Utah still wants an MLB team. Don’t expect it to be the Rays

If a vote by the Pinellas County Commission goes as expected on July 30, consider the Tampa Bay Rays officially off the relocation market thanks to a fancy new ballpark built close to home.

That is the ultimate result of a close vote by the St. Petersburg City Council on Thursday, a 5-3 decision that Tampa Bay Times’ Colleen Wright described as something for the history books.

The city council approved a deal that will build a $1.3 billion ballpark for the Rays, in addition to a significant, “city-redefining,” 65-acre multi-use district slated to be called the Historic Gas Plant District, comprised of residential units, a new Woodson African American Museum of Florida, office and medical space, a grocery store, plus a day care.

The ballpark, though, for Major League baseball fans at least, is the highlight.

“St. Petersburg’s historic decision clears the tallest hurdle for the Rays and their development partner Hines,” Wright writes. “All that’s left to end the Rays’ 17-year search for a new stadium is a vote by the Pinellas County Commission, which will decide this month on spending $312.5 million of tourist tax revenue on the stadium.”

Per Wright, if the Pinellas County commissioners approve the project, the Rays would be set to stay in southwestern Florida for “at least 30 years.”

Construction, Wright notes, wouldn’t take long to begin either, starting next year. The overall cost for the entire project — new ballpark, plus Historic Gas Plant District — is projected at $6.5 million.

According to Wright, the Rays will contribute $700 million for construction of the new stadium, which will be built just to the east of Tropicana Field, the Rays’ current home. The baseball franchise will also be responsible for “all cost overruns on the stadium and infrastructure for the Historic Gas Plant District, as well as all insurance, maintenance and repairs to the stadium. The team will keep all revenue from tickets and concessions, broadcasting and naming rights,” Wright notes.

What does this mean for Utah’s MLB hopes?

The Rays were arguably the last realistic option for the relocation of an MLB team to Utah — at least in the short term — after the Oakland Athletics reaffirmed in April that their future as a franchise is in Las Vegas .

Salt Lake City had, at least marginally, appeared to be in the running for the A’s, if their relocation to Las Vegas fell through.

The Rays were a team with the potential to be poached as well, as the team had struggled to secure a new ballpark in the Tampa area for nearly 20 years.

Salt Lake City wasn’t the only team hoping to land an relocation MLB team of course, with ESPN tabbing Austin/San Antonio, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; Mexico City, Mexico; Montreal, Canada; Nashville, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; Portland, Oregon; Raleigh, North Carolina; and San Jose, California as potential landing spots for a relocating MLB team and expansion teams.

Salt Lake City has been viewed favorably when it comes to MLB. ESPN also noted that , “The city and the state have built an impressive track record of getting large-scale, community-enhancing projects done with an unusual degree of public and private sector synergy.”

Expansion appears to be the only viable way forward for Utah to get a MLB team now.

Earlier this year, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred noted that expansion is a priority of his, but only after the Tampa Bay Rays’ and Oakland Athletics’ stadium situations were resolved. With both of those situations seemingly settled, expansion should come back to the forefront.

On league expansion, Manfred said in February that he wants to expand Major League Baseball to 32 teams in total , from 30 currently, though he doesn’t expect the new teams to be established and playing by January 2029 when his tenure as commissioner will come to an end.

“Those teams won’t be playing by the time I’m done,” Manfred told ESPN , “but I would like the process along and (cities) selected.”