Tampa Bay Rays ironclad lease at the Trop runs til 2026-Bill Madden

• It appears there's no getting out of the Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal.

"Talk about shooting the messenger. Last week, the St. Petersburg mayor and city council effectively fired the ABC Coalition ( 'A Baseball Community') group that had been consulting with the Tampa Bay Rays and the city of St. Pete

• about prospective sites for a new retractable roof stadium. The move came after the group listed in its final report west Tampa and downtown Tampa - across the bridge in Hillsborough County -
• as two potential sites for a new park,

along with the gateway area of St. Pete. This is not news, but the Rays had better resign themselves to staying put,

• as their ironclad lease at Tropicana Field runs until 2026."

"It's a Madd, Madd World, from Bill Madden column, "Thoughts on Curtis Granderson and the rest of the NY Yankees offseason remodeling," 2/6/10

• (Field of Schemes report on this, 1/29/10)**********

It's been said before, no matter how good the Rays are, how well managed, how cheaply tickets are priced, they can't succeed in St. Petersburg. There isn't enough of a population base there. There aren't enough people in Tampa either who will make the drive in sweltering heat having to run air conditioning with high gas prices.

• Whatever Florida has been in the past, it is now a state mainly of and for poor people.There are many more foreclosures in the pipeline according to reports. The state has become too expensive for middle class people who are
• starting to move out. ed.

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