By Jim Bleyer Two months ago the attendance-challenged Tampa Bay Rays could at least boast of a fiercely loyal, though modest, fan base. No more, thanks to Rays owner Stu Sternberg striking out with a far-out proposal to play half a season in Tampa Bay and the other half in …
By Jim Bleyer Pending legislation by a group of Oregon Legislators would eliminate a $150 million state appropriation towards a Major League Baseball stadium in Portland. It’s a blow to Portland’s hopes of luring an MLB team and a boost for competing cities, especially Las Vegas. The Tampa Bay …
By Jim Bleyer The obsequious Tampa Bay media, never passing up an opportunity to genuflect to the local lords of professional sports, uniformly term the shrinking of Tropicana Field’s seating capacity as creating “an intimate fan experience.” The national press and fans of the Tampa Bay Rays know better: …
By Jim Bleyer Major League Baseball’s near decade-long attempted extortion of Tampa Bay taxpayers is over. It culminated with Tampa. Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan whiffing on their misguided effort to relocate the Tampa Bay Rays to Ybor City. Rays’ owner Stuart Sternberg’s earthshaking announcement …
By Scott Myers, Contributor and Jim Bleyer What we’ve known for months has become official: Tampa Bay Rays owner and public trough addict Stu Sternberg has blessed an Ybor City site as the location of a new stadium. Cost estimates are around $700 million but should never be trusted. …
By Jim Bleyer Hillsborough County taxpayers, take a look around. If you can’t find the sucker, it’s you. Anyone favoring a new taxpayer-funded stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays is either in the cabal of grifters that will share in the $600M+ windfall or baseball aficianados that have …
By Jim Bleyer Two highly-regarded city councilwomen from opposite sides of Tampa Bay articulately discussed intra-city collaboration on transit, the arts, the environment, international trade, and law enforcement at the weekly Cafe con Tampa gabfest Friday. But …
