Rays/MLB 2019-20

[Hoek]

Ybor city plans are dead.

https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/12/11/rays-say-current-ybor-stadium-project-is-dead-remain-committed-to-tampa-bay-area-for-now/

[Bolthed]

Starting to feel like the Rays are Lucy teeing up that football for Charlie Brown.

[Puckhead]

Yeah, that's too bad. I was hoping it'd work out for Ybor and downtown. Not considering the huge financial considerations of any new ballpark, I still think that Tampa could support the Rays. But, maybe it's just wishful thinking from afar..

[Derek28]

The money is in Pinellas but the people are in Hillsborough. That's pretty much the main problem. Stu was never going to put $400-500 million on the table. They could build a new stadium in St.Pete, but what would the realistic attendance increase be? They aren't going to build a new stadium for 15-17 thousand people to show up. They probably would need at least 23-25 thousand and I doubt that happens in St.Pete.

[WaiverWire]

One of 2 things may change this. The dog track on Gandy would be the logical choice as it moves the Rays closer to Tampa.

OR

Mr. Vinik gets involved, even after saying "no'. It would make so much sense for a stadium to be in the downtown. This would bring people to Mr. Vinik's other venues such as Sparkman's Warf year round and possibly keep a steady stream of rooms filled at his hotels.

[Hoek]

Vinik has a stake in the Red Sox. He can't really get involved without divesting from that, can he?

[BurnTHalO]

Vinik has a stake in the Red Sox. He can't really get involved without divesting from that, can he?

You know there's an interesting question. Could he build a baseball field downtown and then leave it out to the Ray's as opposed to the city building it? I'd be shocked if he did, but I dont know the rules on that

[RSchmitz]

Vinik has a stake in the Red Sox. He can't really get involved without divesting from that, can he?

As in purchasing the Rays? If he did that he would definitely have to sell his shares in the Red Sox, I remember a previous Marlins owner also had a stake in the Sox and had to sell it to complete the purchase.

If we are just talking about Vinik coordinating with Sternberg to get something done for the stadium only, I doubt there would be a conflict of interest, and MLB would be shooting themselves in the foot to see issue with it.

[RSchmitz]

Getting involved with the Rays feels like an overreach for Vinik right now. We can hope though

[WaiverWire]

I don not know if I would call it an overreach. He has a vesting interest in Water Street. Currently he has a J.W. Marriott going up just west of Amalie and he has plans for another 5 star hotel to the north. My count is that would make 5 large hotels within a few blocks of Amalie. He also has the Warf. Any traffic that can be generated to fill the rooms and bring people to the Warf is what is needed.

I am not saying he would be a vested owner in the team, but he could nudge the team to give Tampa another shot.

My understanding is that he has a very small stake in the Red Soxs.

[RSchmitz]

I'm calling it an overreach because he's lost quite a bit of money recently and probably doesn't have enough liquid capital at this point in time to make a big purchase.

[Flycoon]

I'm calling it an overreach because he's lost quite a bit of money recently and probably doesn't have enough liquid capital at this point in time to make a big purchase.

That you don’t know. Vinik’s finances are less transparent than trumps

[Donnie D]

I hope he doesn’t.

Without a salary cap an owner in Tampa must either: lose tons of money to try and be competitive with the big spenders or accept that they will constantly be in a cycle of rebuild for 4-5 years, play for one year, rip the team apart, and try and spend 4-5 years rebuilding again.

Baseball is dying. It set up a financial structure that emphasizes big market - New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles and screws everyone else. The fans from the smaller markets that grew up when their teams could be competitive are dying and young people just aren’t going to waste their time watching a sport where their team can never win.

[Flycoon]

I don’t envision him purchasing the Rays but I could see him possibly investing in the stadium if it made financial sense and helped his redevelopment effort of the old Channelside district.

Vinik is all about $$$, he won’t invest in a loser.

[Hoek]

A soccer stadium could achieve most of the same things for a fourth of the cost.