If the Tampa Bay Rays have it their way, they could end up being a two-city team — in two separate countries.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Thursday afternoon that the Rays received approval from MLB’s executive council to “explore a plan in which they would play early-season home games in the Tampa Bay area and the remainder of the year in Montreal.”
In the Rays’ plan, they would have two brand new stadiums. However, the Rays have the lowest payroll in the big leagues this season ($62.6 million) and already play in a taxpayer-funded stadium, Tropicana Field. That said, such a plan would likely hinge on taxpayers in two different countries building them two stadiums, a terribly economically illiterate move.
Last year, the Rays were working on a plan to build an $892 million stadium in Ybor City, Fla., but according to Sports Illustrated, it appeared as though the team wanted the taxpayers to fund at least some of the cost, if not all. Now wanting two stadiums, there is no way the team who refuses to sign any high-profile free agents and leases its current venue would do this without any corporate welfare.
Taxpayers should not fall for this scam.
As if the benefit of taxpayer-funded stadiums had not been debunked by multiple studies and articles, this one is worse than usual.
If the two venues have to share one team, then they have fewer gates per year than a city with a permanent team. Say they were split about evenly, each city would only be guaranteed 40 to 41 days per year where the venue would be put to mass use.
Economically, it’s hard to justify spending big money in either of the Rays’ proposed markets, since there isn’t much of a baseball market in either Tampa or Montreal.
Even though they would make the playoffs if the regular season ended today, the Rays have the second-worst home attendance (14,545 fans per game) in baseball this season. Even after making it to the World Series in 2008, they still ranked 23rd in attendance the following year (23,147).
While the Rays’ average attendance this year is bad, it’s still higher than anything the Montreal Expos got in their final four seasons as a franchise, according to ESPN.
Perhaps the excitement level would be higher in Montreal in the future, but they are a city who has been stung by a sports venue before. They hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics and built Olympic Stadium for the event, and to host the Montreal Expos and Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. The city would not finish paying off the initial debt until 2006 (two years after the Montreal Expos’ last game there) and now, they will pay 250 million more dollars to fix its retractable roof.
It is also worth noting the Rays are in a lease with Tropicana Field through the 2027 season. If they want to duck out of their current lease early, that should be a warning sign for others who might do business with them.
It’s possible the Rays are using the split-stadium idea as leverage against the Tampa Bay area to coerce their taxpayers into building them a new stadium to be the exclusive home of the team. Regardless, their plan is economically corrupt and would screw taxpayers in two countries. Both cities should be wary of it.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
