St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch believes the Tampa Bay Rays will need to extend their lease at Tropicana Field beyond 2028.
Patrick Zalupski, the team’s new majority owner, caused a stir in early October by announcing plans to open the 2029 season in a new stadium. He acknowledged that the timeline was “aggressive, and perhaps audacious.” Many stakeholders believe it is unfeasible.
In a recent interview, Welch said the two parties have discussed extending the team’s lease “only in passing.” The Rays have not formally requested additional time at the Trop, which is now sporting a roof for the first time in over a year.
“We’ve got a stadium that can be their home for five, seven years, whatever makes sense,” Welch told the Catalyst. “And then long term, it’ll have to be a different conversation.”
Welch called a short-term lease extension practical and the “first, best option” for the Rays. “I think it will probably have to happen,” he added.
However, any agreement must also “make sense for the city.” An extension cannot impede long-awaited plans to redevelop roughly 60 acres of prime real estate surrounding the stadium.
The city began displacing thousands of Black residents and business owners, including the mayor’s grandfather, from the Historic Gas Plant District in the 1980s. Welch noted that the land has featured a sea of surface parking lots for over 40 years, rather than previously promised jobs, housing and economic opportunities.
“So, we’re going to move forward with that,” he said. The Rays, under former owner Stuart Sternberg, exited an arduously negotiated redevelopment deal in March.
A spokesperson said the Rays would not comment on a potential lease extension “right now.”
Zalupski previously said a new fixed-roof stadium would anchor a “best-in-class” development, likely encompassing at least 100 acres, with hotels, office space, shops, restaurants, bars and a music venue. Welch subsequently said the acreage target would seemingly eliminate the Gas Plant from contention.
“So, there are a lot more conversations that need to happen if it came to a point where they decided this was a spot, and they wanted to resurrect the old deal,” he added. “At least for the stadium piece, it’ll have to be a whole different funding model.”
Welch no longer supports using community redevelopment area (CRA) coffers to help fund a new stadium. However, the financing mechanism could offset site infrastructure costs.
Administrators are currently considering a $6.8 billion unsolicited redevelopment proposal. The project, led by ARK Investment Management and Ellison Development, would encompass 94.5 acres.
The proposal checks several boxes on Zalupski’s wishlist – without the Rays spending a dime. It also includes a stadium option.
Team leadership is studying several potential stadium sites throughout Tampa Bay. Rays co-owner and CEO Ken Babby has said that the team is watching the Gas Plant process unfold “like everybody else,” and “we’ll see what the future brings.”
Babby has also noted that the “home of the Tampa Bay Rays is right here at Tropicana Field,” and credited the city for ensuring the storm-damaged ballpark is ready for the 2026 baseball season.
Welch, in his first meeting with the new owners, emphasized the importance of a “sincere effort” to repair relationships with the community, the city, and Pinellas County after the Rays reneged on signed deals and dissolved once-substantial support for a new stadium. “They understood that,” he said.
“Ken Babby, in particular, said, ‘We need to rebuild those relationships,’” Welch continued. “I think they’ve said and done all the right things so far to do that. And I give them credit for that.”
For now, both sides are celebrating a major milestone at the Trop. The city announced Nov. 21 that crews had installed the domed stadium’s final roof panel ahead of schedule.
The Rays, in a social media post, called it a “massive step forward” for the team, city and fans. Babby, on his personal account, said he was “beyond thankful.”
St. Petersburg must provide the Rays with a suitable home for Major League Baseball under the current use agreement. City council members have approved nearly $60 million in remediation and repair expenses, and the final cost could continue climbing.
Babby previously pledged that the ballpark would “look better than it ever has” when fans return in April 2026. Welch subsequently said the Trop’s “bones” are in “very good shape,” according to city engineers.
The mayor would not support a “big new investment” in the stadium. He also realizes that “having the Trop open again is good for our economy.”
“To me, if we did not go this route, I don’t think the Rays would ever be back in St. Pete or Tampa Bay,” Welch said of repairing the Trop. “Because I don’t think playing outdoors in the summer is something they want to do for more than one year, in an emergency situation.
“I really saw that as the only route to bring the Rays back here, and then have the potential for them staying long-term.”
Welch reiterated that the Rays know he is open to discussing a lease extension at the Trop, and that his focus remains on the surrounding land. He also noted that a termination agreement with previous ownership allows the city to redevelop two parcels – one for affordable housing and one for a new Woodson African American Museum of Florida – “almost immediately.”
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com
