*Photo from USA Today*
It seems like, after all, there will be no halfsies with our neighbors to the north. The MLB executive council voted on Thursday to reject the Tampa Bay Rays plan to split their home games between Tropicana Field and the city of Montreal, team owner Stu Sternberg said in a press conference.
The proposed plan would see the Rays play half of their scheduled home games at Tropicana Field, and the other half in Montreal, at a location that had not been determined. The proposal had been under discussion for the last two years, amid increasing attendance drops at Tropicana Field, which is in Saint Petersburg, Florida, over an hour from the city limits of Tampa Bay.
Rays co-president Brian Auld remained optimistic, saying that "We're absolutely committed to figuring it out. If there's one thing the Rays have been pretty good at over the years, it's accomplishing things that people think we can't do. So we're going to bring every ounce of innovation and creativity and analysis we've got to solve this problem."
The Rays as a team are one of the best in baseball, finding new ways to win year after year, but the team has been the subject of rampant relocation rumors due to plummeting attendance figures at Tropicana Field. The Rays do still have plenty of fans, as their TV viewership is very strong, but people just don't want to make the trip to St Pete, and there has been little talk in terms of relocating to Tampa Bay proper.
The lease for the Rays at Tropicana Field expires at the end of the 2027 season. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays would likely need to have a stadium deal in place, wherever that may be, by the end of the 2023 season, in order to be ready for opening day in 2028.
Stephen Bronfman, a key member of Montreal Baseball Group, released a statement after the news broke, saying that "While we are disappointed with MLB's decision, we respect it. I am very proud of the work we've done together with our partners and friends in Tampa Bay."
Despite the attendance figures continuing to drop, Sternberg said in his press conference that he has no intention of selling the team. The Rays continue to be one of the best teams in baseball, making a world series run in 2020, and winning 100 games to win the AL East in 2021, before the Boston Red Sox eliminated them in 4 games in the ALDS.
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