Foster: City will do everything to keep Rays

ST. PETERSBURG - Mayor Bill Foster says the city will "exhaust all efforts" to keep the Tampa Bay Rays playing in St. Petersburg for the next 17 years and beyond.

After a City Council meeting to discuss the announcement made by team ownership earlier this week about considering new ballpark sites any where in the Tampa Bay area, Foster issued a memo to the council and Rays' principal owner Stuart Sternberg, saying he is willing to meet with the Rays right away to talk about building anywhere within St. Petersburg.

Despite a lease that doesn't end until 2027, Foster said he and the Rays can discuss an amendment to the agreement if the team wants to begin planning to play somewhere other than Tropicana Field.

The mayor agreed with Sternberg in saying that the team was a "regional asset" but argued that the interests of his city's residents, and those throughout the county, come first because they have put more tax money into Major League Baseball and the Rays than anyone else in the Bay Area.

"We will consider any potential ballpark site in St. Petersburg and the Gateway [area], but only as part of a process that recognizes and rewards the previous and ongoing investment and commitment of the St. Petersburg and Pinellas County resident, and thus, no sites outside of our geographic boundaries will be considered," Foster said in the statement.

Monday, Sternberg reiterated that the Rays will not be playing at Tropicana Field when their lease with the city expires in 2027. He also said that Major League Baseball will not work long-term in downtown St. Petersburg and that a new stadium needs to be somewhere that is convenient for the team's fans to get to.

The ABC coalition was formed two years ago to study potential stadium sites in Pinellas and Hillsborough, and recently made the conclusion that baseball's survival in the area is based on finding an optimal site in the region that will best insure the team's success.

The coalition recommended three sites in Hillsborough County for a new stadium, and two in Pinellas: the aforementioned Gateway area as well as land in the Carillon area.

Despite winning the American League Championship in 2008, remaining competitive throughout 2009, and occupying first place for much of the first three months of the 2010 season, the team has not seen a drastic increase in attendance; however, television ratings have risen from season to season. The Rays have also been recognized as one of the most affordable teams in professional sports.