To nobody’s surprise by now, the Rays have formally announced that the team wants to build its new Tampa Bay ball park in Ybor City near downtown Tampa. “Raybor City” checks plenty of boxes. Assembled land. Actual, historic baseball (“DNA”) roots. The geographic center of a major market. The business hub of a major market. Incumbent, non-bus transit. The “new urbanism” vibe of a city’s core. Connecting Ybor to the Channel District to the Riverwalk. A Water Street Tampa complement.
Think live-work-play-stay synergy.
And yet.
Where is Jeff Vinik? His $3 billion Water Street makeover is a critical element in this location’s raison d’être for a baseball park. Is a Fortune 500 corporate-relo recruit more than enough of a priority? Are baseball’s logistics less than an ideal complement?
But there’s this unchecked box: Financing. The Rays will contribute a 9-figure amount. Will it be enough to matter for a roofed facility likely to cost north of $700 million? With no taxpayer-burden in the mix, it will need property-tax collection growth effected by the new stadium. It will need corporate support (a major chunk of all MLB season tickets are via corporations), even though this is an area hardly steeped in corporate headquarters. It will take city-county cooperation, hardly a governmental given.
It won’t be Rayboring.