Tampa Bay Rays stadium funding proposal advances, city council remains divided over plan

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Well, tonight the future of the Rays remains up in the air. Tampa City Council cast a critical vote on the proposed $2.3 billion ballpark. And while the city approved it, local leaders called the current deal a swing and a miss for taxpayers. Our Spectrum Bay News 9 Blake Divine is live in Tampa tonight. Uh Blake, we know this meeting lasted pretty much all day. Uh so, what comes next now?

[00:00:22]Allie, local leaders voted to approve this memorandum of understanding.

[00:00:27]Although this stadium deal is hanging by a thread as many city council members do not agree with the current agreement and funding.

[00:00:36]You have to spend money to make money.

[00:00:38]In order to do better as a city, you got to give a little bit to get a lot back.

[00:00:42]Rows of Rays fans filled Tampa City Hall on Thursday, even spilling into overflow rooms, as this meeting went back and forth for hours. It's not a baseball team. It's a community and what it will bring to Tampa in the way of additional revenue, jobs, I think is very understated.

[00:01:02]>> Tampa City Council eventually voting four to three, agreeing to this non-binding memorandum of understanding, which will pave the way for future negotiations surrounding the Rays brand new ballpark at Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry Campus. We want a deal and and ultimately an agreement that everybody feels is good and fair and uh we're committed to doing that work. As the hours dragged on, so too did concerns over the total price tag of $2.3 billion.

[00:01:31]Hillsborough County Commissioners approved their portion this week, which sits at $796 million.

[00:01:38]Meanwhile, the Rays are privately paying $1.27 billion, asking the city for $180 million. If this is your final offer, I'm looking right at you. And if this is your final offer, it's a bad one. A terrible one for the taxpayer. Other local leaders warning that critical infrastructure improvements could take a huge hit if too much money goes toward the stadium, which is why the CRA funding vote was delayed. If I can throw $80 million at something and get potentially 6 to 7 billion dollars of economic impact in return, sign me up.

[00:02:15]At this point in time, the biggest issue is clearing those hurdles with these city council members and coming up next, a June 11th vote to decide the $100 million of CRA funds. Reporting live in Tampa, Blake Divine, Fox 13 News.