St. Petersburg City Council delays new stadium bond vote to 2025, expect Rays to withdraw from the deal

The delay was made with the expectation the Rays will withdraw from the new stadium deal.

The St. Petersburg City Council met this afternoon to discuss two important matters regarding the Rays future:

1. Whether to fund $55 million to initiate repairs to Tropicana Field’s roof
2. Whether to initiate $287.5 million in bonds toward the new Rays stadium in St. Petersburg

Unlike the funds being discussed by the Pinellas County Commission, these funds are not restricted to spending on limited list of tourism-focused items, which means canceling the stadium deal could free up funds for other uses.

Rays President Brian Auld was called upon to address the letter issued earlier this week to the Pinellas County Commission, and he apologized both for the letter’s tone; they hadn’t meant for it to be threatening, he said, but understood it was received that way.

During his comments on the Tropicana Field vote, Auld implied the Rays new stadium deal was indeed dead, but St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch addressed the Council arguing the opposite when initiating the bonds hearing.

What the Council decided on funding the $287.5 million in new stadium bonds

The St. Petersburg City Council voted to delay the bond vote to 2025 under the expectation the Rays will now withdraw from the new stadium deal. Here’s how that all played out.

During the deliberations, Councilmember Driscoll — a yes vote to the Rays new stadium project — questioned supporting stadium funding before hurricane infrastructure repairs and enhancements were resolved, and moved to defer the bond hearing to January 9, 2025.

Auld was called to respond to the Council again, and was confronted by Councilmember Hanewicz specifically on the Rays declaring “there is no deal” both in the letter and to the media. Auld stated that is indeed the team’s position.

Hanewicz then asked why Auld had not yet submitted “legal notice under section 3.6” to withdraw from the stadium deal, and Auld did not respond.

Auld was also confronted regarding comments after the Council voted to repair the Tropicana Field roof that he wished it hadn’t occurred. Auld stood by that statement, saying rushing for Opening Day 2026 was essentially untenable.

Additionally, addressing a concern of the Pinellas County Commission, Hanewicz demanded Auld answer whether the Rays believed they could keep the land sale without the new stadium progressing. Auld responded by saying, “I’d like to see some of those projects come to reality as soon as possible,” essentially confirming the claim.

Hanewicz’s questioning of Auld was then interrupted by a move to end the open forum debate and force a vote on the stadium bonds, seemingly to save the Rays from saying anything else negative. This motion failed by a vote of 3-4, but Hanewicz concluded her line of questioning anyway.

City Administrator Rob Gerdes — who you might recall from the Pinellas County Commission meeting — said a delay would help the City negotiate with the Rays to deliver an automatic termination letter, which seemed to push the City Council to move for a delay into 2025.

Prior to a final vote, Mayor Welch spoke once more addressed expectations regarding the Rays, and claimed the City will not take on “a dime more” because the Rays bear the burden of all cost overruns, and in any version of the deal for a new stadium the City would not be on the hook for anything more than the $287.5 million commitment.

With that, the City Council voted to delay the bond vote for funding a new stadium to January 9, 2025 in a vote of 5-2, thereby allowing the City to seek a termination letter from the Rays on the new stadium deal.