The Rays will be playing baseball in Tampa Bay and not in this ugly hellhole.
It looks like they will still play in a dome.
This is obviously great news for baseball fans in the Tampa Bay area.
The Rays aren’t moving.
Other than that, this seems pretty shitty to me.
The other thing that I hate about this is that they are going from one dome to another.
Why aren’t they putting a retractable roof in the new park?
The last thing you want to do on those days is go inside to watch baseball.
This should be very concerning to Rays fans.
Stu Sternberg needs financial help to even build the fucking stadium.
Just sell the team already Stu.
Let someone own it who can afford to match this amazing analytics department with actual financial resources.
So much of this feels like the same song and dance for the Rays.
Still in a dome.
Still have a brokeass owner.
But that at least gives a timetable for when fans can expect to have the new park ready.
Now let’s talk about the real exciting news that is impacted by today’s Rays stadium announcement.
This year’s winter meetings are in Nashville.
I would not be shocked at all for MLB to announce plans to expand to 32 teams this December.
Now, this is a process that then needs time to take shape.
I believe there are two cities specifically that have a major leg up on the others.
Montreal and Nashville have huge advantages over other cities like Portland, San Antonio or Charlotte.
MLB has even played a number of spring training games there to sellout crowds.
They were obviously doing that to test the city to see if baseball is viable.
Montreal has passed every test since 2004.
Why did the Expos fail the first time around?
They needed a new stadium which would be mandatory to them getting a team this time.
Nashville is the other city that I think gets a team.
They have minority ownership led by former pitching great Dave Stewart.
They even have a team name picked out: The Nashville Stars.
I am happy for Rays fan who live in the Tampa Bay area.
