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St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster left his two hour meeting with Rays principle owner Stu Sternberg on Tuesday without expressing his feeling of how the meeting went, but gave some insight Wednesday.
In an exclusive interview with Bay News 9, Foster gave a positive outlook on what he took away from the closed-door meeting at the Trop.
Foster said he came out of the sometimes tense meeting confident that Sternberg and the Rays organization are prepared to honor their current contract through 2027.
The St. Petersburg mayor is scheduled to share more details of the meeting with city council members today.
''They're committed to this region, to the city of St. Petersburg and there was no indication that they had intentions of violating the terms of our use agreement at all,'' Foster said.
If Foster's feelings are correct, it would be a big turnaround for Sternberg who made it clear in the past he wanted to look outside St. Pete for a new stadium.
While on the issue of the actual stadium, the mayor said he tried to bring up the issue of tearing down the Trop and building a new stadium to Sternberg, but the Rays had no real interest in the idea.
"It's a possibility on our part, but they showed no indication they wanted to delve into that," Foster said.
When asked if he felt Major League Baseball would eventually get involved in the ongoing stadium issue, Foster said he didn't believe that would happen, but the city was prepared to take legal action if necessary.
Foster also moved to set to rest the "St. Pete versus Tampa" debate as to where the Rays should be, stating he took from the meeting that Sternberg felt the issue was of a more regional concern.
Foster felt Sternberg was concerned with whether the Rays were viable in the collective Tampa Bay region that is currently supporting three major professional sports teams.
The sentiments Foster expressed Wednesday hint at an end to the 8-month silent treatment from both sides and a mending of the bridge between the city and the Rays organization, but that doesn't mean everything is rosy.
Foster acknowledged that game attendance had to improve if St. Pete has any hope of keeping the Rays past the 2027 contract.
Bay News 9 reached out to Sternberg and the Rays organization for comment on the Rays commitment to 15 more years in St. Pete, but Sternberg has not responded.
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