OT: Buccaneers, Rays & Other Tampa Bay Sports Teams

[Hoek]

 

[These Are The Days]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Holy crap I saw this coming from a mile away. If Pinellas plays these games again then Tampa needs to step in and the voters of St Pete need to send these dudes packing. You have 3 spots ready to go in Dale Mabry next to Raymond James, the fairgrounds or Ybor.

Thank God Jane Castor and Ken Welch don't play games and will at least cooperate

 

[Point21]

God this Bucs team is more painful to watch than the Lightning right now... no secondary, Skule is literally softer than Charmin TP, Toddy boy needs to pack his shit and leave, Baker is hurt and cant do it all himself with just Cade Otton (no diss on Cade, absolutely love him and hes showing what he can do with Evans and Godwin out). this team needed to add some depth at the deadline or sell off and prepare for the draft. they did f*** all..

 

[JTBF81]

More pathetic defensive playcalling and an offense that can't finish drives. Another loss for the pile of shit team and coaching staff, ho hum

 

[These Are The Days]

God please fire Bowles

 

[These Are The Days]

It's like a nightmare that I can't wake from

 

[Hoek]

Bucs would be 8-2 or 7-3 if they could close out games. Jeez

 

[Stormbreaker]

The good news is they can't lose next week! Then again.....it's a Buc's life.

 

[These Are The Days]

Rays' home can't be fixed in time for '25 season

The city of St. Petersburg said damage from Hurricane Milton to Tropicana Field can be fixed for $55.7M but the stadium won't be ready until the 2026 season.

www.espn.com

Oh God... St. Pete is gonna cheapskate out of this aren't they?

 

[Stormbreaker]

The Rays are sadly cursed until they get new ownership.

 

[Felonious Python]

Rays' home can't be fixed in time for '25 season

The city of St. Petersburg said damage from Hurricane Milton to Tropicana Field can be fixed for $55.7M but the stadium won't be ready until the 2026 season.

www.espn.com

Oh God... St. Pete is gonna cheapskate out of this aren't they?

The city does have an insurance claim for the damage and repairs, but it includes a $22 million deductible and probably would cover only part of the overall costs. That means taxpayer dollars would have to be used.

I don't know St. Pete politics, specifically, but I'd figure that the city wouldn't really have a problem spending taxpayer money.

What the Rays need to come up with is the Tropicana Field transition plan. Paying to fix the roof isn't that big of a deal if the Rays will redevelop the area. Maybe the field becomes a convention center, or something.

Maybe the Rowdies move in.

 

[Hoek]

So the Trop can be fixed. Hooray! But ... will the city pay for it?

John Romano | The price is high to repair Tropicana Field‘s roof, but the cost could be even higher if the City Council doesn’t play along.

www.tampabay.com

That’s a ton of money for a stadium that will be in use for only 2-3 more seasons.

But this is not a simple decision to either spend or save for the St. Petersburg City Council. The Rays and the city have a use agreement that, for more than 25 years, was so ironclad that the Rays were tethered to an unattractive ballpark with an underwhelming history of attendance.

And now, in the final years of that use agreement, the dynamics have completely turned. The agreement says it is the city’s responsibility to provide the team with an MLB-quality stadium, and St. Pete could face significant monetary damages if it chooses not to repair the Trop.

In other words, the city could be on the hook for a lot of money either way.

So does the council want to spend money to fix Tropicana Field and keep an MLB team in town, or does it want to hand that money over to the Rays as they potentially pack their bags and relocate to Nashville or some other ambitious market?

They might just have to do it anyway if either way they have to spend a ton of money.

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[These Are The Days]

Good. This was probably the best possible outcome

 

[Felonious Python]

My previous point about the Yankees having a lot to gain from this:

The Yankees will receive about $15 million in revenue for hosting the Rays, a person familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because that detail was not announced. The money won’t come from Tampa Bay but from other sources, such as insurance.

Since the stadium is named after Steinbrenner, the possibility of selling some short term naming rights for the stadium now exists as well, which would create some revenue.

 

[Hoek]

Wonder how much they can cover up the Yankees branding

 

[Felonious Python]

Wonder how much they can cover up the Yankees branding

“There will be a ton of work toward putting in our brand,” Auld said. “The term we like to use for that is ”Rayful’ into Steinbrenner Field.”

It seems like the Yankees will still use Steinbrenner for Spring Training, which seems like an odd move. The Rays can still work on the stadium while that's going on, but given the circumstances, it may make more sense for the Yankees and Rays to flip Spring Training sites, just for the one year.

 

[These Are The Days]

It seems like the Yankees will still use Steinbrenner for Spring Training, which seems like an odd move. The Rays can still work on the stadium while that's going on, but given the circumstances, it may make more sense for the Yankees and Rays to flip Spring Training sites, just for the one year.

Nah it'll be okay. Port Charlotte makes sense for the Rays as much as it shouldn't be too difficult to rebrand Steinbrenner. The biggest challenge will be figuring out how to cover up "YANKEES" above the seats. Even then "TAMPA BAY" with a little starburst or Devil Ray will work. Clean up the outfield configuration and you can install cheap, temporary seating and get the seating capacity closer to 15,000. Any more than that you risk fire code issues and extravagant bathroom lines


But I am DEFINITELY going to a game or two. That place is a palace. Finally, FINALLY Tampa has big league ball in its natural habitat

 

[Felonious Python]

Nah it'll be okay. Port Charlotte makes sense for the Rays as much as it shouldn't be too difficult to rebrand Steinbrenner. The biggest challenge will be figuring out how to cover up "YANKEES" above the seats. Even then "TAMPA BAY" with a little starburst or Devil Ray will work. Clean up the outfield configuration and you can install cheap, temporary seating and get the seating capacity closer to 15,000. Any more than that you risk fire code issues and extravagant bathroom lines


But I am DEFINITELY going to a game or two. That place is a palace. Finally, FINALLY Tampa has big league ball in its natural habitat

I'm pretty much a hockey-only guy, so spring training routines are a bit odd to me.

The Yankees are an international brand, so they'd do well anywhere, but the Rays could probably use the extra pre-season revenue, and work out any kinks before opening night (both for the team, and the fans).

 

[These Are The Days]

I'm pretty much a hockey-only guy, so spring training routines are a bit odd to me.

The Yankees are an international brand, so they'd do well anywhere, but the Rays could probably use the extra pre-season revenue, and work out any kinks before opening night (both for the team, and the fans).

You may have a point there about working out the kinks. But if all goes well I hope they just continue with this arrangement. It make no sense to pump $55 million into a building you're gonna knock down anyway. I'd rather see that money go to something we can use for the Rowdies and get MLS here

 

[Felonious Python]

You may have a point there about working out the kinks. But if all goes well I hope they just continue with this arrangement. It make no sense to pump $55 million into a building you're gonna knock down anyway. I'd rather see that money go to something we can use for the Rowdies and get MLS here

$55 million apparently isn't that much these days, especially if there's a mixture of insurance, tax, and owner money going into it. It's like a very top paid MLB player for one year. Less costly than Ohtani, but more expensive than Scherzer or Verlander. If they structure the payments out over a number of years, it's not all that much.

I could see an argument that the repair and subsequent financial activity would lead to an overall financial gain. Those types of projections tend to drastically overestimate the benefits, but billionaires also usually get what they want when it doesn't need a public vote.