Mosaic buying naming rights to stadium in Port Charlotte

Charlotte County will be staring at the name of a longtime adversary on the baseball stadium renovated for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays announced Wednesday that they have agreed to sell the naming rights for their spring training home, the Charlotte Sports Park, to the Mosaic Co., which mines phosphate to produce fertilizer.

The county has spent $12 million on litigation in the past decade fighting Mosaic permits for mining on thousands of acres in the Charlotte Harbor watershed.

Pending county approval, the Rays' spring training site will be called Mosaic Field at Charlotte Sports Park. The value of the 15-year agreement was not disclosed. Mosaic spokesman David Townsend said that information was confidential.

County Administrator Roger Baltz said Charlotte's contract with the Rays calls for the county to receive about $77,000 this year as its share for the naming rights, escalating 3 percent yearly.

Commissioner Adam Cummings said the Rays will need permission for the naming of the stadium; the item could come up as early as Feb. 23. He said the contract says permission is "not to be unreasonably withheld."

As part of the agreement, the ballpark will be branded with the new name in exterior and interior signs, including the main scoreboard, all entry points, the marquee at the main entrance off State Road 776, the top of dugouts and at the press level behind home plate.

The Rays' naming deal is likely to stick in the craw of many residents in Charlotte, which led the region's fight against an expansion of mining.

Cummings said the proposal is "absolutely outrageous" given the history the county has with Mosaic.

"We can't let Mosaic steal our stadium for a pittance," he said, adding that "we would be telling citizens that they're doing an OK thing when they're not."

Charlotte, Lee and Sarasota counties fought Mosaic's mining permits on environmental grounds, contending that they threatened the Peace and Myakka rivers, Charlotte Harbor's health and the region's drinking supply.

Despite a legal settlement with Mosaic, Cummings says the company has not made substantive improvements to its mining operations, and has refused to put limits on mining.

Mosaic has argued that it takes extensive steps to protect the environment during and after mining and that phosphate fertilizer is essential to food production.

Townsend dismissed the connection between the legal fight and the stadium name.

"Some people in Charlotte may try to make this controversial because of old permit challenges, but that's history, that's in the past," Townsend said.

Charlotte Commissioner Tricia Duffy said the Rays' move is a business decision and their partnership with Mosaic extends beyond Charlotte County, with sponsorship at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

"I think Mosaic has tried to reach out into the community, and this is another way of their reaching out," she said.

Mark Fernandez, Rays senior vice president/chief sales officer, said Mosaic already was a sponsor at Charlotte Sports Park with signs last season.

"Our first priority in considering a naming rights partner was to find a corporation with a strong presence in our region and a demonstrated commitment to local communities," Fernandez said.

The Rays moved spring training to Port Charlotte last year and set club records for attendance. Charlotte Sports Park was built in the 1980s. The county agreed to renovate it for $28.3 million, using $15.5 million in tourism taxes, a state grant and money from the Rays.

Mosaic is the world's leading producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate.