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Being that the company that installed the roof is on record recently saying the roof was beyond it's useful life it's incredibly unlikely instance would've covered it anyways. It would have been very easy to prove negligence by not replacing the roof based on manufacturers recommendations.
have the players play in the open air for 3 years. It's FL, near the Gulf. That's not that hot. Warm weather states really should have open air stadiums. Maybe it would give the team an advantage (like Turner Field in Atlanta) when pansy players can't take the heat. If they must play somewhere else, I hear the Oakland Coliseum is available.
Major league baseball is DEAD! For plenty of major league teams... The state a florida doesn't care about major baseball... good weather weather round, distractions like the beach towns, theme parks, a thousand other distractions.... that do not include taking in a ball game... It's just a bad market for major teams. Great place for spring ball, but that's it. No real market.
The Rays have played their last game at the Trop. $25 million max insurance payout means there will not be any money going into a stadium that will only be used for 3 more years. Rays are playing in minor league ballpark for 3-4 seasons, and their new stadium will start construction earlier than expected as a result.
@@TheSonicsean Tearing down an old NHL arena in Edmonton Canada was just quoted at being around 40 million dollars. I would imagine it would have similar costs to team down the Trop. I believe that cost was already worked into the new Stadium projects budget though.
They say 6.5 million for clean-up but we all know it will end up being more like 10-12 million. It's a waste of money for a stadium you are knocking down in a couple years. Use that money to find a place to play for a couple years.
They have some real geniuses at work in St. Petersburg..... when the Trop was built, its roof was only given a 20 yr life expectancy. It is still the (was) original roof and is some 14+ yrs past its life expectancy.
I’m expecting a write off of the Trop. What will be interesting is whether a three-year absence of the team changes the tenor of the new stadium conversation. Pinellas county is facing a massive array of challenges in Milton’s aftermath-yesterday’s priorities like a new stadium will take a backseat.
That's a marketing gem right there for Travelers. Build a new temporary roof in the shape of a giant umbrella, and get Travelers to sponsor it. But a serious question. What happens to the current sponsor Tropicana if the Rays can't play there? Do they have to give back sponsorship money for that period they are unable to use the stadium?
As a long time Floridian who knows the lay of the land pretty good I think moving the team to Orlando would be a good thing. They will draw more fans in Orlando then St Pete. St Pete is just a Terrible location. Any location off of I 4 between Tampa and Orlando would be better.. NOBODY wants to drive over jammed packed bridges to go to St Pete. If they build a new park in St Pete it will be a huge failure too.
This is why you never cut back on your insurance coverage if you can help it. What you'll save on premiums isn't worth the risk if you actually need to use the insurance coverage.
The good thing for the Rays is they have more then enough options to play in Florida, its not like they'll have to play all of their games in the Tampa area. They could probably also play a handful of games in Miami. Or just like the Expos before they moved they can play some games in Puerto Rico or some other alternate sites. MLB likes to host games in countries like Mexico, there have the Rays host a handful of games there every year. Not that the Rays ever spend that much money on free agents anyways but even less players will be enticed to sign a contract with the Rays in the next few years though. Basically only free agents they'll entice are guys who aren't getting offers from any other teams.
I feel before they do anything to spend any money on the damages they need to check out the building for mold. It's been nearly a month since the hurricane. Nevermind any future damages. They need to focus on the damages that been sitting for weeks. I still don't believe it's a good idea to reopen Tropicana Field. They should have it closed permanently!
This looks like a classic case of being penny rich and pound poor. There are many times saving a little bit in the short term costs a lot more long term.
Nobody in St. Pete is doing a cost/benefit analysis of anything involving the Rays. The prestige and pride of having an MLB team is going to bankrupt St. Pete.
It won't because they won't go through with spending that money. The value of the stadium is worth less than the repair bill, otherwise known in the insurance industry as a write-off.
@@WoozyPolarBear Its basically the equivalent of car getting an accident, the stadium has been totaled. The total cost of fixing the car is more expensive then just paying off the car. Same goes for the stadium, its totalled.
At one point the Tampa Bay Lighting (NHL hockey team) played a few seasons there. It ran along the 1st base side. I wonder if they are using the drainage for the field with what they did for the hockey rink with some kind of expansion to it. I never read that they pulled the hockey rink out..
I would like to see multiple parks used during the season. Split it up between Blue jays, Yankees, Phillies, Al Lang, & Disney complex. Giving time for each park to get ready, gives fans access and promotes the parks. I love the Trop but i don't believe it will be playable again.
I read a report up here in Canada, that stated that there were talks about letting them use the Blue Jays spring training facility. But I haven't heard anything else about that.
It would be a good place for an AL East team if the minor league team doesn’t need it, but it’s not good for the players. No point upsetting the union and owners. Minor league stadium in the Tampa area makes more sense except for the playoffs.
@@ericberkowitz688the Jays, Phillies, Yankees, Pirates, Tigers, and Orioles all play their Spring Training ball in the Tampa Bay area. Of those, only the Orioles don’t also have a Single-A FSL team using the same place from April onwards.
@@sblack53 true; my point is moreso that it’s too much to ask of the players and the people who work for the team to do that. The union may grieve over it and it’s not worth the fight.
Not to mention the money St. Pete is already dishing out to this day for clean-up and infrastructure. That, with insurance woes, I just don't see the value of repairing Tropicana. I almost feel like they would be better off cutting the cord and letting the team play in Orlando for a few years.
I wonder if Orlando might make a play to build a new stadium for the Rays and just have them become the Orlando Rays. The city did fairly recently (11 years ago) vote to use public funds for Orlando City's stadium, what's to stop them from offering tourism tax dollars for a new MLB stadium?
If the "new rays ballpark" or whatever its going to be called has to be in St. Pete, a little forward thinking like installing the rail lines on the new Howard Frankland bridge should have been part of its day one opening. Not a "future expansion" that will most likely never happen. I swear this area never thinks more than 5 years ahead. ...Or just build the dang stadium IN Tampa.
I actually liked the Trop. The only things wrong with it were ballpark concession prices (but that’s an issue in many stadia) and artificial turf (which they needed because the fixed roof didn’t allow enough light inside to support grass). I liked that one could walk 360° around the stadium just above the lower bowl, and even a modest crowd sounded so loud, I had to turn off my hearing aids. People complain about the access to the stadium, but there are many stadia where driving to/from is a pain. Should the new ballpark be closer to Tampa? Sure, but Tampa didn’t want the Tays before or last year, so the new stadium had to be in St. Pete. Now, whether the team is better off moving to Nashville, Charlotte, or Montreal is another story…
This reminds me of when I(a decade or so ago) lowered my deductible for my car insurance to save money. Two months later, I found that wasn't a wise idea. Sometimes, people do silly things to save money.
I think the rays are going to have to make some hard choices: 1) Is Tropicana Field worth Saving both to the Rays and the City of St Petersburg? 2) Is there funding for the new stadium secured? 3) Do the Rays want to stay in the Tampa Bay Area or move elsewhere else? 4) How many games or seasons will they need a temporary stadium for? Depending on which path is made this could range from a few months of a season to over three seasons. 5) If the Rays stay in the Tampa Bay Area or in Florida, which ballpark(s) can accommodate their schedules and seating capacity needs? Some have suggested the rays move temporarily to stadiums such as Steinbrenner Field, Al Lang Stadium, BayCare Ballpark, Walt Disney World Wide of Sports Stadium, Charlotte Sports Park, Ed Smith Stadium, JetBlue Park, Raymond James Stadium, or even sharing LoanDepot Park with the Marlins. 6) Is it better or more cost effective for the rays to temporarily relocate out of town? Initially there was some talk of them moving to North Carolina or Montreal. But these were dismissed as possibilities. Others have expressed interest including Nashville, Omaha, Oakland, and the like too. 7) What is the risk of another Hurricane damaging Florida or delaying the construction of the new stadium? They need to factor in this in making their choices. With Climate Change, hurricane strength and frequency are increasing.
Playing in the Orlando area is at best a short-term solution - outdoors in Florida in summer is a no-go given the almost daily late-afternoon/early evening thunderstorms coupled with the heat and humidity. Also traffic on I-4 between Orlando and Tampa is horrendous (think LA type traffic!) - what fan base you had in Tampa/St.Pete isn't driving to Orlando. If you had to play outdoors in a spring training facility, I think you'd want to find one closer to Tampa/St. Pete.
The $25 million insurance will cover that cleanup, but that would leave around $19 million left to replace the roof, which will cost much, much more than that.
If I were the Rays et al I'd take any payout, bowl the stadium and immediately try to get shovels in the ground on the replacement. Try to beat inflation on your new venue cost estimates. Saving the Trop beyond make safe work is throwing good money after bad
They need to wait a year or so before doing anything. Materials costs are going to be through the roof. People need to rebuild all throughout the southeast from NC down to Manatee County Florida.
If they were smart, they would declare it a loss tear it down and build a brand new stadium right on the spot. I mean they were considering building a new ballpark and it was a good time to do it right there where the old one was.
The cost of cleanup and reconstruction will outweigh the opportunity cost of whatever they lose for playing in a minor league park for the next few years. Let's be real, attendance was bad anyway
My understanding is that they do very well on TV. Moving to a minor league park could be a net win regardless. TV fans keep following same as always and baseball fans in a place like Orlando might result in higher ticket sales even though capacity is much lower. Given this insurance news I can't possibly see them going back to the Trop, there's just no upside.
@@pocklecod they'll have huge issues leaving the Tampa area. This is where the core of the fan base is. We wouldn't go to downtown St Pete because of how crappy making that commute is. Orlando doesn't really care about the rays much and we are definitely not going to commute up I4 to go there. They need to stay in the Tampa area for the long term health of the team.
Look at what Qatar did for the 2022 World Cup. They built a temporary 40k+ soccer stadium out of steel and repurposed shipping containers. Maybe the Rays could build something like that……? That may sound crazy, but that soccer stadium was two levels, a baseball stadium would only need to be one level
There's no way they don't play some games in Tampa, Clearwater, or Dunedin. You'd be in a situation that some local fans wouldn't be able to go to games.
might take more then 3 years for them to move to that new ballpark, that park could also be screwed up by some hurricane during construction. You're still going to need that Tropicana Field in the end, no reason to make planned expectations with zero guarantees even existing.
After the A's played their last game in Oakland and Hurricane Milton was bearing down on Florida's mid West Coast, the Baseball Gods said to their boss, God, now that there will never be another game at the Oakland Coliseum, wouldn't it be nice if this Hurricane meant that there will also never be another game at Tropicana Field. Then God said, Great idea, watch this!
Ok, if we have a mortgage, we have to have a minimum coverage to pay for replacement of our home. Why in hell does the city get to reduce coverage with out a penalty or just losing possession of the Realestate? If I did that on my house, the mortgage holder would place thier own insurance on it at a premium price. It would seem to me by reducing coverage it would almost be a criminal act? Now the tax payers have to pay. A full investigation is needed on this matter? Heads should roll on this one! Who was the one that ordered the reduction of the policy?
What about Steinbrenner Field across the bay? Only 11,000 seats but the Rays don't draw much more than that. Or the Phillies complex in Clearwater --7000 seats?
The heat is going to be the problem for any nearby minor league park, or Orlando. This team doesn't have a strong enough following to remove them from the area for 3 years then come back either. Although....there's a possibility something like that could work in their favour. Bail for 3 years then come strolling back into town with a brand new beautiful stadium to open. They're in a tough spot. It's too bad an exemption can't be given to allow them to put a cheap temporary replacement roof in place. Something that can keep the rain out...but might need to be replaced again if another hurricane hits it.
You have done such a great job of covering this. I am concerned for Tampa that they won't build this new ball park now. If there is so much to be done on the city and construction delays continue, it could wind up not happening. If they move to Orlando for a few years which seems to me the logical place because Thunderstorms don’t come regularly (and it's not a horrible drive from Tampa) I th8nk you could see, with really good attendance, talk of them moving there pemminently. Whether it would happen is another issue.
I can't believe you just said it's not a bad drive from Tampa to Orlando. I4 is one of the worst stretches of highway in the country.your comment is nonsense
could you do a video on the minor league parks in the Tampa bay area that the rays can consider..one being Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. they are also considering using their spring training field in Port Charlotte. Orlando would not be a good option. Chances are, like the A's, the Rays will abandon the Trop and play in a minor league park until the new stadium is ready. It's ironic that the 2 teams that need to be settled before MLB expands are going through the same issues!
I don't know the full extent of everything going on here but weather-wise I think the months of spring and early summer are favorable enough to play roof-less, at least until hurricane season arrives next July or August. That should buy enough time to decide what to do with the Rays.
When they reduced their insurance coverage they probably agreed to take on additional risk, raising the city's deductible. So, the city might be on the hook for the first few million dollars.
Wow! Can you imagine being a family whose home was leveled and your living out of a hotel or wherever, and you see local, state and federal funds going towards a “new roof” for a baseball team? OMG! I’d be unglued! Where are the priorities? And unless the owner of the them is putting in a significant amount to help defray the costs, I’d would give this “bandage” for the Trop, a thumbs down!
This is more like a family living in city government owned housing having their home leveled by a disaster, which a city would certainly do everything in their power to fix. Remember that the City of St. Petersburg built and owns the Trop, and collects rent from the Rays and other occasional tenants.
@@sblack53 I get it, and hopefully they do everything they can to help all that where affected by the hurricane. Even though the city government owns the stadium, I still think priorities should come into play. Housing for all, along with all the essentials should come before a revamped stadium. And I’m sure this won’t be the last of the bad weather for Florida.
Pro teams, MLB, colleges and organizations that use and profit from Tropicana Field should contribute to cleanup and repairs. Also the tourism industry, companies and businesses that profit from the stadium should also help to pay. Modern stadiums cost billions of dollars cities end up using tax revenue to help buy the land, pay for construction and maintenance. Teams are often given huge tax breaks to occupy stadiums. But who profits? The teams, tourism and entertainment. The normal taxpayer gets little benefit from the taxes they pay for the stadium and the money lost to tax breaks. Local residents should be given discounts on tickets to events in the stadium that they helped build.
Would it help the city to build a new stadium if they can now just use the current site? If the team is going to play in a temp stadium for 3 years, then they could just start demolition of the Trop and build there rather than going to a new location. I know there’s debate about keeping the team in St Pete but if it’s going to stay there anyway, I wonder if this could potentially make things easier if they can build a new stadium at the same location. Repairing the roof would just be burning money.
I was thinking the exact same thing. This would give them more flexibility with the land use on the new ballpark. They could still build the village concept, but just have more land options at play now.
I believe most commercial roof policies are prorated, now. In other words, if a 30-yr rated roof gets damaged after 20 years in use, insurance will cover 1/3 of the cost.
Long time Rays fan from Orlando. Play and stay here. St. Pete is essentially unreachable from Orlando. I-4 traffic has always been bad going and coming. Team ownership rips out the heart of team and fills it with cheap players. I no longer really care until an owner that wants to invest in team stability shows up.
I LOVED watching the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions playing in the "elements" yesterday. As reported it was unbelievably the Lions first game outdoors this year. I'm not a fan of domed stadiums. But if the local and state taxpayers are willing to pony up for what is becoming more and more expensive to build and maintain so be it. Obviously building a stadium with a fabric roof in a hurricane zone was a disaster waiting to happen. How ironic that the council thought their good fortune on not having a disaster would last!
Baseball is not meant to be played in inclement weather. How would you like to be a batter watching a 100 MPH pitch sail at your head because the pitcher lost his grip due to rain?
Before everyone goes off moaning and groaning about the premiums/coverage, get yourself an insurance expert. Assets decline in value over time so why insure them as if they were brand new. A 2024 Ford 150 is worth a lot more than the same pick-up that's 10 years old. You will only recover replacement costs or cost of repairs whichever is less from the carrier. Would you still insure an old clunker for collision? The stadium/roof outlived its useful life. What's it really worth?
My thought process here: 1. With a new stadium being planned/built for 2028, why waste money fixing up Tropicana Field? 2. I say have them play at a minor league stadium. I mean, it's not like the Rays draw high crowds anyway? (yes I know that's a low hanging fruit way to bash the team)
Wow, so the city of St Petersburg did what most of us a forced to do. Get less coverage because insurance is so expensive. You would think they would just collect more fees. Even if the park decided to increase ticket prices, I am sure they could cover $300,000 a year. The entire city of St. Petersburg is in a flood zone with mandatory evacuation. Who thought this was a good idea?!?!?!?
Worst commissioner in pro sports history. The MLB is in a much more precarious financial state than the public realizes. Two teams without stadiums, plus 4 teams that are for sale or need new stadiums within the next decade. And that's on top of the loss of revenue coming from the collapse of Regional Sports Networks. Game popularity is declining and the league is dying slowly over the past decades. Only thing that saves the sport is a salary cap system like the NHL.
@@sblack53 Tampa is the result of a recent natural disaster and finding a home for them to play in next season is still unfolding, but the Oakland A's playing in Sacramento is Manfred's own personal disaster. As commissioner he should have shut Fisher's toddler tantrum down and negotiated a deal between the city of Oakland and the A's to play in Oakland until Vegas was complete and ready to move in. All other options should have been off the table out of respect to the players, the media, the fans, and the other teams in the league (who now have to play in a little league stadium with no amenities too). That was what the situation called for: a strong Commissioner who could negotiate a deal. Instead, he folded like a cheap suit. He enabled the John Fisher shit show that is about to unfurl before our eyes next season and put one more dent in MLB's reputation.
Trop is cursed. They built a baseball-only stadium, without a team, and got passed over or Miami to play baseball in a football only stadium. They reached the end of life for the roof, and didn't replace or refurbish it, then cut insurance coverage on a fully amortized roof, AFTER seeing other fabric roofs fail. Did they look at a "model" of how expensive being cheap was??
Regarding this video content, very good production, BUT, when you refer to a quote, PLAY the clip containing THAT quote. That adds interest AND validity to the story. Radio has done that for literally decades, tv began doing it as soon as the technology advanced.
I have done work a Tropicana field and can honestly say the building is not worth the repairs. I’m sorry for the employees there, but the building is and was falling apart before the storm. It look nice to the public but behind the scenes it’s in very poor condition.
Heard they’re going to play up in Clearwater, at BayCare Ballpark, 601 N, Old Coachman Rd., Clearwater, FL 33765. If they go to Orlando, they should just stay there as they’ll sell-out each game because Foreigners will want to go to a Genuine “American Baseball game” while visiting the parks.
They can’t do that. Brodie already looked into it. The stadium isn’t built to handle the elements should they remove the roof. There would be problems with the way the drainage system works among other issues without the roof.
Just move the team now. Tampa Bay can reset itself and build a new ballpark over the next 10 years and attract a new team then. That's how they got the Rays..
It's unbelievable St. Pete would reduce their insurance premium but yep, they sure did. I guess that field in Orlando will work for up to 3-4 seasons I think a lot of FL. retirees love watching Rays on T.V. and they'll take get great deals on bus trips back and forth to the Orlando stadium. I would think it would cost way over 100 million to repair The Trop I doubt they will bother. If they build a new stadium in Tampa or St. Pete just remember people will still not fill the seats there's way too many people living there and the traffic is horrible I mean absolutely brutal but I'll admit Miami is worse lol. This story is going have many more twists and turns it'll be fascinating to watch from the front row seats.
I don't know the ins-and-outs of putting the question about a new stadium to a referendum, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was such an effort. One need look back no farther than the disagreement over the Pier for an example.
Temporarily moving the Rays to Orlando would be a very interesting real time case study on which Central Florida city is a more viable baseball market. There’s no way the MLB gives Florida a third team so the Rays moving to Orlando is their only chance of getting a franchise.
Why do the team or owners pay for insurance? The city pays for insurance? A year ago, they reduced the coverage. How about voting for funds for my house? It's crazy babysitting these teams. Make them pay the insurance. So city pay to fix, then bring it down in 3 years.
Honestly, I can see why the city would not want to spend money on this. They sink massive amounts of public money into stadiums to begin with and now the whole city is in need of that money. Let the Rays deal with it and spend tax money where it's really needed. Having a baseball team isn't more important than having a city.
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For a $10 team? No...
Cover the roof with a giant tarp, change stadium name to Tarpacana Field
Brilliant
Good One! Take a Bow!!😂
Kudos!
Tarpacover Field
Lmao
Of all the states in the nation where you should NEVER cut back on wind and flood insurance, Florida is at the top of the list.
Yeah that seems fishy.
They saved 275K x3 or 825K in premiums, but it will cost them $75M in repairs.
You'd think 🤔
Being that the company that installed the roof is on record recently saying the roof was beyond it's useful life it's incredibly unlikely instance would've covered it anyways.
It would have been very easy to prove negligence by not replacing the roof based on manufacturers recommendations.
The building was going to bulldozed in 4 years anyway--it's like someone who takes collision off of their car insurance when they pay the car off.
Theres absolutely no reason to put a dime into Tropicana field. Just tear it down. If they can play in a minor league park 1 yr, they can do it for 3.
The repair bill is going to be more money than the assessed value of the stadium is. In other words, a write off.
have the players play in the open air for 3 years. It's FL, near the Gulf. That's not that hot. Warm weather states really should have open air stadiums. Maybe it would give the team an advantage (like Turner Field in Atlanta) when pansy players can't take the heat. If they must play somewhere else, I hear the Oakland Coliseum is available.
Major league baseball is DEAD! For plenty of major league teams... The state a florida doesn't care about major baseball... good weather weather round, distractions like the beach towns, theme parks, a thousand other distractions.... that do not include taking in a ball game... It's just a bad market for major teams. Great place for spring ball, but that's it. No real market.
@@hankeng6375 Oakland would be a logistical nightmare as the Rays are in the AL East.....
Let them share A's new little league temp home.
The Rays have played their last game at the Trop. $25 million max insurance payout means there will not be any money going into a stadium that will only be used for 3 more years. Rays are playing in minor league ballpark for 3-4 seasons, and their new stadium will start construction earlier than expected as a result.
Hell tearing it down might cost more than $25 million.
@@TheSonicsean Tearing down an old NHL arena in Edmonton Canada was just quoted at being around 40 million dollars. I would imagine it would have similar costs to team down the Trop. I believe that cost was already worked into the new Stadium projects budget though.
Rays will be relocating to Omaha, Nebraska.
Hear me out. 3-4 years they are looking at expansion. Sell the team. Move it. Bring back the rays as an expansion team.
They say 6.5 million for clean-up but we all know it will end up being more like 10-12 million. It's a waste of money for a stadium you are knocking down in a couple years. Use that money to find a place to play for a couple years.
They have some real geniuses at work in St. Petersburg..... when the Trop was built, its roof was only given a 20 yr life expectancy. It is still the (was) original roof and is some 14+ yrs past its life expectancy.
I’m expecting a write off of the Trop. What will be interesting is whether a three-year absence of the team changes the tenor of the new stadium conversation. Pinellas county is facing a massive array of challenges in Milton’s aftermath-yesterday’s priorities like a new stadium will take a backseat.
SHOULD have used Travelers Insurance. They DO have that GIANT umbrella!!!!!
Underrated comment
A's and Rays...CONTRACTION, dispersal draft...Problem solved!
That's a marketing gem right there for Travelers. Build a new temporary roof in the shape of a giant umbrella, and get Travelers to sponsor it. But a serious question. What happens to the current sponsor Tropicana if the Rays can't play there? Do they have to give back sponsorship money for that period they are unable to use the stadium?
As a long time Floridian who knows the lay of the land pretty good I think moving the team to Orlando would be a good thing. They will draw more fans in Orlando then St Pete. St Pete is just a Terrible location. Any location off of I 4 between Tampa and Orlando would be better.. NOBODY wants to drive over jammed packed bridges to go to St Pete.
If they build a new park in St Pete it will be a huge failure too.
No one wants to drive on I 4 either!
There's no MLB ready stadium in Orlando
Once again, Brodie, you sink your teeth into a topic, and do excellent research. No one has unearthed the Trop issue as deeply as you.
Thinking about all the mold that will probably grow under the turf thats not removed.
Thank you. For keeping your eyes on this story.
This is why you never cut back on your insurance coverage if you can help it. What you'll save on premiums isn't worth the risk if you actually need to use the insurance coverage.
Rays should throw in the towel and play in a temp venue for minimum of 3 years
The good thing for the Rays is they have more then enough options to play in Florida, its not like they'll have to play all of their games in the Tampa area. They could probably also play a handful of games in Miami. Or just like the Expos before they moved they can play some games in Puerto Rico or some other alternate sites. MLB likes to host games in countries like Mexico, there have the Rays host a handful of games there every year.
Not that the Rays ever spend that much money on free agents anyways but even less players will be enticed to sign a contract with the Rays in the next few years though. Basically only free agents they'll entice are guys who aren't getting offers from any other teams.
I feel before they do anything to spend any money on the damages they need to check out the building for mold. It's been nearly a month since the hurricane. Nevermind any future damages. They need to focus on the damages that been sitting for weeks. I still don't believe it's a good idea to reopen Tropicana Field. They should have it closed permanently!
This looks like a classic case of being penny rich and pound poor. There are many times saving a little bit in the short term costs a lot more long term.
insurance will reject the claim they wouldn't have paid anything regardless!
Nobody in St. Pete is doing a cost/benefit analysis of anything involving the Rays. The prestige and pride of having an MLB team is going to bankrupt St. Pete.
Even worse when they sucker the city into owning the stadium.
It's over. They should rethink their life choices.
St Pete wants to be Tampa. Everything they've done for the last 20 years has been chasing that. But it'll never happen. The entire city is too ghetto
275,000 in anual premiums will now cost them 50-75 million.
It won't because they won't go through with spending that money. The value of the stadium is worth less than the repair bill, otherwise known in the insurance industry as a write-off.
insurance will reject the claim they wouldn't have paid anything regardless!
@@WoozyPolarBear Its basically the equivalent of car getting an accident, the stadium has been totaled. The total cost of fixing the car is more expensive then just paying off the car. Same goes for the stadium, its totalled.
St Pete will just raise the price of beach parking meters by $1.00 to cover the 6.5mill
At one point the Tampa Bay Lighting (NHL hockey team) played a few seasons there. It ran along the 1st base side. I wonder if they are using the drainage for the field with what they did for the hockey rink with some kind of expansion to it. I never read that they pulled the hockey rink out..
I would like to see multiple parks used during the season. Split it up between Blue jays, Yankees, Phillies, Al Lang, & Disney complex. Giving time for each park to get ready, gives fans access and promotes the parks. I love the Trop but i don't believe it will be playable again.
Unlikely to have multiple homes. Makes everything so much more complicated from mlb logistics.
I read a report up here in Canada, that stated that there were talks about letting them use the Blue Jays spring training facility. But I haven't heard anything else about that.
It would be a good place for an AL East team if the minor league team doesn’t need it, but it’s not good for the players. No point upsetting the union and owners. Minor league stadium in the Tampa area makes more sense except for the playoffs.
@@ericberkowitz688the Jays, Phillies, Yankees, Pirates, Tigers, and Orioles all play their Spring Training ball in the Tampa Bay area. Of those, only the Orioles don’t also have a Single-A FSL team using the same place from April onwards.
@@sblack53 true; my point is moreso that it’s too much to ask of the players and the people who work for the team to do that. The union may grieve over it and it’s not worth the fight.
Not to mention the money St. Pete is already dishing out to this day for clean-up and infrastructure. That, with insurance woes, I just don't see the value of repairing Tropicana. I almost feel like they would be better off cutting the cord and letting the team play in Orlando for a few years.
Clean up costs get reimbursed by FEMA
I wonder if Orlando might make a play to build a new stadium for the Rays and just have them become the Orlando Rays. The city did fairly recently (11 years ago) vote to use public funds for Orlando City's stadium, what's to stop them from offering tourism tax dollars for a new MLB stadium?
If the "new rays ballpark" or whatever its going to be called has to be in St. Pete, a little forward thinking like installing the rail lines on the new Howard Frankland bridge should have been part of its day one opening. Not a "future expansion" that will most likely never happen. I swear this area never thinks more than 5 years ahead.
...Or just build the dang stadium IN Tampa.
Tampa didn’t want it. That’s why they went back to St. Pete to negotiate a new stadium.
They shouldn't waste any more money on the damaged stadium. It was a dump to start with. Play in a temporary stadium until the new stadium is ready.
I actually liked the Trop. The only things wrong with it were ballpark concession prices (but that’s an issue in many stadia) and artificial turf (which they needed because the fixed roof didn’t allow enough light inside to support grass). I liked that one could walk 360° around the stadium just above the lower bowl, and even a modest crowd sounded so loud, I had to turn off my hearing aids. People complain about the access to the stadium, but there are many stadia where driving to/from is a pain. Should the new ballpark be closer to Tampa? Sure, but Tampa didn’t want the Tays before or last year, so the new stadium had to be in St. Pete. Now, whether the team is better off moving to Nashville, Charlotte, or Montreal is another story…
Rob and Brandi make good points here.
This reminds me of when I(a decade or so ago) lowered my deductible for my car insurance to save money. Two months later, I found that wasn't a wise idea. Sometimes, people do silly things to save money.
I think the rays are going to have to make some hard choices:
1) Is Tropicana Field worth Saving both to the Rays and the City of St Petersburg?
2) Is there funding for the new stadium secured?
3) Do the Rays want to stay in the Tampa Bay Area or move elsewhere else?
4) How many games or seasons will they need a temporary stadium for? Depending on which path is made this could range from a few months of a season to over three seasons.
5) If the Rays stay in the Tampa Bay Area or in Florida, which ballpark(s) can accommodate their schedules and seating capacity needs? Some have suggested the rays move temporarily to stadiums such as Steinbrenner Field, Al Lang Stadium, BayCare Ballpark, Walt Disney World Wide of Sports Stadium, Charlotte Sports Park, Ed Smith Stadium, JetBlue Park, Raymond James Stadium, or even sharing LoanDepot Park with the Marlins.
6) Is it better or more cost effective for the rays to temporarily relocate out of town? Initially there was some talk of them moving to North Carolina or Montreal. But these were dismissed as possibilities. Others have expressed interest including Nashville, Omaha, Oakland, and the like too.
7) What is the risk of another Hurricane damaging Florida or delaying the construction of the new stadium? They need to factor in this in making their choices. With Climate Change, hurricane strength and frequency are increasing.
Playing in the Orlando area is at best a short-term solution - outdoors in Florida in summer is a no-go given the almost daily late-afternoon/early evening thunderstorms coupled with the heat and humidity. Also traffic on I-4 between Orlando and Tampa is horrendous (think LA type traffic!) - what fan base you had in Tampa/St.Pete isn't driving to Orlando. If you had to play outdoors in a spring training facility, I think you'd want to find one closer to Tampa/St. Pete.
Dude you're missing the point. There is no solution this problem. It's lose lose.
Temporary internal drainage system = a large number of buckets.
Exactly. Shop vac central.
@@brodiebrazil More like sump pumps and hoses from Harbor Freight Tools.
6.5M is a lot of money for a city budget expenditure.
The $25 million insurance will cover that cleanup, but that would leave around $19 million left to replace the roof, which will cost much, much more than that.
If I were the Rays et al I'd take any payout, bowl the stadium and immediately try to get shovels in the ground on the replacement. Try to beat inflation on your new venue cost estimates.
Saving the Trop beyond make safe work is throwing good money after bad
They are going to demolish it for parking for the new stadium and redeveloping the area anyway, right?
@JBM425 may as well take every cent from the insurers and use it on the demolition you were about to pay for anyway
They need to wait a year or so before doing anything. Materials costs are going to be through the roof. People need to rebuild all throughout the southeast from NC down to Manatee County Florida.
If they were smart, they would declare it a loss tear it down and build a brand new stadium right on the spot. I mean they were considering building a new ballpark and it was a good time to do it right there where the old one was.
This is such a terrible idea. The biggest issue harming rays attendance is the location. You ain't from around here you don't understand
The cost of cleanup and reconstruction will outweigh the opportunity cost of whatever they lose for playing in a minor league park for the next few years. Let's be real, attendance was bad anyway
My understanding is that they do very well on TV. Moving to a minor league park could be a net win regardless. TV fans keep following same as always and baseball fans in a place like Orlando might result in higher ticket sales even though capacity is much lower. Given this insurance news I can't possibly see them going back to the Trop, there's just no upside.
@@pocklecod they'll have huge issues leaving the Tampa area. This is where the core of the fan base is. We wouldn't go to downtown St Pete because of how crappy making that commute is. Orlando doesn't really care about the rays much and we are definitely not going to commute up I4 to go there.
They need to stay in the Tampa area for the long term health of the team.
Look at what Qatar did for the 2022 World Cup. They built a temporary 40k+ soccer stadium out of steel and repurposed shipping containers.
Maybe the Rays could build something like that……? That may sound crazy, but that soccer stadium was two levels, a baseball stadium would only need to be one level
There's no way they don't play some games in Tampa, Clearwater, or Dunedin. You'd be in a situation that some local fans wouldn't be able to go to games.
Local fans already don't go to their games. They are done in St Pete.
might take more then 3 years for them to move to that new ballpark, that park could also be screwed up by some hurricane during construction. You're still going to need that Tropicana Field in the end, no reason to make planned expectations with zero guarantees even existing.
The new stadium plan involves a more robust roof similar to LoanDepot Park in Miami.
After the A's played their last game in Oakland and Hurricane Milton was bearing down on Florida's mid West Coast, the Baseball Gods said to their boss, God, now that there will never be another game at the Oakland Coliseum, wouldn't it be nice if this Hurricane meant that there will also never be another game at Tropicana Field. Then God said, Great idea, watch this!
Ok, if we have a mortgage, we have to have a minimum coverage to pay for replacement of our home. Why in hell does the city get to reduce coverage with out a penalty or just losing possession of the Realestate? If I did that on my house, the mortgage holder would place thier own insurance on it at a premium price. It would seem to me by reducing coverage it would almost be a criminal act? Now the tax payers have to pay. A full investigation is needed on this matter? Heads should roll on this one! Who was the one that ordered the reduction of the policy?
What about Steinbrenner Field across the bay? Only 11,000 seats but the Rays don't draw much more than that. Or the Phillies complex in Clearwater --7000 seats?
The heat is going to be the problem for any nearby minor league park, or Orlando.
This team doesn't have a strong enough following to remove them from the area for 3 years then come back either. Although....there's a possibility something like that could work in their favour. Bail for 3 years then come strolling back into town with a brand new beautiful stadium to open.
They're in a tough spot. It's too bad an exemption can't be given to allow them to put a cheap temporary replacement roof in place. Something that can keep the rain out...but might need to be replaced again if another hurricane hits it.
I thought this would give the rays an excuse to break the lease and move to montreal
They should sell the team.
Olympic Stadium isn't available they are replacing , of all things, the roof
You got Jacksonville and Gwinnett that have Triple A stadiums within driving distance to St Pete where the Rays can play.
St Pete government is not allowing the team to move out of the county or they'll pull funding on a new stadium
@@Skroskznikif they can’t leave the county then the Dunedin Blue Jays or Clearwater Threshers better get comfy real quick.
Both are hours away by car, not exactly close. Those locations don’t make much sense.
Gwinnett is a northern Atlanta suburb. Not exactly a short drive.
You have done such a great job of covering this. I am concerned for Tampa that they won't build this new ball park now. If there is so much to be done on the city and construction delays continue, it could wind up not happening. If they move to Orlando for a few years which seems to me the logical place because Thunderstorms don’t come regularly (and it's not a horrible drive from Tampa) I th8nk you could see, with really good attendance, talk of them moving there pemminently. Whether it would happen is another issue.
I can't believe you just said it's not a bad drive from Tampa to Orlando. I4 is one of the worst stretches of highway in the country.your comment is nonsense
@@QuisUtDeus828 for real!
A as someone who lives in Orlando I’d go watch a game at Disney
could you do a video on the minor league parks in the Tampa bay area that the rays can consider..one being Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. they are also considering using their spring training field in Port Charlotte. Orlando would not be a good option. Chances are, like the A's, the Rays will abandon the Trop and play in a minor league park until the new stadium is ready.
It's ironic that the 2 teams that need to be settled before MLB expands are going through the same issues!
I don't know the full extent of everything going on here but weather-wise I think the months of spring and early summer are favorable enough to play roof-less, at least until hurricane season arrives next July or August. That should buy enough time to decide what to do with the Rays.
What about the damage elsewhere from Milton?
I suggest putting a golf dome style of roof over one of the outdoor stadiums, like Steinbrenner field or something like that.
When they reduced their insurance coverage they probably agreed to take on additional risk, raising the city's deductible. So, the city might be on the hook for the first few million dollars.
Wow! Can you imagine being a family whose home was leveled and your living out of a hotel or wherever, and you see local, state and federal funds going towards a “new roof” for a baseball team? OMG! I’d be unglued! Where are the priorities? And unless the owner of the them is putting in a significant amount to help defray the costs, I’d would give this “bandage” for the Trop, a thumbs down!
This is more like a family living in city government owned housing having their home leveled by a disaster, which a city would certainly do everything in their power to fix. Remember that the City of St. Petersburg built and owns the Trop, and collects rent from the Rays and other occasional tenants.
@@sblack53 I get it, and hopefully they do everything they can to help all that where affected by the hurricane. Even though the city government owns the stadium, I still think priorities should come into play. Housing for all, along with all the essentials should come before a revamped stadium. And I’m sure this won’t be the last of the bad weather for Florida.
@@sblack53Ahh, you mean like Communism?
How much to REMOVE the roof and change the field to grass?
Pro teams, MLB, colleges and organizations that use and profit from Tropicana Field should contribute to cleanup and repairs. Also the tourism industry, companies and businesses that profit from the stadium should also help to pay. Modern stadiums cost billions of dollars cities end up using tax revenue to help buy the land, pay for construction and maintenance. Teams are often given huge tax breaks to occupy stadiums. But who profits? The teams, tourism and entertainment. The normal taxpayer gets little benefit from the taxes they pay for the stadium and the money lost to tax breaks. Local residents should be given discounts on tickets to events in the stadium that they helped build.
Would it help the city to build a new stadium if they can now just use the current site? If the team is going to play in a temp stadium for 3 years, then they could just start demolition of the Trop and build there rather than going to a new location. I know there’s debate about keeping the team in St Pete but if it’s going to stay there anyway, I wonder if this could potentially make things easier if they can build a new stadium at the same location. Repairing the roof would just be burning money.
I was thinking the exact same thing. This would give them more flexibility with the land use on the new ballpark. They could still build the village concept, but just have more land options at play now.
The new stadium is supposed to be built next to the Trop and then demolish and redevelop the site.
Move the team to Nashville. Or move the Rays to North Carolina or Virginia
No ballparks ready in Nashville, Charlotte or Richmond VA for opening day 2025
Bet there were consultants who advised city on lower insurance and they don't have to pay damages for being badly wrong.
I believe most commercial roof policies are prorated, now. In other words, if a 30-yr rated roof gets damaged after 20 years in use, insurance will cover 1/3 of the cost.
Long time Rays fan from Orlando. Play and stay here. St. Pete is essentially unreachable from Orlando. I-4 traffic has always been bad going and coming. Team ownership rips out the heart of team and fills it with cheap players. I no longer really care until an owner that wants to invest in team stability shows up.
I LOVED watching the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions playing in the "elements" yesterday. As reported it was unbelievably the Lions first game outdoors this year. I'm not a fan of domed stadiums. But if the local and state taxpayers are willing to pony up for what is becoming more and more expensive to build and maintain so be it. Obviously building a stadium with a fabric roof in a hurricane zone was a disaster waiting to happen. How ironic that the council thought their good fortune on not having a disaster would last!
I don't believe baseball is supposed to be played in the rain.
Baseball is not meant to be played in inclement weather. How would you like to be a batter watching a 100 MPH pitch sail at your head because the pitcher lost his grip due to rain?
Government should NEVER...EVER...build stadiums or other buildings for private entities.
Isn't another storm coming next week? Will it be done before then?
Has funding for the new stadium been approved/secured?
Before everyone goes off moaning and groaning about the premiums/coverage, get yourself an insurance expert. Assets decline in value over time so why insure them as if they were brand new. A 2024 Ford 150 is worth a lot more than the same pick-up that's 10 years old. You will only recover replacement costs or cost of repairs whichever is less from the carrier. Would you still insure an old clunker for collision? The stadium/roof outlived its useful life. What's it really worth?
Perhaps The Rays can decamp to Montreal for a season or three, as Montreal has a stadium that can be used for baseball.
No they don't it's unavailable for 4 years because of renovations Olympic Stadium was not a great place to play in when the Expos were there
My thought process here:
1. With a new stadium being planned/built for 2028, why waste money fixing up Tropicana Field?
2. I say have them play at a minor league stadium. I mean, it's not like the Rays draw high crowds anyway? (yes I know that's a low hanging fruit way to bash the team)
It's interesting how commercial claims get approved over the residential claims... that have been waiting for years...
Wow, so the city of St Petersburg did what most of us a forced to do. Get less coverage because insurance is so expensive. You would think they would just collect more fees. Even if the park decided to increase ticket prices, I am sure they could cover $300,000 a year. The entire city of St. Petersburg is in a flood zone with mandatory evacuation. Who thought this was a good idea?!?!?!?
Tampa to Disney is 70 minutes with no traffic,maybe 30 min more to St.Pete,it's not that far!
Rob Manfred's solution to every problem seems to be "Play in a minor league stadium for a couple of years."
Worst commissioner in pro sports history. The MLB is in a much more precarious financial state than the public realizes. Two teams without stadiums, plus 4 teams that are for sale or need new stadiums within the next decade. And that's on top of the loss of revenue coming from the collapse of Regional Sports Networks. Game popularity is declining and the league is dying slowly over the past decades. Only thing that saves the sport is a salary cap system like the NHL.
Okay wise guy, you got a better solution to an actual crisis?
Even I cannot blame Rob Manfred for this.
The Rays and the A's situations are completely different.
And move a hundred miles away from your natural market when you do...
@@sblack53 Tampa is the result of a recent natural disaster and finding a home for them to play in next season is still unfolding, but the Oakland A's playing in Sacramento is Manfred's own personal disaster. As commissioner he should have shut Fisher's toddler tantrum down and negotiated a deal between the city of Oakland and the A's to play in Oakland until Vegas was complete and ready to move in. All other options should have been off the table out of respect to the players, the media, the fans, and the other teams in the league (who now have to play in a little league stadium with no amenities too). That was what the situation called for: a strong Commissioner who could negotiate a deal. Instead, he folded like a cheap suit. He enabled the John Fisher shit show that is about to unfurl before our eyes next season and put one more dent in MLB's reputation.
Trop is cursed. They built a baseball-only stadium, without a team, and got passed over or Miami to play baseball in a football only stadium. They reached the end of life for the roof, and didn't replace or refurbish it, then cut insurance coverage on a fully amortized roof, AFTER seeing other fabric roofs fail. Did they look at a "model" of how expensive being cheap was??
Regarding this video content, very good production, BUT, when you refer to a quote, PLAY the clip containing THAT quote. That adds interest AND validity to the story. Radio has done that for literally decades, tv began doing it as soon as the technology advanced.
Building the stadium in Pinellas was the first in a series of blunders for the Rays. The silly design for the roof is another.
Glad they saved al that money.
6.5 million for some shop vacs and a tarp,seems about right.
I have done work a Tropicana field and can honestly say the building is not worth the repairs. I’m sorry for the employees there, but the building is and was falling apart before the storm. It look nice to the public but behind the scenes it’s in very poor condition.
Heard they’re going to play up in Clearwater, at BayCare Ballpark, 601 N, Old Coachman Rd., Clearwater, FL 33765. If they go to Orlando, they should just stay there as they’ll sell-out each game because Foreigners will want to go to a Genuine “American Baseball game” while visiting the parks.
If the Rays move to Orlando temporarily, I’ll be in attendance when I can. I miss having a MLB baseball team close by.
Maybe play at the Troop without a roof will boost the attendances? Maybe it's a good thing for the new ballpark project.
Yeah, I hear Florida has a dry climate.
They can’t do that. Brodie already looked into it. The stadium isn’t built to handle the elements should they remove the roof. There would be problems with the way the drainage system works among other issues without the roof.
Waterproofing is changing electrical to GFIC and weather proofing
March: "Hey guys, I'm gonna save the city $275k, pat me on the back!"
October: *gulp*
Just move the team now. Tampa Bay can reset itself and build a new ballpark over the next 10 years and attract a new team then. That's how they got the Rays..
Do what is needed for it to be playable as an outdoor field
With all the people homeless because of hurricanes, not a penny of public money should go to a sports venue beyond what is required for public safety.
It's unbelievable St. Pete would reduce their insurance premium but yep, they sure did. I guess that field in Orlando will work for up to 3-4 seasons I think a lot of FL. retirees love watching Rays on T.V. and they'll take get great deals on bus trips back and forth to the Orlando stadium.
I would think it would cost way over 100 million to repair The Trop I doubt they will bother. If they build a new stadium in Tampa or St. Pete just remember people will still not fill the seats there's way too many people living there and the traffic is horrible I mean absolutely brutal but I'll admit Miami is worse lol.
This story is going have many more twists and turns it'll be fascinating to watch from the front row seats.
Wow, that insurance reduction was just dumb.
I don't know the ins-and-outs of putting the question about a new stadium to a referendum, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was such an effort. One need look back no farther than the disagreement over the Pier for an example.
The government shouldn’t be in the business of building and owning stadiums.
Dooley's Collerary to Murphy's Law: If you say something cannot possibly happen. IT WILL.
Taking 6 weeks to even consider taking remediary actions it unconscionable
Why bother with a clean up, why not just demolish it if it is only going to be used for 3 years.
Temporarily moving the Rays to Orlando would be a very interesting real time case study on which Central Florida city is a more viable baseball market. There’s no way the MLB gives Florida a third team so the Rays moving to Orlando is their only chance of getting a franchise.
Do you know it would be cheaper to retrofit Raymond James Stadium to baseball then to renovate Tropicana field
Why do the team or owners pay for insurance? The city pays for insurance? A year ago, they reduced the coverage. How about voting for funds for my house? It's crazy babysitting these teams. Make them pay the insurance. So city pay to fix, then bring it down in 3 years.
The buldings in Florida and the sorounding states should be made to be more storm resistant or not insured
How much sales tax, hospitality and local vendor is being lost
Raise the building and the Rays can play in Clearwater at the Phillies spring training facility or the Tampa spring training Yankees facility.
Short term gain is an understatement.
Honestly, I can see why the city would not want to spend money on this. They sink massive amounts of public money into stadiums to begin with and now the whole city is in need of that money. Let the Rays deal with it and spend tax money where it's really needed. Having a baseball team isn't more important than having a city.