Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Secret Rays Tampa Stadium Talks to Remain Secret for a While

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said the officials in talks with the Rays about a potential new stadium in Hillsborough County are going out of their way to avoid creating public records and giving notice of their meetings with the team for good reason.

"Anytime you start talking real estate and locations, the price goes up," Buckhorn said, adding that the group has not spent much time yet addressing perhaps the biggest challenge of a Tampa stadium: how to pay for it.

FACEBOOK: Entire exchange with Mayor Buckhorn

On Monday, the mayor met with the Rays and several other local leaders, including Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, to discuss a series of possible stadium locations on Tampa's side of the bay. That included Downtown Tampa and West Shore, but not the county fairgrounds, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

But on the mayor's weekly calendar, which typically provides local reporters the topics and locations of the mayor's meetings, the morning rendezvous with the Rays was simply listed as "Ken Hagan," with the location and meeting topic omitted.

And months' worth of public record requests to both Hagan and Buckhorn have come up empty; the public officials attending the meeting claim they don't have a single document, email, or text message pertaining to their behind-closed-door discussions, which could ultimately cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

A new stadium is expected to cost at least $500 million with taxpayers likely called on to fund a significant portion of the construction and infrastructure.

While Pinellas County has robust tourist tax revenues, which could potentially bond upwards of $200 million in stadium construction, Hillsborough County's available tourist tax revenues would likely bond no more than $75 million. Additional revenues, such as a rental car tax, have been discussed but are considered neither particularly lucrative nor politically popular.

"I think all of us ... at least on the public side ... are trying to find a way to (finance a ballpark) without the way that Raymond James was publicly financed," Buckhorn said. "I don't think a referendum would pass, so we will have to look at other things.

"We're going to have to look at bed tax, we're going to have to look at potentially rental car surcharges ... to the extent that we can place the burden on tourists, that would be ideal. But at this point, we don't know. It's going to be expensive, and if you asked me today how we would pay for it, I couldn't tell you."

Buckhorn said the Hillsborough group's next meeting with the Rays will be in October. Hagan didn't return requests for comment Tuesday.





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16 comments:

  1. You have been right on from the beginning that Tampa didn't have the money to pay for it.

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  2. "We're going to have to look at bed tax, we're going to have to look at potentially rental car surcharges ... to the extent that we can place the burden on tourists, that would be ideal."

    Everyone wants this stadium but no one wants to pay for it....

    Rays ain't payin
    Local Residents aren't payin
    it'll be them tourists.. those who would rarely go to the games..

    Classy!

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  3. It's all been figured out and just a matter of the formalities. You can take that to the bank!

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  4. Buckhorn says:
    "I think all of us ... at least on the public side ... are trying to find a way to (finance a ballpark) without the way that Raymond James was publicly financed," Buckhorn said. "I don't think a referendum would pass, so we will have to look at other things."
    The way to finance the park is to have the Rays/MLB pay for 100% of it. And by doing so, Buckhorn and Hagan and the folks in St. Pete can all clear their calendars of secret meetings.

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    Replies
    1. It really shows your lack sports & business knowledge. Besides incidences where they bridged the gap between ownership, MLB isn't in the business of owning teams.
      I'm sure every city would love for leagues to come in, buy up big blocks of prime real estate, build multi purpose buildings, build city infrastructure around it, provide all these jobs, give to millions in charity, draw millions from out-of-town to watch, play, live, start businesses, etc., and raise billions in property values & tax revenues...
      Sounds like a great deal for us!

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    2. B. Dufala,
      I will not impugn your qualifications as an economist and business man. I have just two simple questions - How many dollars have the Rays put in your pocket? How many dollars have you put in the Rays pocket?

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    3. What? Newsflash, the Rays is a business, not Santa Clause...
      Though to answer your question. One, however amount of money the Rays profited from me, they're one of least expensive teams in pro sports to go see. And two, normally we'll get usable cool souvenirs, t-shirts, toys for my nephew, baseballs for my dog, reusable cups, free concerts, free contest tickets to club dens, etc., that are well worth the price of a $15+ ticket alone...
      Again, your welcome to disregard the overwhelming facts of a team's economic value to a community (like NOah), but it consistanly shows your ignorance toward reality of sports & business...
      But hey, don't take me word for it, http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/community/community.jsp

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    4. • "nearly two thirds have higher housing values", http://www.trulia.com/blog/trends/nfl-stadium/
      •http://www.citylab.com/housing/2013/03/how-baseball-stadiums-drive-housing-costs/5124/

      Delete
    5. • Angles Stadium, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/platinum-688140-triangle-construction.html

      • AT&T Park, http://ballparkdigest.com/2015/05/05/giants-pitch-mission-rock-ballpark-development/

      http://www.mercurynews.com/giantsheadlines/ci_6326258

      • Busch Stadium, https://nextstl.com/2016/05/cupples-x-42m-120000sf-development-proposed-next-busch-stadium/

      http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/what-s-next-for-ballpark-village/article_93853c8f-15da-5861-a66b-e67368d988cc.html

      • Comerica Park, http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/05/apartments_could_go_up_near_co.html

      • Coors Field, http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/print-edition/2015/03/27/20-years-later-coors-field-is-still-a-winner-for.html

      • Fenway Park, http://boston.curbed.com/2016/6/23/12011838/fenway-center-construction-boston


      • Great American Ball Park, http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2015/08/26/banks-project-groundbreaking/32263681/

      • Miller Park, http://nooga.com/171816/miller-park-district-design-update/

      • Nationals Park, http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/va_md_dc/development-booming-around-nationals-park/article_bd29f449-4d2a-554a-ae57-83d898d90b78.html

      • Camden Yards, https://gbc.org/donald-fry-building-downtown-ballpark-a-defining-moment-for-baltimore/

      • Petco Park, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/san-diego-padres-petco-park-catalyst-urban-redevelopment

      http://www.jmisports.com/petco-park-a-home-run-for-county-economy/

      • Target Field, http://www.startribune.com/the-pohlad-family-owners-of-the-minnesota-twins-is-building-up-around-target-field/321914651/

      • Wrigley Field, http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20160322/CRED03/160329979/development-near-wrigley-field-finally-ready-to-start

      • Yankee Stadium, http://www.nycedc.com/project/yankee-stadium-area-redevelopment-project

      "Just to name a few..."

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    6. Sooo, again, yinz can believe a "Naysayer Noah", but facts reflect a better reality of cities investments in stadiums...

      OHHA! I forgot to add one! If Tampa didn't "invest" in the building of the Ice Palace (aka Amalie Arena), Tampa wouldn't have Vinik's investments, http://tampawaterfront2020.com/

      Delete
    7. How much money have the Rays put in your pocket?

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    8. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    9. Scott, it seems that ignoring facts of reality is a continued theme amongst bloggers & commenters here. Im sure digressive towns like Ocala or Inverness has more suitable blogs to follow...

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    10. MLB isn't 30 different businesses; its one. It operates as a monopoly, barring new franchises from coming into the market and deciding which of its investors get what profits. $10M revenue comes in; $10M expenses & profits go out.

      So if one of the franchises isn't making enough profit, it's the league's opportunity to fix it without much difficulty!

      Delete
  5. "are going out of their way to avoid creating public records and giving notice of their meetings with the team for good reason."
    Duh, they don't need to be look-at-me people all up in the news types...
    "The strong move quite, the weak start riots".

    "And months' worth of public record requests to both Hagan and Buckhorn have come up empty..."
    Let's be real, "months" is more like (years)...

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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