My grandparent lived in St. Pete since 1946, and O lived here through my 20's. I have followed baseball since I dragged bats at Payson Field. Some thoughts about this situation.
After getting teased by the Giants and the Sox, the City of St. Petersburg developed an ironclad type contract so that an expansion team would stay for the life of the stadium debt. That time is coming to an end.
To keep the team happy incentives were created. One incentive that was created and dangled for the team to honor the contract was the development of the adjacent land around the stadium. This was meant to be a dis-incentive for the team leaving before the end of the agreement. I have read no contracts, all my information is speculation based on the news provided by the Times and this site over my lifetime.
1. The city has to provide a stadium till the end of the lease.
2. The Rays must use the stadium provided.
3. The Rays have a right to develop the adjacent land if they honor their side of the agreement.
4. The City (with the County) bluffed when they asked the Rays to announce their intentions by a fake deadline. The Rays would lose the right to the land development. The City has a duty. The county has no duty to perform. The bluff is the city's bluff.
5. The incentive (the carrot, or the land development) is what keeps the Tampa Bay Rays in the area for now.
6. The City is obligated to litigate or settle with the Rays, if the City and County do not fulfill their obligation to build this stadium.
7. The agreement on the land is between the city and the team, the county has no incentive to honor the agreement.
8. The team could leave and get the right to develop the land???
Can a lawyer in the audience who is familiar with the situation educate me about this deal? No political bs please. No emotional stuff, please. Just answer me this question,
This is my question: Do the Rays have the City of St. Pete in an unfavorable negotiating position over the development of adjacent land?
