Renovations will include funding from Pinellas County, the city of Dunedin and the State of FloridaGETTY IMAGES
The Blue Jays are "approaching a significant next step in the process of renovating their spring training facilities in Dunedin, Fla., and hope construction can begin by the end of this year," according to David Singh of SPORTSNET.ca. Pinellas County will hold a vote on April 10, at which point the Blue Jays "hope for a green light pending approval from the various stakeholders involved." The $81M project will include "funding from Pinellas County, the city of Dunedin and the State of Florida, in addition to the baseball club." Blue Jays President & CEO Mark Shapiro, appearing on Toronto-based CJCL-AM on Wednesday, said, "Next spring will be impacted by that progress, hopefully in a way that transforms our training, but if not, in a way that it’s visibly evident to everybody." Shapiro said that changes to Dunedin Stadium will result in "increased seating for fans, as well as more food and entertainment options" (SPORTSNET.ca, 3/7).
NEEDING TO GET MORE: Shapiro in January during a speech at a clinic for youth baseball coaches said Rogers Centre "generates the third least amount of premium revenue of all Major League Baseball franchises." Shapiro added in the address, audio of which was recently posted on MLB.com, "Only Oakland and Tampa have less revenue than us from premium. So, we need to update the building. We need to be getting revenue from this building we’re not getting." THE ATHLETIC's Andrew Stoeten noted it has been "clear since Shapiro arrived on the scene" in the fall of '15 that "upgrading the building and the club's capacity to generate revenue from it have been priorities -- for the Jays and Shapiro, at least, if not Rogers -- but these were some of the starkest terms he's communicated that in" (THEATHLETIC.com, 3/8).
