The city of St. Petersburg is considering a deal that would allow local businessman Bill Edwards to take over managing Al Lang Stadium.
Edwards is offering to use $1.5 million of his own money to manage the complex on the stipulation that no more baseball games be played there. Edwards, who owns the Rowdies soccer team, wants the field to focus almost exclusively on soccer.
Mayor Rick Kriseman said the deal is a "win-win for all parties involved."
He said this would free the city for having to pay for renovations to the stadium and allow that money to be used for other things.
Edwards issued a statement that said, "If Council approved the agreement, we are committed to honoring the special history of Al Lang Stadium, building on the Rowdies' great success and bringing many other activities to the city."
The city said it would like to see some non-soccer events at the stadium, like outdoor concerts.
City councilman Wengay Newton said he likes what he's hearing about the deal.
"It's really going to take a huge burden off the city because they're going to do all the capital investing and all," said Newton. "We're going to do some revenue sharing with some parking with them but for the most part, they're going to pay their own bills, they're going to manage the facility, they're not asking for anything from the city."
While Al Lang Stadium once served as a spring training facility for major league baseball teams, city officials said it's not really equipped to do that anymore.
The plan will be presented to the City Council on September 18.