Rays president: Renaming the team is a dealbreaker

City Councilmember Gina Driscoll requested a “fair and open” discussion regarding the Tampa Bay Rays changing their name to the St. Petersburg Rays at a meeting next month. A nearly 80-minute debate ensued.

However, it didn’t take long for the two most influential people in the ongoing negotiations to build a new $1.3 billion ballpark to assert their stance on the topic at the council meeting Thursday (Dec. 14). Mayor Ken Welch said asking for the name change “would be detrimental to the progress we’ve made, if not fatal to this redevelopment effort.”

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Residents speak out at Rays/Hines public hearing

Affordable housing – and the affordability of St. Petersburg as a whole – was the main topic of conversation for speakers at the first public hearing about the development of the Historic Gas Plant District held Wednesday night at the Coliseum.

“They are taking more than they give. That’s just how corporations work,” said Madison Rice. “The city needs to fight for what we (residents) need as much as they do for what they want.” Rice was referring to the Hines/Rays partnership, the public-private entity comprising global real estate investment firm Hines and the Tampa Bay Rays that was chosen to develop the 86-acre tract downtown. The centerpiece would be the Rays’ new $1.3 billion stadium, earmarked for a 2028 debut.

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