Tampa City Council debates Rays’ $251M stadium funding request
Rays stadium funding discussion
Tampa City Council members debated the the Rays stadium deal Tuesday night during a lengthy workshop. FOX 13's Blake DeVine shares just how much funding is going to the Rays.
TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa City Council debated the Tampa Bay Rays’ proposed stadium deal during a lengthy public workshop Tuesday night.
By the numbers:
The Rays are seeking $251 million from the city as part of a proposed $2.3 billion ballpark project at Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus.
Courtesy: Tampa Bay Rays
Rays CEO Ken Babby defended the proposal during the workshop.
What they're saying:
"The Tampa Bay Rays are prepared to make the largest community benefits agreement in the city of Tampa’s history," Babby said.
Tampa City Council members spent hours reviewing the stadium agreement and discussing the potential economic impact on the city.
Tampa City Council Chair Alan Clendenin voiced support for bringing the team into Tampa.
"As long as the dollars work, it should be good," Clendenin said. "I’m fully in support of having the stadium in the city of Tampa."
Clendenin said the city could recover its investment through future revenue tied to the project.
"Whatever money we spend, we’re able to get back in valuation from ad valorem taxes, from hotel taxes, from ticket taxes and all the revenue," Clendenin said.
The other side:
Not every local leader supports the proposal. Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera raised concerns about the financial tradeoffs tied to the deal.
"We have to talk about what we would potentially also be giving up," Viera said. "I think that’s a good thing for transparency, because nothing is free."
Hillsborough County commissioners remain divided over the county’s share of the proposal, with the Rays requesting $750 million in taxpayer funding.
Dig deeper:
Commissioner Joshua Wostal raised concerns over 3,100 emails sent to every single county commissioner before an April workshop.
Wostal alleges the Rays used automated "bot" emails and paid online advertising to artificially inflate public support for the stadium deal. According to Wostal, Hillsborough County staff traced back the spam emails to an IP address located in Los Angeles.
"They essentially just started pounding our email servers leading up to the workshop," Wostal said. "Making it look like there was a large swell of local support."
No official vote was taken during Tuesday’s workshop. The Rays are facing a June 1 deadline to finalize the agreement.
Courtesy: Tampa Bay Rays
Babby said the project would help create economic activity and bring the community together.
"No sport like baseball gets the opportunity with more than 81 games a year to bring [the] community together and generate economic impact," Babby said.
What's next:
Tampa City Council plans to vote on the ballpark deal after the Hillsborough County Commission takes action. However, no vote on the proposal is currently scheduled for the county commission’s meeting on May 20.
FOX 13 reached out to the Rays about the spam email allegations, and we have not heard back from them.
The Source: Information for this story came from statements from the Tampa Bay Rays, interviews with Tampa City Council members, an interview with a Hillsborough County commissioner and previous reporting on FOX 13 News.