New details of the updated agreement between the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman have been sent to City Council members. The new deal brokered by Kriseman has some similarities with the original one agreed upon by the two parties, but it also has new components.
The monetary compensation payable to the city under the new proposed Memorandum of Understanding is about the same as it was before. The team would have to pay, upon terminating its Use Agreement with the city prematurely, $4 million for 2018, $3 million for 2019-2022, and $2 million for 2023-2026.
The monetary fees paid to the city under the new agreement would be capped at $24 million and the team would be precluded from leaving Tropicana Field prior to 2018.
Differences in the new proposal represent some protections for the city, but as Kriseman expected, also includes some added benefits for the Rays.
For example, the new agreement still requires the Rays to submit a process document outlining selection criteria in a new site within 60 days of execution of a new agreement. However, the new agreement doesn’t require the same level of detail as the previous. The language requires all sites to be evaluated under the same criteria including Tropicana Field.
There are provisions included in the new agreement that are aimed at ensuring the Rays realize the current location is “the best location” for the team. That includes a stipulation that the evaluation process must last at least six months in order to give the city time to make that case.
The latest MOU still allows the city to retain proceeds from development rights if the team leaves the city prior to its current Use Agreement’s 2027 expiration date. However, until the team’s fate is certain, proceeds from new development would be kept in an interest-bearing escrow account. If the Rays stay in St. Pete beyond their current contract, they would be entitled to half of the proceeds including half of the interest.
If they played out their current Use Agreement, but left the city after, they’d still be entitled to half of the development proceeds minus interest. If they break the Use Agreement, the city retains the proceeds.
In addition, the Rays must pay half the cost for a master plan for redeveloping the Trop site up to $100,000 with or without a new stadium. If the Rays and St. Pete terminate the Use Agreement, the Rays would be entitled credit on their annual fees to the city for that amount.
Now that a deal is released, it’s likely a vote at City Council will come soon. It’s widely anticipated the deal will pass this time now that Lisa Wheeler-Brown has replaced Wengay Newton, one of four holdouts in voting for a deal.
The Kriseman administration has long held that reaching a deal is the best way to ensure baseball stays in the region and has reiterated confidence that the team will ultimately choose to stay in St. Pete.
The need for a new deal was recently hastened when the Pinellas County Commission put pressure on City Council to reach a deal because money available for a new stadium could be used to fund another baseball venture at the Toytown landfill.
