Thrive
Mayor has ‘no interest’ in renegotiating with Rays
Mayor Ken Welch took a hard stance against renegotiating a stadium deal with the Tampa Bays after the team announced Thursday that it could no longer honor previously signed agreements.
He also didn’t completely rule out extending the team’s lease at Tropicana Field beyond 2028 while incrementally redeveloping the surrounding area.
Welch said his administration will consider that approach and a “number of options.” For now, he awaits the long-negotiated deal’s official termination via written notice or by the Rays running out the clock on a March 31 deadline.
The Rays have indicated their preference for the latter approach. What is certain is that Welch, once a staunch supporter, “has no interest in working with this ownership group” on a new stadium or the Historic Gas Plant District’s redevelopment.
“Why would I go back to the same group and trust them this time?” Welch posited. “That bridge has been burned. If there’s a new ownership group, I’m perfectly willing to have those conversations.”
While he would consider working with the team’s development partner, Hines, the company has repeatedly stated that its participation hinges on an anchor tenant, the Rays. Welch believes the latest chapter in the Trop site’s ongoing saga will not deter prominent developers.
“I think folks are very interested in St. Pete and can’t really believe the Rays are dropping the ball like this,” he added. “St. Pete’s greatness doesn’t depend on that stadium deal.”
Downtown St. Petersburg continues expanding west toward Tropicana Field (left, background). Photo by Mark Parker.
The Rays have said the financial math, “a stretch” from the beginning, no longer works. Storm and politically induced delays, lost revenue from playing at a minor league stadium in Tampa this season and inflated construction expenses will cost the team hundreds of millions.
Welch said he sold the team prime real estate surrounding the Trop at a discount because they would cover inevitable cost overruns. They must also maintain and insure a new stadium, an increasingly frightening prospect following an unprecedented hurricane season.
“I don’t think a local government team could have done a better job than we have,” Welch said of arduous negotiations. “I meant what I said – there’s not another dime of city money coming forward.”
Welch has compared his relationship with the Rays to an engagement since he selected the team to redevelop “sacred ground” for the Black community displaced from the area. He said owner Stuart Sternberg “absolutely” owes the city an apology.
Welch also believes it is “better to get out of a bad engagement than a bad marriage.” The team has hinted that the feeling is mutual, as it is in most relationships.
Little hope remains for reconciliation. Welch noted that team and city officials have been in similar situations before, and “at some point, it’s probably best to separate.”
“I wouldn’t consider working on any kind of reset with Stu (Sternberg) because we’ve spent an incredible amount of resources to get to this point,” he said. “This is the agreement we all agreed to. I’m not going to play that game.”
Before publicly announcing his decision, Sternberg told the Catalyst he would “absolutely” consider potential paths forward. He has “always tried to keep the team in Tampa Bay,” even if that meant splitting seasons in Montreal.
Mayor Ken Welch said Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg (podium) owes the community an apology. Photo by Mark Parker.
Welch said he and Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred have not discussed whether the city would receive an expansion team should Sternberg decide to relocate. The team can seek alternative options after submitting a termination letter or the March 31 deadline.
City officials will soon explore an internal, equitable development plan that lacks the current project’s grandiosity. “It won’t be a grand slam,” Welch added. “It will be a base hit or a double.”
The plan would accommodate potential new team ownership emerging in the next few years. However, the hypothetical group – the Rays have insisted they are not for sale – must understand St. Petersburg’s priorities, forge relationships with key community stakeholders and rebuild partnerships with the city and county to build a new ballpark.
However, baseball must not continue deferring long-broken promises. “I don’t fear it going back to what it was originally,” Welch said of the predominantly Black neighborhood.
While Welch said the city would “look at everything,” including extending the team’s lease, he noted that former Gas Plant residents and their descendants have already waited 40 years for the site to provide economic revitalization.
“I don’t want to extend it under the same Trop and 60 acres of asphalt model going forward,” Welch continued. “I want those benefits – the housing, jobs and economic opportunity – to start benefiting this community.”
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
March 20, 2025at6:51 pm
Thank you to All the commenters, now there is absolutely no question about where I live. It appears that many in this country are just like the commenters on this topic, very sad.
tont
March 18, 2025at9:01 am
The current Welch administration is a classic “trust fund” kid story. He inherited a thriving city growing because of location, migration patterns and potential. And then went off on his own interests instead of whats best for the city
Yet private developers and migration keeps moving forward constantly improving a tax base that the local government can use for its own folly. Hopefully for St Pete this story ends better than most trust fund kids
Paul Antoinette
March 15, 2025at10:57 am
Living downtown I was happy to see the Tropicana property developed into something more, while also concerned by the amount of development happening seemingly without attention to infrastructure and maintaining the character of St Petersburg. Additionally, in spite of the talk of how favorable a deal the city had negotiated, the Ray’s ownership undoubtedly is enrichened at the expense of taxpayers. I’m not unhappy to see the deal come apart; however, I want to see affordable housing initiatives continue in whatever becomes of the project and district. I appreciate the good intentioned effort to recognize and act on the harm caused to a community for the construction of parking lots and poorly attended baseball games.
Mike
March 15, 2025at9:32 am
Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else have your way.
hal Freedman
March 15, 2025at12:56 am
This deal, by far the largest use of current and future public resources in the history of the City, should have been put to the voters as a ballot measure. That’s a risk the mayor was unwilling to take. He would likely have lost. However, we could have saved a lot of time and money.
Perhaps Richie Floyd or Lisset Hanewicz would propose a ballot measure for a Charter amendment similar to the following: “Shall the Charter be amended to require voter approval to use City assets/debt for professional sports facilities, infrastructure.”
BALLOT QUESTION: Shall the Charter be amended to require voter approval by referendum to use City Assets and/or City Debt, including bond issues, for the acquisition of land for, or construction, renovation, maintenance, operation, replacement, financing or refinancing ol
Professional Sports Facilities and related Infrastructure?
John Burgess
March 14, 2025at5:08 pm
A GOOD local government would never consider such a one-sided agreement. Sternberg outflanked and outsmarted Welch from the beginning. He knew Welch’s agenda and squeezed him dry (well, actually he took taxpayers to the cleaners with Welch helping).
Sternberg wants “the clock to run out” because he knows he can get more concessions from Welch, who has already stated “he will look at everything “ including extending the lease. He is hell bent on getting his revenge one way or another. At our expense.
If anyone should apologize, it should be Welch and the five council members who allowed him to create this mess. After they apologize to voters, they should all resign.
However, it is Lee the people who should have seen this coming. We elected a career politician, the same Welch that ignored the Eight is Enough” referendum back in the 90s that set two terms for county commissioners. He stayed for 20 years to get this chance. He was the architect of Greenlight Pinellas fiasco which included a $3 Billion train to Clearwater, 100% taxpayer funding. Yet we elected this career politician to be mayor. This is no surprise, it was a gift to a born grifter.
He knew he had to do it without a vote, he lost his bid for a train by a 62-38 overwhelming vote against his attempt. PSTA is his legacy, still costing taxpayers $200Million a year with declining ridership as it now serves 1.6% of the population. Coincidentally that is the Rays popularity in Pinellas County. 16,000 average attendance is 1.6% of the County population.
Arch Stanton
March 14, 2025at4:40 pm
What an absolute incompetent buffoon.
So NOW he’s not going to negotiate with these greedy scumbags…AFTER they turned down the insanely crooked plan that Welch and the dummies on council have gift wrapped for him? They’ve been groveling for the team execs since day 1. Claiming to represent the public’s interests with integrity doesn’t count after it’s ceased to be a decision.
Every official who forced this ripoff on the public deserves to be run out of office. The only thing they stood fast on demanding was box seats for themselves (and a healthy sprinkling of campaign donations of course).
We need to demand leadership. This ain’t it.
TB
March 14, 2025at3:57 pm
Welch is a disaster who is only interested in reparations (“intentional equity” in Welch-speak). First he ran off the Moffitt Center, now the Rays, whilst the city can’t even perform basic duties like clearing debris effectively.
I hope my fellow citizens can see our little DEI experiment is a massive failure like all the others,and we start electing officials (city council included) based on ability.
S
March 14, 2025at3:57 pm
St. Petersburg’s “Equitable Development Plan” – A Scam Wrapped in Bureaucratic Jargon
Let’s break this down: “City officials will soon explore an internal, equitable development plan that lacks the current project’s grandiosity.”
What does that even mean? This isn’t English—it’s progressive word salad designed to hide something shady.
Instead of saying outright, “We’re going to funnel money based on race,” they cloak it in nonsense jargon like “equitable development plan.” Why? Because if they were honest about what they’re doing, it would be blatantly unconstitutional.
Make no mistake—this is an attempt to push race-based subsidies under the cover of vague, meaningless language. When politicians start using phrases like this, everyone should take a step back and ask, ‘What the hell is actually going on here?’
This kind of doublespeak is deliberate—it’s how they justify rigging government contracts, handing out taxpayer money based on identity politics, and avoiding legal scrutiny. If something is so unclear that the average citizen has no idea what it means, it’s probably because they don’t want you to know what they’re really up to.
Mayor Welch and his administration aren’t even trying to hide their obsession with race-based policies—they’re just dressing it up in language so convoluted that the media won’t bother questioning it. This is exactly how corruption thrives.
S
March 14, 2025at3:51 pm
Mayor Welch’s St. Petersburg: A Leadership Disaster in Detail
Mayor Welch’s record of incompetence is undeniable, with mismanagement of major city projects costing taxpayers hundreds of millions.
• Baseball Stadium Insurance Debacle: Welch cut $75 million in insurance coverage on the Tropicana Field redevelopment despite clear warnings that the Gulf of Mexico was experiencing record-high temperatures. Now, uninsured losses could exceed $100 million due to inevitable cost overruns.
• Citywide Flooding Crisis: In August 2024, a heavy rainstorm caused widespread flooding, costing taxpayers and residents tens of millions. Instead of investing in proper drainage infrastructure, Welch failed to act, leaving the city vulnerable to predictable disasters.
• Downtown Library Fiasco: The renovation of the main public library was grossly mismanaged, ballooning from $6.9 million to $16.9 million—and counting. The most embarrassing oversight? The city failed to check for asbestos, a basic requirement for any construction project in an older building.
• Homeless Encampments in Key Parks: Welch has allowed downtown parks to be taken over by vagrants, openly violating state laws on public space use. Instead of tackling the root causes of homelessness, he’s letting it spread unchecked, making public spaces unusable.
If Welch can’t even handle these basic responsibilities with City Council’s support, why would anyone think he can negotiate a $1.4 billion stadium deal? His real interest appears to be promoting DEI policies and his obsession with the so-called “Historic Gas Plant District injustice”—whatever that even means. Meanwhile, his priority seems to be self-promotion, puff pieces, and getting his face in as many photos as possible.
Hugh Hazeltine
March 14, 2025at11:55 am
Any well constructed deal should be a win-win for both parties. Here is question I do not know the answer for: Did Mr. Sternberg walk away from this deal because he feared he could loose money on the new stadium? Would that mean the city drove too hard of a deal? It was reported here in the Catalyst last August that Mayor Welch attempted to award $250,000 in bonuses to twelve staff members who worked so hard on crafting this agreement. Were the Rays negotiating in good faith? Was the City? Where lies the truth?
Alan DeLisle
March 14, 2025at10:43 am
Too bad it took this long for Welch to finally get it. Based on the Rays, Moffitt, and the city Marina, it’s good to hear Welch is no longer negotiating. When you cancel good deals and negotiate horrible deals, city residents pay a dear price. Good economic development has to rise above politics, ego, and money. So hard to watch this ineptitude for such a great city. Staff: wake up.
Mike
March 14, 2025at9:59 am
Didnt welch cancel krisemans stadium deal? And now welch wont do business with the rays? Small sad man. Terrible administrator. An embarassment to adults and an insult to taxpayers everywhere.
Mike
March 14, 2025at9:42 am
Welch has been a loss for st pete. He might not be directly responsible for the citys stagnation over the last 3 years, but i certainly hold him culpable. His priorities are reprehensible. His worldview is reprehensible. He needs to go do something else.