Tampa hasn’t exited the fight to keep the Rays in the area quite yet.
The team, along with the Tampa Sports Authority, and other city and county officials, will discuss a potential funding plan to bring the Tampa Bay Rays — and a stadium — to Hillsborough County.
In a statement, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor estimated that the meeting will happen "very soon."
She said her main goal “ is to keep the team in Tampa Bay" — and that she "agrees with the Rays that Tampa is the best location.”
Castor said she looks forward to the discussion, which will review “potential funding options that the Tampa Sports Authority has been working on for several months.”
Rays president Brian Auld has said the team would pay roughly half of the new stadium's potential $700 million price tag. The team's lease at Tropicana Field expires in 2027, and the team has proposed a split season between Tampa Bay and Montreal.
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg is in the process of selecting a developer for the Tropicana Field site. It is unclear whether a baseball stadium will be part of the final plans.
