Hillsborough County votes to start negotiating with Rays on $2.3B ballpark

Hillsborough County Commissioners voted Wednesday to begin negotiations to hash out the details for the funding of a new $2.3 billion ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays that were laid out in a memorandum of understanding announced last week.

The vote, as commissioners reiterated several times from the dais, was not to approve the funding structure for the stadium but to allow county staff to work with the team on the agreements and to address pending issues that will make up the final deal.

Commissioners voted 5-2 to approve the measure. Donna Cameron Cepeda, District 5, and Joshua Wostal, District 7, cast the no votes.

Tampa City Council will take a vote to authorize its staff to negotiate with the team Thursday.

The nonbinding memorandum of understanding between the Rays, the county, the city of Tampa, the Tampa Sports Authority and the Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency calls for the team to pay about 57.5% of the cost for the ballpark that would be built on the site of Hillsborough College on Dale Mabry Highway.

According to a breakdown of the financing presented to commissioners and the memorandum, the team will pay about $1.32 billion for the cost of a new 31,000 seat ballpark. Hillsborough County will put in approximately $796 million with the city pitching in about $80 million and the CRA about $100 million.

The team has agreed to cover all cost overruns, and the county will own the ballpark with the Rays making a commitment to play there for a minimum of 35 years.

The memorandum calls for the public portion of the financing to come from existing revenue sources and states the team will pay to build a mixed-use development on the remaining property. The state would cover most of the cost to build a new academic campus replacing the existing college.

Among the county’s guiding principles as it negotiates is to not jeopardize its AAA credit rating and to use “no public funding for items that do not have a public benefit.”

While no timeline was given on when county staff will return to commissioners for the approval of final agreements, the Rays’ owners have been adamant they want the ballpark to be ready in time to start the 2029 baseball season.