Selig Says Rays Need New Ballpark To Compete With Larger Clubs

Selig Says Revenue From New Ballpark Needed For Rays To Compete With Bigger Markets

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig yesterday said that the Rays "cannot compete with larger ball clubs without the guaranteed revenue that comes with a new stadium," according to Aaron Sharockman of the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. Selig called the Al Lang Field site, part of the $450M ballpark proposal, "outstanding, and promised St. Petersburg an All-Star Game if a waterfront stadium were built." Selig: "There's no question that the Rays need a new stadium. ... Their stadium now just can't produce the revenue you need to be competitive on a year-in and year-out basis." Selig said that he is "pleased by the small attendance gains" the Rays have had at Tropicana Field, but it is "not enough" for a team that continues to have the best record in the AL. Selig added that his office "plans to help the Rays sell their plan." Meanwhile, St. Petersburg City Council member Karl Nurse yesterday said that he plans to "introduce a referendum question" initiated by ballpark opponents that would "limit the development potential at Al Lang Field and possibly stop the Rays' plans -- even if voters approved them." The question would ask voters to "cap the development potential of the Al Lang Field site to its current level." Nurse said that the intention is to "prevent anything bigger (including the Rays' 34,000-seat stadium) from being built there." Nurse said in an e-mail, "The voters will decide if they want the stadium, not me. I thought the alternative proposal to protect the Al Lang site also made sense to send to the voters" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 6/4).