Archive for the 'New Stadium' Category

Aug 23

Surprise, Surprise, The Rays Are Not Losing Money (Update)

New Stadium, Revenue sharing, Stuart Sternberg Cork Gaines 26 Comments »

This morning, Deadspin released financial documents from several teams. Among the documents are four pages from the Tampa Bay Rays covering the teams finances from 2007 and 2008.

We are still in the process of breaking down the numbers, but the first thing to jump out at us is confirmation of the amount the Rays receive in revenue sharing. There have been rumors, but never anything concrete. On page 3 (at right), income from revenue sharing is listed as $35.3 million for 2008 and $39.4 million in 2007.

We also see that the Rays took in $17.7 million from their post-season appearance in 2008. The cost of hosting the playoffs was $6.2 million, meaning an $11.5 million windfall from their World Series run. And of course, those numbers don’t include any revenue generated from the millions of dollars in free advertising the team received from wall-to-wall national coverage in October, 2008.

At the end of page 3, we see that the Rays “comprehensive income” was $218K for 2008 and $9.6 million in 2007. Certainly not enormous figures, but…

[Update] According to The Biz of Baseball, the important figure is “Operating Income” also known as “Operating Profit.” This is the figure that indicates how much money the team made or lost in one fiscal year. According to these figures, the Rays made $14.2 million in 2008 and $21.7 million in 2007.

Pair those values with the increased value of the franchise in recent years according to Forbes, this appears to prove that the Rays are not losing money as Stuart Sternberg has stated recently. The Rays also claimed to lose between $20-30 million in 2006 and 2007.

We don’t think very many people actually believed the Rays were losing money, but these documents go a long way towards suggesting that the Rays have been less than truthful when it comes to their finances. It is a big blow to their efforts to move the team to Tampa as this shows the team can be profitable in St. Pete.

Aug 13

Rays Continue To Shove Tampa Down St. Pete’s Throat

New Stadium Cork Gaines 13 Comments »

Well, if you thought the Rays use of TAMPA Tarpons jerseys tonight wasn’t a none-too-subtle shot at the City of St. Pete, we now present exhibit 2. Todd Kalas conducted his first in-game interview tonight in the 3rd inning. And his subjects? A group that calls themselves the “Tampa Natives.” Coinkidink? We think not…

Next up: St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster will use this screengrab as evidence that Tampans can indeed find their way across the Howard Frankenstein bridge.

P.S. We are not even going to touch the obvious Village People jokes.

Aug 13

Rays To Fire Warning Shot Across St. Pete’s Bow Tonight

New Stadium, Tampa Tarpons Cork Gaines 21 Comments »

Two months after the Rays and the City of St. Pete drew their lines in the sand over where a new stadium would be built, the Rays will offer their latest, none-too-subtle message.

Tonight is Turn Back the Clock and the Rays will wear 1970′s Tampa Tarpon jerseys. Yes, they are wearing the jersey of a former Red minor league affiliate, and yes that’s kinda weird. But more importantly, the Rays, who have twice previously worn the Tarpons unis (1999, 2006), will take it a step further tonight and don the Tarpons road jersey. As can be seen in the image at right, it says “Tampa” across the front.

This is ironic in that despite the Rays currently having four different jerseys, none say “Tampa Bay” across the front. It is also a shot at the City of St. Pete, as the Rays have made it clear they would like to explore stadium options on the other side of the bay.

Would the Rays threaten Read the rest of this entry »

Jul 28

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Dramatic DP, Upton’s Ankle And The Rays As The ’96 Yankees

BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Joaquin Benoit, Joe Maddon, Matt Garza, New Stadium, Rafael Soriano Cork Gaines 19 Comments »

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

click above image for boxscore

THE GOOD: Twin Killings. With the bases loaded and only 1 out, Evan Longoria took a sharp grounder and instead of going home for the easy out, he went to second to barely get the lead runner and Reid Brignac turned under enormous pressure to get the second out at first. Might have been the most dramatic double-play we have ever see…Joaquin Benoit. We have said this before, but we can’t help but think that Benoit is to Mariano Rivera what Rafael Soriano is to John Wetteland what the 2010 Rays are to the 1996 Yankees. Go ahead, let Soriano get all the glory. Benoit will get all the big outs. And Benoit has the better chance of being back next year…Joe Maddon. With 2 outs in the 7th and the tying run on 2nd, Joe Maddon had Randy Choate intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera to put he tying run at 3rd base. JoeMa then went to Grant Balfour who got Brennan Boesch to strike out to end the inning. Sweet. Fancy. Moses!

THE BAD: The Offense: Two wins and it is easy to overlook the struggles of the offense. In 16 innings so far in this series, the Rays have 8 hits. Luckily one was a Matt Joyce grand slam and another was a Carlos Pena 2-run home run.

THE TELLING: Carl Crawford stole 3 bases and now has 399 for his career. Will ESPN break to Rays games each time CC gets on base until he steals #400?…Joe Maddon is now 388-388 as a manager, although we are not sure why that includes 29 games as the Angels interim manager and the 2 wins against the Marlins in ’06 when he was away at his wife’s graduation.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 63-36, 2 games behind the Yankees in the East and 5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 99 games in 2008, the Rays were 58-41.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Jul 20

St. Pete Mayor Will Consider Stadium Sites Outside Of St. Pete (Sorta)

Bill Foster, New Stadium Cork Gaines 13 Comments »

St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster indicated yesterday that the city is indeed willing to have the Rays move outside of the St. Pete city limits. Just as long as they don’t stray too far…

“It’s not a new twist, but it demonstrates our willingness to consider other properties,” Foster said…Foster emphasized that he prefers property for a new stadium to be in the city. However, he said that if a property abuts city limits, it could be considered under his proposal…”It’s probably very unlikely that it would go into unincorporated, but if a property happens to be outside, we could annex it into the city,” Foster said…Foster pointed to property in the Gateway area, which is off of the Howard Frankland Bridge, as an example.

Few people will be surprised by these comments, but this rhetoric does seem a bit dangerous. Politicians rarely speak in absolutes unless necessary, and when they do, it can be very dangerous to their careers to ever change their minds. In this case, Mayor Foster has now officially drawn the line in the sand. And unless Read the rest of this entry »

Jul 14

Sell Or Move? Maybe. Contraction? Not So Much

Bud Selig, New Stadium Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

In a Q&A with Bud Selig, the commissioner was asked about the possibility of contracting the Rays should they fail to land a new stadium…

No, I wouldn’t. I think we have moved past that.
We’re going into 16 years of labor peace. I regard that as maybe the prime reason for the growth of the sport.
I love the new ballparks. I love revenue sharing. I love interleague play and the wild card. But I don’t think we understood how those labor confrontations were damaging us, whether it was 1972, 1973, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1990 or 1994.
There is no question that both of those teams need new ballparks. We’ll just have to work our way through it. Tampa has done a marvelous job running their team. [General Manager] Billy Beane has done a terrific job in Oakland. With the economics of baseball today, you’ve got to have a new stadium.

Contraction was always a silly idea and we have long been surprised it got so much play. Yes, baseball operates, in part, as 30 different businesses. But in reality Read the rest of this entry »

Jun 29

Are The Local Newspapers Influencing The Stadium Debate?

New Stadium, St. Pete Times, Tampa Tribune Cork Gaines 12 Comments »

That’s what 10Connects.com asks in a recent piece.

“I’ve looked at both papers’ coverage,” said Dr. Randy Miller, a journalism professor at USF.  “Both sides have had coverage that clearly points out it either is – or isn’t – a good idea to move the stadium across the bay.”

It is an interesting question on several levels…

Do the St. Pete Times and the Tampa Tribune even recognize municipal boundaries anymore? When we were growing up, if you lived in Tampa, you read the Tribune. If you lived in St. Pete, you read the Times. But those boundaries are much greyer nowadays.

And where would the Times’ loyalties lie if it were going to be biased in its coverage? On the one hand, most of their constituents are in Pinellas County. But they are also business partners with the Rays. Is it better for the Times if the Rays stay in St. Pete where they are based? Or is it better for the Times if the Rays are in Tampa where they can maximize revenues and increase the Times’ influence on the east side of the Bay?

And what move would benefit the Tribune? Certainly having the Rays in Tampa would be ideal for the Tribune. But it also risks increasing the Times’ footprint in Tampa.

We don’t know the answers to these questions, but it does raise questions about whether the local newspapers are presenting unbiased coverage of the Rays stadium situation.

Jun 25

Mayor Bill Foster On Why Rays Should Remain In St. Pete (Video)

Bill Foster, New Stadium Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

Not much new here, and we are not sure who Mayor Bill Foster is speaking to, but it is interesting to hear Foster refer to St. Pete and Pinellas County as “partners,” and not Tampa.

Jun 24

St. Pete Mayor: “No sites outside of our geographic boundaries will be considered”

Bill Foster, New Stadium, Stuart Sternberg Cork Gaines 17 Comments »

St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster wrote a letter to Stuart Sternberg in response to Sternberg’s recent call for a regional solution to a new Rays stadium.

The highlights:

  • “I do agree that the Rays are a “regional asset”, and will work tirelessly with the political and business leaders of Tampa Bay in support of this club. However, there is no resident of the entire region who has given up more in this quest for baseball than the resident of St. Ptersburg and Pinellas County. The taxpaying residents of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Major League Baseball and the Rays, and above all else, their interests will always come first.”
  • “Let me be clear – we will consider any potential ballpark site in St. Ptersburg and the Gateway, but only as part of a process that recognizes and rewards the previous and ongoing investment and commitment of the St. Petersburg and Pinellas County resident, and thus, no sites outside of our geographic boundaries will be considered.”

The big point here is that the city of St. Pete feels moving the Rays to Tampa will be more damaging than any money still owed on the contract. And if this does go to court, the city is going to seek much, much more than what is still owed to them.

And no matter where you feel the Rays should be playing, it is hard to argue with the city on that matter.

Click through to 10Connects.com to read the full leter [10Connects]

Jun 24

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Stadium Situation That Is Going To Get Uglier Before It Gets Better

Aki Iwamura, Jeremy Hellickson, Leslie Anderson, New Stadium, Wade Davis Cork Gaines 16 Comments »

Much has been made of our “proposal” yesterday in which we suggested the only regional answer for a new Rays stadium would be for Tampa and St. Pete to literally share the Rays. We never said it was the best idea, or even a good idea. We simply believe it to be the only way in which the Rays get what they want (a stadium in Tampa) and St. Pete doesn’t get royally screwed. And for all the criticism, nobody has proposed a better solution, or any solution for that matter.

So if you think the idea is “silly” or “dumb,” fine. We don’t have a problem with that. But if there isn’t a better idea for regional cooperation, then either the Rays are going to move, Stuart Sternberg is going to sell or the the two sides are heading for a lengthy and ugly court battle that will probably end with the Rays moving or selling.

Why? Because there is absolutely no reason for St. Pete to let the Rays out of their contract. Let’s face it, even if the two cities are somehow able to overcome their boundaries as Sternberg suggests, once the Rays move to Tampa, the Rays will be Tampa’s team and St. Pete, their residents and their businesses will be left out in the rain.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • When asked after Tuesday’s game about the possibility of replacing Wade Davis with Jeremy Hellickson in the rotation, Joe Maddon said “That’s not been a discussion.” [Tampa Tribune]
  • Here is a goodd write-up on the Rays recent signee from Cuba, Leslie Anderson. [Mop-Up Duty]
  • Martin Fennelly says the Rays can’t afford to not make the moves necessary to get back to the playoffs this year. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Bill Conlin says baseball only belongs in Florida in March. [Philadelphia Daily News]
  • Aki Iwamura has accepted the demotion to triple-A and will not become a free agent…Also, did we know that Iwamura had a blog? It must be in Japanese. We feel like we let you guys down. [The Mainichi Daily News]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Richard de los Santos gave up 3 runs, but lasted only 2.2 innings, having given up 5 hits, 3 walks and hitting a batter…Desmond Jennings was back in the leadoff spot, going 2-4 with a double and his 17th steal…Matt Joyce was 1-4 with a double…Dan Johnson hit his 17th home run and drove in 4.
  • MONTGOMERY: David Newmann gave up 5 runs on 6 walks and 7 hits in 4 innings…Nevin Ashley hit his 2nd home run and Matt Fields added his 9th.
  • CHARLOTTE: (no games scheduled)
  • BOWLING GREEN: (no games scheduled)
  • HUDSON VALLEY: Devin Fuller gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk. He struck out 2…Derek Dietrich was 1-4 with a double.
  • PRINCETON: Andrew Bellatti who was involved in an off-season car accident that killed another driver, made his first start of the season, going 5.1 innings, allowing 1 run on 1 hit and 2 walks. He struck out 5…Bryan Fogle went 2-3.
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