Now they have to figure out how to pay for new park.
Stuart Sternberg: Tampa’s Ybor City is top choice for next Rays ballpark
TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Rays decided where its future lies, and it’s in Tampa.
Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg announced Friday that the team wants to build its next ballpark in Ybor City, the historic Latin neighborhood near downtown with baseball roots that go back a century.
If it comes to fruition — and it is still an "if" — within five years the Rays could leave St. Petersburg, the only home the team has known since its inaugural 1998 season.
"Ybor City is authentically Tampa Bay," Sternberg said at a news conference at the Tampa Baseball Museum. "It represents the finest opportunity for Major League Baseball to thrive in this region for generations to come.
"This," he said, "is where we want to be playing baseball."
Stuart Sternberg: Tampa’s Ybor City is top choice for next Rays ballpark
TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Rays decided where its future lies, and it’s in Tampa.
Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg announced Friday that the team wants to build its next ballpark in Ybor City, the historic Latin neighborhood near downtown with baseball roots that go back a century.
If it comes to fruition — and it is still an "if" — within five years the Rays could leave St. Petersburg, the only home the team has known since its inaugural 1998 season.
"Ybor City is authentically Tampa Bay," Sternberg said at a news conference at the Tampa Baseball Museum. "It represents the finest opportunity for Major League Baseball to thrive in this region for generations to come.
"This," he said, "is where we want to be playing baseball."