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"Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
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BullsFanInTX Offline
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Post: #21
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-04-2018 08:48 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(06-03-2018 09:26 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  Yeah, I think that’s going to happen too. I have a buddy who lives down there and is not involved in the project but is involved in a lot of development projects down there. He told me that it’s just a matter of time. They’re working out the logistics, but it seems like even the people in St. Petersburg have kind of given up the ghost on the fight with Tampa for the Rays.

That Ybor City site is really cool and that whole part of town is pretty cool. I love the Channelside district where the Lightning play. However, St. Petersburg has more charm – much more charm. I think if I were going to go down there for a game, I would stay in St. Pete and just drive over to Tampa for the game.

St Petersburg is a patchy place. Yes, some places, like on the coasts of the gulf and the bay, are very charming. But there are other parts of town that are a dump. And a lot of the charming places aren't technically part of St Petersburg, like say Pass-a-Grille which is part of St Pete Beach.

IMO, Tampa Bay might actually lose the Rays. The move to Tampa is taking way longer than it should, and at a certain point the owners may just decide to pull up stakes entirely. The situation at Trop Field is just a really bad one.

I agree. This process has already taken too long and if a deal isn't made relatively soon, the owners and the Rays will be gonzo.
06-04-2018 12:15 PM
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Post: #22
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-04-2018 08:55 AM)esayem Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 06:40 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  Rather have a bowl game in Indy than Detroit.

Indy already has the Big 10 Championship and probably makes way more on that than they would some bowl between the MAC and Big 10 #8.

Detroit, for whatever reason, has been able to maintain a bowl game for many years. Maybe it's the casino.

It's because they have a dome and could draw some good crowds when they got Big Ten vs. MAC games, and that's why Indy would get a bowl if they ever get one. I think it should be a slam dunk that they host a game, but if they don't have one now there's probably a reason behind it.

St. Pete has the advantage of being near the beach, but that time of year it's kinda silly to have a game indoors when it's beautiful in Florida. Raymond James Stadium is close to Tampa International Airport and roughly fifteen minutes from the SoHo nightlife, although with crowds usually around 20K it'll look pretty empty for the game.
06-04-2018 06:25 PM
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Ohio Poly Offline
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RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-04-2018 12:14 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 07:43 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  It's a given that Tropicana Field will be razed if and when the Rays move to Tampa. The area will be redeveloped, probably not including spring training facilities. But it may be another decade before a Tampa site is acquired and a new stadium built and opened. The Trop is not up to modern standards but has served the region well with its location near the downtown St. Pete entertainment district, attracting an expansion MLB franchise, and being an indoor facility where the game can be played and watched comfortably during the brutal Florida summers.

Incorrect. It will be within 5 years. The Rays lease with the Trop expires in 9 years. They aren't going to wait until the last minute to make a deal. That is just not done. If the Rays play out their lease, they probably will be gone.

The Rays have an agreement w/St Pete to look around for a new stadium now. The deal expires in 2019, so a deal for a new stadium has to be made soon. So at worst you'd be looking at 2023 to open a new stadium. The Rays won't sit around forever. If nothing gets done within the next 2 years, they will start looking to relocate. Guaranteed. No way in heck they play the next 9 years at the trop dump with no new stadium deal. The Trop would immediately be torn down in any new deal.

Prediction. A Rays/Tampa deal will get done in early 2019. Construction will begin in 2020, with a 2022 or 2023 opening date. If that don't happen, then the Rays are gone to Montreal, Portland, San Antonio, or somewhere similar. (Montreal and San Antonio were mentioned by the MLB commish as future expansion possibilities recently).

Maybe, but 5 years is still optimistic. Acquiring the land will take a while. Owners of the desired property are going to hold out for maximum dollars. If eminent domain is required and courts are involved it will drag out longer. There will probably be an election cycle involved to attempt to get partial tax funding. Then it still takes a couple years to get a stadium built. I don't think the team owners are eager to move to Montreal where they will have similar attendance issues and where MLB has already fizzled before. Portland is also a smaller market. And St. Pete won't give them any discount on their lease buyout if they leave Tampa Bay. Attendance is likely to be better on the Tampa side of the bay and they wouldn't have all the headaches of relocating and starting over so my prediction is they will wait it out in TB.
06-05-2018 07:40 AM
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Post: #24
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 07:40 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 12:14 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 07:43 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  It's a given that Tropicana Field will be razed if and when the Rays move to Tampa. The area will be redeveloped, probably not including spring training facilities. But it may be another decade before a Tampa site is acquired and a new stadium built and opened. The Trop is not up to modern standards but has served the region well with its location near the downtown St. Pete entertainment district, attracting an expansion MLB franchise, and being an indoor facility where the game can be played and watched comfortably during the brutal Florida summers.

Incorrect. It will be within 5 years. The Rays lease with the Trop expires in 9 years. They aren't going to wait until the last minute to make a deal. That is just not done. If the Rays play out their lease, they probably will be gone.

The Rays have an agreement w/St Pete to look around for a new stadium now. The deal expires in 2019, so a deal for a new stadium has to be made soon. So at worst you'd be looking at 2023 to open a new stadium. The Rays won't sit around forever. If nothing gets done within the next 2 years, they will start looking to relocate. Guaranteed. No way in heck they play the next 9 years at the trop dump with no new stadium deal. The Trop would immediately be torn down in any new deal.

Prediction. A Rays/Tampa deal will get done in early 2019. Construction will begin in 2020, with a 2022 or 2023 opening date. If that don't happen, then the Rays are gone to Montreal, Portland, San Antonio, or somewhere similar. (Montreal and San Antonio were mentioned by the MLB commish as future expansion possibilities recently).

Maybe, but 5 years is still optimistic. Acquiring the land will take a while. Owners of the desired property are going to hold out for maximum dollars. If eminent domain is required and courts are involved it will drag out longer. There will probably be an election cycle involved to attempt to get partial tax funding. Then it still takes a couple years to get a stadium built. I don't think the team owners are eager to move to Montreal where they will have similar attendance issues and where MLB has already fizzled before. Portland is also a smaller market. And St. Pete won't give them any discount on their lease buyout if they leave Tampa Bay. Attendance is likely to be better on the Tampa side of the bay and they wouldn't have all the headaches of relocating and starting over so my prediction is they will wait it out in TB.

There was a study some years back (can't find with a fast search) that showed from MLB, population within 5 miles of the stadium was the best predictor of attendance outside of course winning and losing. My recollection is that the study author noted that the Rays being in St. Pete vs Tampa probably cost them a decent amount of attendance because of the difference in population density.
06-05-2018 09:51 AM
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BullsFanInTX Offline
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Post: #25
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 07:40 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 12:14 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 07:43 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  It's a given that Tropicana Field will be razed if and when the Rays move to Tampa. The area will be redeveloped, probably not including spring training facilities. But it may be another decade before a Tampa site is acquired and a new stadium built and opened. The Trop is not up to modern standards but has served the region well with its location near the downtown St. Pete entertainment district, attracting an expansion MLB franchise, and being an indoor facility where the game can be played and watched comfortably during the brutal Florida summers.

Incorrect. It will be within 5 years. The Rays lease with the Trop expires in 9 years. They aren't going to wait until the last minute to make a deal. That is just not done. If the Rays play out their lease, they probably will be gone.

The Rays have an agreement w/St Pete to look around for a new stadium now. The deal expires in 2019, so a deal for a new stadium has to be made soon. So at worst you'd be looking at 2023 to open a new stadium. The Rays won't sit around forever. If nothing gets done within the next 2 years, they will start looking to relocate. Guaranteed. No way in heck they play the next 9 years at the trop dump with no new stadium deal. The Trop would immediately be torn down in any new deal.

Prediction. A Rays/Tampa deal will get done in early 2019. Construction will begin in 2020, with a 2022 or 2023 opening date. If that don't happen, then the Rays are gone to Montreal, Portland, San Antonio, or somewhere similar. (Montreal and San Antonio were mentioned by the MLB commish as future expansion possibilities recently).

Maybe, but 5 years is still optimistic. Acquiring the land will take a while. Owners of the desired property are going to hold out for maximum dollars. If eminent domain is required and courts are involved it will drag out longer. There will probably be an election cycle involved to attempt to get partial tax funding. Then it still takes a couple years to get a stadium built. I don't think the team owners are eager to move to Montreal where they will have similar attendance issues and where MLB has already fizzled before. Portland is also a smaller market. And St. Pete won't give them any discount on their lease buyout if they leave Tampa Bay. Attendance is likely to be better on the Tampa side of the bay and they wouldn't have all the headaches of relocating and starting over so my prediction is they will wait it out in TB.

My understanding is that land deals had already been made with the land owners in Ybor City near downtown Tampa, right off the Selmon expressway. That should expedite the process once the complete funding process is approved.

The population base around that area of Tampa is twice what it is in St Pete, so attendance will naturally rise. People bashing the Rays attendance have no idea what the market is like and that the stadium is in absolutely the worst location in the entire Bay area for drawing fans.
06-05-2018 10:00 AM
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TexanMark Offline
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Post: #26
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 09:51 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 07:40 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 12:14 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 07:43 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  It's a given that Tropicana Field will be razed if and when the Rays move to Tampa. The area will be redeveloped, probably not including spring training facilities. But it may be another decade before a Tampa site is acquired and a new stadium built and opened. The Trop is not up to modern standards but has served the region well with its location near the downtown St. Pete entertainment district, attracting an expansion MLB franchise, and being an indoor facility where the game can be played and watched comfortably during the brutal Florida summers.

Incorrect. It will be within 5 years. The Rays lease with the Trop expires in 9 years. They aren't going to wait until the last minute to make a deal. That is just not done. If the Rays play out their lease, they probably will be gone.

The Rays have an agreement w/St Pete to look around for a new stadium now. The deal expires in 2019, so a deal for a new stadium has to be made soon. So at worst you'd be looking at 2023 to open a new stadium. The Rays won't sit around forever. If nothing gets done within the next 2 years, they will start looking to relocate. Guaranteed. No way in heck they play the next 9 years at the trop dump with no new stadium deal. The Trop would immediately be torn down in any new deal.

Prediction. A Rays/Tampa deal will get done in early 2019. Construction will begin in 2020, with a 2022 or 2023 opening date. If that don't happen, then the Rays are gone to Montreal, Portland, San Antonio, or somewhere similar. (Montreal and San Antonio were mentioned by the MLB commish as future expansion possibilities recently).

Maybe, but 5 years is still optimistic. Acquiring the land will take a while. Owners of the desired property are going to hold out for maximum dollars. If eminent domain is required and courts are involved it will drag out longer. There will probably be an election cycle involved to attempt to get partial tax funding. Then it still takes a couple years to get a stadium built. I don't think the team owners are eager to move to Montreal where they will have similar attendance issues and where MLB has already fizzled before. Portland is also a smaller market. And St. Pete won't give them any discount on their lease buyout if they leave Tampa Bay. Attendance is likely to be better on the Tampa side of the bay and they wouldn't have all the headaches of relocating and starting over so my prediction is they will wait it out in TB.

There was a study some years back (can't find with a fast search) that showed from MLB, population within 5 miles of the stadium was the best predictor of attendance outside of course winning and losing. My recollection is that the study author noted that the Rays being in St. Pete vs Tampa probably cost them a decent amount of attendance because of the difference in population density.

The biggest factor besides the Bay splitting the population up is so many folks have allegiance to other teams.
06-05-2018 01:08 PM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #27
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 01:08 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 09:51 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 07:40 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 12:14 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 07:43 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  It's a given that Tropicana Field will be razed if and when the Rays move to Tampa. The area will be redeveloped, probably not including spring training facilities. But it may be another decade before a Tampa site is acquired and a new stadium built and opened. The Trop is not up to modern standards but has served the region well with its location near the downtown St. Pete entertainment district, attracting an expansion MLB franchise, and being an indoor facility where the game can be played and watched comfortably during the brutal Florida summers.

Incorrect. It will be within 5 years. The Rays lease with the Trop expires in 9 years. They aren't going to wait until the last minute to make a deal. That is just not done. If the Rays play out their lease, they probably will be gone.

The Rays have an agreement w/St Pete to look around for a new stadium now. The deal expires in 2019, so a deal for a new stadium has to be made soon. So at worst you'd be looking at 2023 to open a new stadium. The Rays won't sit around forever. If nothing gets done within the next 2 years, they will start looking to relocate. Guaranteed. No way in heck they play the next 9 years at the trop dump with no new stadium deal. The Trop would immediately be torn down in any new deal.

Prediction. A Rays/Tampa deal will get done in early 2019. Construction will begin in 2020, with a 2022 or 2023 opening date. If that don't happen, then the Rays are gone to Montreal, Portland, San Antonio, or somewhere similar. (Montreal and San Antonio were mentioned by the MLB commish as future expansion possibilities recently).

Maybe, but 5 years is still optimistic. Acquiring the land will take a while. Owners of the desired property are going to hold out for maximum dollars. If eminent domain is required and courts are involved it will drag out longer. There will probably be an election cycle involved to attempt to get partial tax funding. Then it still takes a couple years to get a stadium built. I don't think the team owners are eager to move to Montreal where they will have similar attendance issues and where MLB has already fizzled before. Portland is also a smaller market. And St. Pete won't give them any discount on their lease buyout if they leave Tampa Bay. Attendance is likely to be better on the Tampa side of the bay and they wouldn't have all the headaches of relocating and starting over so my prediction is they will wait it out in TB.

There was a study some years back (can't find with a fast search) that showed from MLB, population within 5 miles of the stadium was the best predictor of attendance outside of course winning and losing. My recollection is that the study author noted that the Rays being in St. Pete vs Tampa probably cost them a decent amount of attendance because of the difference in population density.

The biggest factor besides the Bay splitting the population up is so many folks have allegiance to other teams.

Yes, but that also perversely helps a little, because a lot of those fans come to Rays games to see their team. E.g., go to a Rays - Red Sox game at the Trop and there are more Sox fans than Rays fans their because of all the northeast transplants.

Of course, in the end, the effect is negative, because overall attendance is so poor.

The Buccaneers face the same problem, and initially an even deeper one, because when they started in 1976, there were huge numbers of Dolphins fans in the Tampa area. The hugely successful Shula-era Dolphins were basically Florida's Team at the time. The Bucs overcame that, the Rays can too if the stadium is in Tampa.

At least I hope so. 07-coffee3
06-05-2018 01:15 PM
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IWokeUpLikeThis Offline
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Post: #28
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
Tampa’s been a top hockey market for 10-15 years. Not just Lightning attendance but SCF ratings year after year. It’s a good sports market that just needs teams located in Tampa.
06-05-2018 01:43 PM
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BullsFanInTX Offline
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RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 01:43 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Tampa’s been a top hockey market for 10-15 years. Not just Lightning attendance but SCF ratings year after year. It’s a good sports market that just needs teams located in Tampa.

Agree. Putting any teams in St. Pete is a foolish idea from the get go. Any team in the TB area needs to be within a 5 mile radius of downtown Tampa.
06-05-2018 03:33 PM
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RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 03:33 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 01:43 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Tampa’s been a top hockey market for 10-15 years. Not just Lightning attendance but SCF ratings year after year. It’s a good sports market that just needs teams located in Tampa.

Agree. Putting any teams in St. Pete is a foolish idea from the get go. Any team in the TB area needs to be within a 5 mile radius of downtown Tampa.

I was living in Tampa in the 1980s, when the push to get a baseball team began in earnest. There was just the most ridiculous conflict between Tampa and Ste Pete over where the stadium should be. My recollection is that most of the bitterness came from the St Pete side. There was a chip on the shoulder, a feeling that Tampa was the darling of the national media and that St Pete was being disrespected and shunted aside, and a baseball team was regarded as the big thing that would stop all that.

The St Pete Times paper was at the forefront, urging St Pete leaders to be aggressive, and they were, building the Thunderdome without the promise of a team.

But all along, Tampa was the better location. Kudos to St Pete for building that stadium, it may have been key to landing the team for the area 20+ years ago. But that time has come and gone.
(This post was last modified: 06-05-2018 06:32 PM by quo vadis.)
06-05-2018 06:31 PM
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Post: #31
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 06:31 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 03:33 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 01:43 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Tampa’s been a top hockey market for 10-15 years. Not just Lightning attendance but SCF ratings year after year. It’s a good sports market that just needs teams located in Tampa.

Agree. Putting any teams in St. Pete is a foolish idea from the get go. Any team in the TB area needs to be within a 5 mile radius of downtown Tampa.

I was living in Tampa in the 1980s, when the push to get a baseball team began in earnest. There was just the most ridiculous conflict between Tampa and Ste Pete over where the stadium should be. My recollection is that most of the bitterness came from the St Pete side. There was a chip on the shoulder, a feeling that Tampa was the darling of the national media and that St Pete was being disrespected and shunted aside, and a baseball team was regarded as the big thing that would stop all that.

The St Pete Times paper was at the forefront, urging St Pete leaders to be aggressive, and they were, building the Thunderdome without the promise of a team.

But all along, Tampa was the better location. Kudos to St Pete for building that stadium, it may have been key to landing the team for the area 20+ years ago. But that time has come and gone.

And while Tampa might have been getting the love, much of American thought the damn name of the city was Tampa Bay.
06-05-2018 10:10 PM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #32
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 10:10 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 06:31 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 03:33 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 01:43 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Tampa’s been a top hockey market for 10-15 years. Not just Lightning attendance but SCF ratings year after year. It’s a good sports market that just needs teams located in Tampa.

Agree. Putting any teams in St. Pete is a foolish idea from the get go. Any team in the TB area needs to be within a 5 mile radius of downtown Tampa.

I was living in Tampa in the 1980s, when the push to get a baseball team began in earnest. There was just the most ridiculous conflict between Tampa and Ste Pete over where the stadium should be. My recollection is that most of the bitterness came from the St Pete side. There was a chip on the shoulder, a feeling that Tampa was the darling of the national media and that St Pete was being disrespected and shunted aside, and a baseball team was regarded as the big thing that would stop all that.

The St Pete Times paper was at the forefront, urging St Pete leaders to be aggressive, and they were, building the Thunderdome without the promise of a team.

But all along, Tampa was the better location. Kudos to St Pete for building that stadium, it may have been key to landing the team for the area 20+ years ago. But that time has come and gone.

And while Tampa might have been getting the love, much of American thought the damn name of the city was Tampa Bay.

That was part of the St Pete irkdom. Because whether you call it "Tampa" or "Tampa Bay", the word "Tampa" is in there but "St Pete" isn't.

St Pete finally has realized that it and Tampa play different roles. Tampa is the "nouveua" place that attracts the young upwardly mobile transplants and the banks and the tech companies and all that jazz. St Pete is the "charming" side of the bay, with the beaches and the slower pace, which is attractive to retirees and those seeking a less go-go lifestyle. Unfortunately for St Pete, a thriving professional sports team is a much better fit with Tampa demographics.

Together, it is a very effective combination and has led to fantastic growth in the area the past 20 years, but it took a lot of civil squabbling to reach a better place.
06-06-2018 11:00 AM
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Post: #33
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
Re: Rays attendance woes: everyone loves a winner. BullsFan lays out a realistic scenario if Rays are to stay in area.

As for Montreal, attendance was not their issue, that's a sports-loving market. 1994 and subsequent MLB backroom dealings really crippled that market. Those fans were very passionate and the late 70s to 1994 Expos had perennially competitive teams. I attended a Mets-'Spos game in 1987 and place was jumping. Side note, they loved the team but loved griping about the escalating maintenance/upgrade costs of Olympic Stadium even more.
06-06-2018 11:15 AM
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PDNJ Offline
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RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
Question for those that know: how much of an influence do the Scientologists have on the urban fabric of downtown St Pete?
06-06-2018 11:16 AM
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TexanMark Offline
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RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-06-2018 11:16 AM)PDNJ Wrote:  Question for those that know: how much of an influence do the Scientologists have on the urban fabric of downtown St Pete?

Near zero in St Pete. Downtown Clearwater is a different story.
06-06-2018 11:32 AM
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RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 10:00 AM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 07:40 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 12:14 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 07:43 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  It's a given that Tropicana Field will be razed if and when the Rays move to Tampa. The area will be redeveloped, probably not including spring training facilities. But it may be another decade before a Tampa site is acquired and a new stadium built and opened. The Trop is not up to modern standards but has served the region well with its location near the downtown St. Pete entertainment district, attracting an expansion MLB franchise, and being an indoor facility where the game can be played and watched comfortably during the brutal Florida summers.

Incorrect. It will be within 5 years. The Rays lease with the Trop expires in 9 years. They aren't going to wait until the last minute to make a deal. That is just not done. If the Rays play out their lease, they probably will be gone.

The Rays have an agreement w/St Pete to look around for a new stadium now. The deal expires in 2019, so a deal for a new stadium has to be made soon. So at worst you'd be looking at 2023 to open a new stadium. The Rays won't sit around forever. If nothing gets done within the next 2 years, they will start looking to relocate. Guaranteed. No way in heck they play the next 9 years at the trop dump with no new stadium deal. The Trop would immediately be torn down in any new deal.

Prediction. A Rays/Tampa deal will get done in early 2019. Construction will begin in 2020, with a 2022 or 2023 opening date. If that don't happen, then the Rays are gone to Montreal, Portland, San Antonio, or somewhere similar. (Montreal and San Antonio were mentioned by the MLB commish as future expansion possibilities recently).

Maybe, but 5 years is still optimistic. Acquiring the land will take a while. Owners of the desired property are going to hold out for maximum dollars. If eminent domain is required and courts are involved it will drag out longer. There will probably be an election cycle involved to attempt to get partial tax funding. Then it still takes a couple years to get a stadium built. I don't think the team owners are eager to move to Montreal where they will have similar attendance issues and where MLB has already fizzled before. Portland is also a smaller market. And St. Pete won't give them any discount on their lease buyout if they leave Tampa Bay. Attendance is likely to be better on the Tampa side of the bay and they wouldn't have all the headaches of relocating and starting over so my prediction is they will wait it out in TB.

My understanding is that land deals had already been made with the land owners in Ybor City near downtown Tampa, right off the Selmon expressway. That should expedite the process once the complete funding process is approved.

The population base around that area of Tampa is twice what it is in St Pete, so attendance will naturally rise. People bashing the Rays attendance have no idea what the market is like and that the stadium is in absolutely the worst location in the entire Bay area for drawing fans.

Not only is it in a bad location but it's a bad stadium. I always said that if that franchise was going to survive, they needed to be in Tampa along the water.
06-06-2018 12:35 PM
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chargeradio Offline
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Post: #37
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
Will the Class A Tampa Yankees move to Saint Petersburg?
06-06-2018 12:51 PM
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Bull Offline
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Post: #38
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-06-2018 11:00 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 10:10 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 06:31 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 03:33 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 01:43 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Tampa’s been a top hockey market for 10-15 years. Not just Lightning attendance but SCF ratings year after year. It’s a good sports market that just needs teams located in Tampa.

Agree. Putting any teams in St. Pete is a foolish idea from the get go. Any team in the TB area needs to be within a 5 mile radius of downtown Tampa.

I was living in Tampa in the 1980s, when the push to get a baseball team began in earnest. There was just the most ridiculous conflict between Tampa and Ste Pete over where the stadium should be. My recollection is that most of the bitterness came from the St Pete side. There was a chip on the shoulder, a feeling that Tampa was the darling of the national media and that St Pete was being disrespected and shunted aside, and a baseball team was regarded as the big thing that would stop all that.

The St Pete Times paper was at the forefront, urging St Pete leaders to be aggressive, and they were, building the Thunderdome without the promise of a team.

But all along, Tampa was the better location. Kudos to St Pete for building that stadium, it may have been key to landing the team for the area 20+ years ago. But that time has come and gone.

And while Tampa might have been getting the love, much of American thought the damn name of the city was Tampa Bay.

That was part of the St Pete irkdom. Because whether you call it "Tampa" or "Tampa Bay", the word "Tampa" is in there but "St Pete" isn't.

St Pete finally has realized that it and Tampa play different roles. Tampa is the "nouveua" place that attracts the young upwardly mobile transplants and the banks and the tech companies and all that jazz. St Pete is the "charming" side of the bay, with the beaches and the slower pace, which is attractive to retirees and those seeking a less go-go lifestyle. Unfortunately for St Pete, a thriving professional sports team is a much better fit with Tampa demographics.

Together, it is a very effective combination and has led to fantastic growth in the area the past 20 years, but it took a lot of civil squabbling to reach a better place.

Well said. I give St Pete credit for building the stadium and luring the team, but the current situation is exactly as you laid out... It's funny, but St. Pete had dreams of the stadium/team leading to an explosion of growth which just didn't happen.
06-06-2018 01:07 PM
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Bull Offline
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Post: #39
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-05-2018 10:00 AM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-05-2018 07:40 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 12:14 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  
(06-04-2018 07:43 AM)Ohio Poly Wrote:  It's a given that Tropicana Field will be razed if and when the Rays move to Tampa. The area will be redeveloped, probably not including spring training facilities. But it may be another decade before a Tampa site is acquired and a new stadium built and opened. The Trop is not up to modern standards but has served the region well with its location near the downtown St. Pete entertainment district, attracting an expansion MLB franchise, and being an indoor facility where the game can be played and watched comfortably during the brutal Florida summers.

Incorrect. It will be within 5 years. The Rays lease with the Trop expires in 9 years. They aren't going to wait until the last minute to make a deal. That is just not done. If the Rays play out their lease, they probably will be gone.

The Rays have an agreement w/St Pete to look around for a new stadium now. The deal expires in 2019, so a deal for a new stadium has to be made soon. So at worst you'd be looking at 2023 to open a new stadium. The Rays won't sit around forever. If nothing gets done within the next 2 years, they will start looking to relocate. Guaranteed. No way in heck they play the next 9 years at the trop dump with no new stadium deal. The Trop would immediately be torn down in any new deal.

Prediction. A Rays/Tampa deal will get done in early 2019. Construction will begin in 2020, with a 2022 or 2023 opening date. If that don't happen, then the Rays are gone to Montreal, Portland, San Antonio, or somewhere similar. (Montreal and San Antonio were mentioned by the MLB commish as future expansion possibilities recently).

Maybe, but 5 years is still optimistic. Acquiring the land will take a while. Owners of the desired property are going to hold out for maximum dollars. If eminent domain is required and courts are involved it will drag out longer. There will probably be an election cycle involved to attempt to get partial tax funding. Then it still takes a couple years to get a stadium built. I don't think the team owners are eager to move to Montreal where they will have similar attendance issues and where MLB has already fizzled before. Portland is also a smaller market. And St. Pete won't give them any discount on their lease buyout if they leave Tampa Bay. Attendance is likely to be better on the Tampa side of the bay and they wouldn't have all the headaches of relocating and starting over so my prediction is they will wait it out in TB.

My understanding is that land deals had already been made with the land owners in Ybor City near downtown Tampa, right off the Selmon expressway. That should expedite the process once the complete funding process is approved.

The population base around that area of Tampa is twice what it is in St Pete, so attendance will naturally rise. People bashing the Rays attendance have no idea what the market is like and that the stadium is in absolutely the worst location in the entire Bay area for drawing fans.

Get the Rays stadium built, the USF medical school moved to that area, MOSI same move... and the USF OCS built after MOSI moves.

Now how long until we get all that done?? 03-lmfao
06-06-2018 01:09 PM
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Frank the Tank Offline
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Post: #40
RE: "Adios, St. Pete" - Gasparilla moves to Tampa
(06-06-2018 12:51 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  Will the Class A Tampa Yankees move to Saint Petersburg?

No. They play in the Yankees spring training facility that’s directly owned by the Yankees.
06-06-2018 01:27 PM
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