Into the simmering Tampa Bay Rays stadium controversy, the Buccaneers owners the Glazer family have flung a significant bomb, telling the Tampa Sports Authority they want a $1 billion renovation of their stadium (original cost: $168.5 million in 1998), with the public covering two-thirds of the price. And sports authority members are already questioning whether Tampa should be dedicating a couple billion dollars to a Rays development when the Bucs are next in line:
“I think most of us have talked to the Buccaneers at this point, and we’re going to be writing a very large check in the very near future for Raymond James Stadium,” board member Tony Muniz said at a meeting Tuesday. “And that’s our priority. We have to always remember that. I think that we need to take care of Raymond James before we go out and try to convince the Rays to stay in Tampa Bay.” …
“When you calculate what we’re talking about for the Rays, what’s left after that for the Bucs? That’s the big question,” said board member Luciano Prida.
While Bucs execs aren’t commenting, two sports authority officials — the Tampa Bay Times didn’t name them — said that the team owners are targeting a $1 billion renovation, with half that money used to pay for a sun canopy over the open grandstand. (Yes, half a billion dollars for a sun shield that doesn’t even move or cover the entire field seems like a lot. At bulk pricing, the Bucs could afford to include a sombrero with every ticket for 190 years for that amount.) The sports authority officials didn’t provide details on how the public’s two-thirds share would be funded, only that Bucs officials want a decision before agreeing to extend their lease by five years, a decision they contractually need to make by January. (Yes, $667 million for a five-year lease extension seems like a lot. At $133 million a year, it would obliterate the Carolina Panthers‘ $43 million per year record for priciest per-year lease extension in sports history.)
Sports authority president Eric Hart — who said yesterday of the Bucs lease talks, “I think our goal would be to not have them relocate,” which maybe is not the best negotiating strategy for saving yourself money [EDIT: It’s since been pointed out that Hart may have been referring to a temporary location during renovations, which is a more reasonable point] — had already hinted in April that the Glazers would be looking to get stadium renovation money in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but this is the first time a number has been put on the request. The sports authority is funded by both the city and county, so authority members are right to wonder if a ginormous Rays subsidy would leave anything left over for the Bucs; though given that one of the revenue sources they’re looking at is the Community Investment Tax that voters were told wouldn’t be used for stadiums, maybe they’re getting a little ahead of themselves regardless.
The next shoe to drop could come this Friday, when the Florida legislature is set to vote on a state budget that currently includes $50 million for prep work for the Rays project, but which state senate appropriations chair Ed Hooper has vowed to block if the city and county don’t provide first more certainty about their commitment to fund the stadium district. This staring contest may go down to the wire, don’t miss a minute of the edge-of-your-seat excitement!
Perhaps not the best negotiating strategy for representing the public’s interest, but I’m sure it’s not lost on Sports Authority President Eric Hart that without Sports there’s not much need for a Sports Authority nor for anyone, but specifically him, to Preside over it. So he may not be as dispassionate as necessary regarding the outcome of these high-dollars negotiations.
Unlike the Rays, the Bucs actually pack their stadium pretty well.
It’s a no brainer to go with them if one has to be chosen over the other.