For the first time since 2008, the World Series is returning to St. Petersburg. After the first two games in Milwaukee against the Brewers, the Tampa Bay Rays will play three games at home starting Monday.
Mayor Ken Welch and Police Chief Anthony Holloway held a news conference Friday to discuss how they’re preparing to host the event, as well as advice for attendees on how to stay safe.
WORLD SERIES
(Best of seven)
All games at 8 p.m.
Game 1 - at Milwaukee, Friday
Game 2 - at Milwaukee, Saturday
Game 3 - at Tropicana Field, Monday
Game 4 - at Tropicana Field, Tuesday
Game 5 - at Tropicana Field, Wednesday (if necessary)
Game 6 - at Milwaukee, Friday, Oct. 30 (if necessary)
Game 7 - at Milwaukee, Saturday, Oct. 31 (if necessary)
TV: WTVT (Fox), Fox Deportes
Radio: WDAE (95.7 FM/620 AM)
Welch said there will be more than 100,000 people in the city who will be attending the games and watch parties, as well as visiting restaurants and other businesses. He said there are plans in place to accommodate that many people.
“It's important that the community understands and plans for the logistics of this celebration,” Welch said.
Welch said St. Petersburg has handled crowds of this size before.
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“Thankfully, our St. Pete team has a lot of experience with large events, including the playoffs that we just had, and we are in good hands with our police department, fire department, and departments under our city administrator,” he said.
While tickets to the games are expensive, Holloway addressed another challenge for fans heading to Tropicana Field: parking.
Some lots around the stadium are charging an average of $150 for parking, he said. Fans can save money by parking in one of the city’s downtown lots and taking one of four shuttles to the stadium.
“Parking is as low as $25,” Holloway said. “So if you get here early, you can enjoy downtown. You can get on the shuttle and then go to the game.”
Holloway also said there will be a heavy law enforcement presence.
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“We're going to have our state, local partners here, also our federal partners here,” he said. “We're going to have officers inside, outside. We're going to have officers undercover. We're going to have our drones up to make sure we can get our traffic flow in and out.”
The stadium will open three hours before the games start, and the mayor and police chief urged fans to get there early.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for our community, and we are ready,” Welch said. “And we want to say, Rays up and let's go.”
Tropicana Field will host official watch parties during the road games. Fans can watch from the field or seats while the games are shown on the 171-by-36-foot LED video board behind right field.
The city is also holding two days of block parties on Friday and Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. on Central Avenue between 13th and 15th streets. The city said it created limited-edition posters that will be available to residents during the parties.
WUSF digital producer Rick Mayer contributed to this report.
