Rays, city of Tampa and Hillsborough County agree on new funding deal for $2.3B proposed stadium

Rays stadium deal agreement released

A memo of understanding has been reached between the Rays and the city of Tampa on a $2.3B ballpark that would be built on the campus of Hillsborough College in West Tampa, but will local leaders go along with it? FOX 13’s Evan Axelbank reports. 

TAMPA, Fla. - A memorandum of understanding has been reached between the Tampa Bay Rays, Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa on a $2.3 billion ballpark that would be built on the campus of Hillsborough College in West Tampa.

The Hillsborough County attorney said in a memo to county employees, "Please note that this agreement is nonbinding and there are many issues which remain pending to be resolved prior to any definitive documents being brought forward for approval."

Public funding proposal

By the numbers:

The proposal has the county contributing about $796 million and the city of Tampa contributing about $180 million.

That represents an increase for the county, whose original bottom line was $750 million.

Courtesy: Tampa Bay Rays

It's a decrease for the city of Tampa, which had originally been asked for about $250 million.

The combined ask would be about $976 million, which is under the original $1 billion ask.

The backstory:

Several weeks ago, Hillsborough County commissioners and the Rays organization went back and forth over dozens of sticking points that came up in a previous draft of an MOU.

Economic impact

What they're saying:

Tampa City Councilman Alan Clendenin has been publicly supportive of the project and is encouraged by the MOU being reached.

"To have this amount of investment come to the city of Tampa is absolutely remarkable and we'll never see another thing like this," Clendenin said." So, this is great. Right now, what it's looking like is a commitment from the city of Tampa of somewhere maybe even a little bit less than $190 million. And of that, it's all going to be recoverable. Through increasing valuation and money that's brought into the city. So, this is an exciting time."

The Rays organization has said that sticking to a June 1 approval is critical to getting the project built on the current proposed budget.

The Rays released a statement that urged swift passage of the MOU, and also said:

"Paramount for the Tampa Bay Rays in this process was to arrive at an MOU that protects all public funding currently allocated for police, fire, emergency management or response functions, or other previously committed public safety or service priorities. We have accomplished that important and unconditional goal."

What's next:

The goal is to have the stadium open by the 2029 baseball season, and to build a host of other developments around the ballpark that would create 7,500 jobs.

Hillsborough College would also be remade.

The goal is to have public votes done in the next several weeks, with Hillsborough County commissioners placing it on their agenda for May 20.

Tampa City Council could vote on the project on May 21.