Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura suggested Selig was using the threat of contraction to push Minnesota to build the Twins a stadium.

Ventura could not be reached for comment last week. Edelman, the Barry University professor, also said Selig used contraction as a tool in Minnesota.

However, Dan Kenney, who negotiated the Twins' stadium on behalf of Hennepin County, home of Minneapolis, said Selig didn't seem to play a role in more recent years. Hennepin County and the Twins jointly went to the Minnesota Legislature to get the stadium approved, he said.

"It wasn't about stopping relocation or threats from anyone," said Kenney, who oversees the ballpark authority that runs Target Field. "It was about preserving baseball."

•Oakland Athletics. Selig has been helping to secure a new stadium for the Athletics, whose owner has been considering a move to the nearby California cities of San Jose or Fremont. With cities, including Oakland, competing for the team, Selig has formed a committee to study potential locations.

For their part, the Rays say they are not forcing the issue, and it's not clear what role Selig will play.

When asked about Selig, Rays Senior Vice President Michael Kalt said, "He'll take an interest and get involved as he deems appropriate."

Asked whether the team was pushing Selig to get more involved, Kalt said the Rays are focused on the baseball season and will let the stadium issue play out on its own.

Meanwhile, St. Petersburg City Attorney John Wolfe, who has been adamant that the Rays fulfill the contract at Tropicana Field, said he has seen no sign that Selig is applying pressure locally.

At least for now, with unemployment high and governments operating in the red, the baseball commissioner may have less bargaining power than usual, said Michael McCann, a Vermont Law School professor and sports law contributor to Sports Illustrated.

McCann said Selig may be applying pressure for a stadium, but added, "This is a tough economy to make that argument."