Rays present stadium plan to St. Pete City Council

Thursday, May 15, 2008

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The plan outlines how the new waterfront stadium can be funded without raising taxes. (Slideshow)

ST. PETERSBURG (Bay News 9) -- Rays executives outlined their plan to pay for a new waterfront stadium Thursday at a St. Petersburg City Council meeting.

The plan calls for five sources of funding, totaling $450 million. The Rays say a tax increase won't be needed.

They said instead of creating a tax deficit, the plan would generate new tax dollars.

Five sources of funding

			Contribution	%Total
1.	Rays	Private contribution by team	$150 million	33%
2.	Developer	Sale of Tropicana site	$70 million	16%
3.	Parking Revenue	Baseball generated parking revenue	$55 million	12%
4.	Tourists	Cont. of tourist tax	$100 million	22%
5.	City	Cont. of funding already dedicated to baseball	$75million	17%
		Total=	$450 million	100%

The Rays said the new stadium would be funded privately and by revenue from a re-developed Tropicana Field.

Statement from Michael Kalt, the Rays' senior vice president of development and business affairs:

"We think that we can offer fans a more compelling product down of the waterfront -- not just in terms of what happens inside the ballpark -- but the whole experience of coming downtown going to a restaurant getting something to eat, getting something to drink, basically really drawing in the casual fan who's not necessarily someone who's not just coming to watch the game but really is coming more as a social activity. That's the kind of fan we need to grow and attract."

The Rays said they are hoping the city moves forward with this plan so developers can be brought on board by as early as June.

Watch the story
Rays' financial plan (PDF)
More on financial plan (PDF -Tropicana site, public benefits vs. public costs, school benefits)
Previous stories on waterfront stadium
New stadium overview
Ballpark comparisons
Bays Ball
E-mail TV reporter Josh Rojas

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