Connect with us

Published

on

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners voted 5-2 in favor of funding $312.5 million worth of bonds Tuesday night. What sounds like a simple procedural move was far from it. Over the past six weeks, the $1.3 billion stadium deal for the Tampa Bay Rays — celebrated in July by all parties as a watershed moment for a franchise that had spent nearly two decades trying to build a new ballpark — has found itself in jeopardy. And it all started Oct. 29.

Less than three weeks after Hurricane Milton tore through the roof of Tropicana Field and caused tens of billions of dollars more in damage on Oct. 10, the Pinellas commission convened to approve the bonds needed for the new stadium. What the Rays believed would be a rubber stamp turned into a mess when the commission postponed the vote. While commissioners said the delay stemmed from wanting to know where the Rays would play in 2025 (in mid-November they would name George M. Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees‘ minor league stadium outside of Pinellas County in Tampa, as their new temporary home), the team felt betrayed.

Thus began a back-and-forth with both sides casting blame on the other. The delay in the bonds, the Rays said, would delay opening the stadium until 2029, instead of 2028 as planned. The extra construction costs, the team said, would be excessive. One of the county commissioners, Chris Latvala, told the Tampa Bay Times that the Rays put the cost at $200 million. To complete the project, the Rays said, they would need additional financial assistance from their partners in the project, Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg, where the new stadium would reside, on the same site as the Trop but with a multibillion-dollar development surrounding.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred traveled to Florida last week in an attempt to shore up the growing divide among the parties. Latvala, who previously had voted no on the deal, flipped to a yes on Tuesday night, he told the Times, because of Manfred’s pledge for the Rays to remain in Tampa Bay. Latvala went on to criticize Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, saying: “I hope our vote today helps set the wheels in motion for a new owner and a new era of the Tampa Bay Rays.”

Another commissioner, Rene Flowers, framed the vote as a call for the Rays to show their commitment as well. The team can terminate the agreement at any time. With the county’s money pledged, as well as $287.5 million from St. Petersburg in a 4-3 city council vote, Flowers told the Times: “All eyes will now be watching to assure that the Rays uphold their part of this deal.”

Where does it go from here? Here’s everything you need to know about where the project stands, what the future of Tropicana Field looks like and whether the Rays could find another home.

What stands between the Rays and getting a new ballpark in St. Petersburg?

Besides politics and money? Oh, not much.

Certainly the messy beginning of the partnership does not portend better relations going forward. But if the sides can find agreement on a number of issues — namely the “funding gap” the Rays say the commission caused by the delay and how the Trop fits into the future — a new stadium remains possible. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch stands firmly behind the project, but Flowers said Tuesday she was against the commission giving any more money.

After Tuesday night’s vote, Rays president Matt Silverman issued a statement saying: “It was unsurprising to see the Commissioners acknowledge how important the Tampa Bay Rays and our stadium development agreement are to this community and its citizens. As we have made clear, the County’s delay has caused the ballpark’s completion to slide into 2029. As a result, the cost of the project has increased significantly, and we cannot absorb this increase alone. When the County and City wish to engage, we remain ready to solve this funding gap together.”

What is the timeline for deciding whether a new stadium will happen?

In order for the bonds to be sold, the Rays must meet a number of conditions. At the forefront is the team showing it has the money to cover its obligation on stadium costs. The team has until March 31, 2025, to satisfy the conditions. MLB is expected to give the team a $100 million loan, and the Rays have expressed confidence they have the financing for the remainder of the money.

What is the status of Tropicana Field, and will the Rays ever play there again?

Eighteen of the 24 fiberglass panels on the stadium’s roof ripped off during Hurricane Milton. The stadium, long ridiculed for being outdated and far too empty for a franchise as good as the Rays, transformed overnight into the lasting image of the damage the storm wrought.

St. Petersburg is obligated to repair the stadium. The city estimated it can do so in time for the 2026 season for $55.7 million. On Wednesday, the city council pledged $1.4 million for rebuilding plans.

The Rays’ position is that the Trop would not be ready until the last year of their lease in 2027 — that the damage done to the stadium, beyond the roof, is too exceptional. Part of the calculus going forward is whether the parties continue with rebuilding the Trop or consider taking the money pledged toward its repair and offer it to help bridge the funding gap.

If the proposed stadium isn’t opening until 2029, could the Rays just play at Steinbrenner Field until then?

Highly unlikely. The Rays are treating Steinbrenner as a stopover, not unlike how the Athletics are using another minor league stadium, Sutter Health Park, to set up shop before their planned move to Las Vegas in 2028.

It’s not just the weather concerns — the combination of extreme heat and rain in the summer that, accordingly, have the Rays on the road for 35 of 48 games between July 4 and the end of August. Deposing a minor league affiliate of an organization in the same division is simply something that’s not likely to be agreed upon for an extended period of time.

Where would the Rays play, then?

Good question. Would MLB give them permission to moonlight in a potential expansion city? Could they find somewhere to play in Pinellas County for three more years? Is Omaha, which the Wall Street Journal reported could host the Rays, really a possibility? It’s all unknown. Just as important as the next few years is what comes after that. The goal is for the Rays to know where they’re going to be in 2028 and 2029 as early as 2026. Though as the A’s showed this year, those sorts of timelines tend to be more fluid than the “deadlines” suggest.

Let’s say somewhere along the way, the St. Petersburg stadium falls through. Would Tampa be a viable option?

As it stands, no. The Rays have explored stadium options in Hillsborough County in the past, only for the efforts to fail.

Hillsborough voters renewed a half-cent sales tax in November, but the expectation is that money for the stadium will be earmarked for the NFL’s Buccaneers, whose lease at Raymond James Stadium runs out in 2028.

If, for some reason, Pinellas County is off the table, perhaps Hillsborough and the city of Tampa would take a different tack with the Rays. For now, though, as long as the stadium deal remains in place, the team is not permitted to engage with other municipalities. It’s a leverage point that theoretically pushes the Rays toward a deal, because without the ability to seek options outside of Pinellas, terminating the agreement would come with additional risk.

In that case, would Sternberg seek to relocate the team?

He did tell the Times in mid-November that relocation “is not an unlikely conclusion.” Whether Sternberg would sell the Rays to someone pledging to keep the team in the Tampa Bay area, continue owning the team if it moved or sell it to a new owner who plans to relocate all remains unknown.

Would MLB owners let them relocate?

Maybe. The Rays’ attempts to build a new stadium have lasted 17 years. A similar failure to secure a stadium in Oakland led to MLB greenlighting the move of the A’s to Las Vegas. Owners view the Tampa Bay market favorably, so the preference is for an MLB team to remain there — something reinforced by Manfred’s efforts.

At least 23 of the league’s 30 owners need to vote in favor of a potential move.

What would be the most likely destinations if the Rays do move?

The usual suspects: Nashville, Tennessee; Salt Lake City; Charlotte, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and Raleigh, North Carolina. Don’t forget Montreal. In 2019, the Rays received permission from MLB to explore splitting its home games between the Tampa Bay area and Montreal. In January 2022, the MLB executive council killed the proposed plan.

How would the Rays moving impact MLB’s future expansion timeline?

They’re inextricably tied. Manfred’s commitment to keeping baseball in the Tampa Bay area would either entail keeping the Rays in town now or approving their move to a new city and offering an expansion franchise when baseball decides to go from 30 to 32 teams.

The league has not taken any formal steps to expand. Manfred has long said that he wants the A’s and Rays’ stadium issues taken care of before the league moves to expand. Considering how quickly what looked like the Rays’ triumph of a stadium deal turned imperiled, the desire for clarity looks more and more warranted.

Continue Reading

Sports

Petitti letter: Michigan sign-stealing penalties have gone far enough

Published

on

By

Petitti letter: Michigan sign-stealing penalties have gone far enough

Give Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti credit for this: He will advocate for what he believes is best for one of the league’s teams. That’s true even if that same program previously unleashed an avalanche of headline-grabbing public accusations and animosity on him.

In this case, it’s Michigan football, which at the height of the 2023 advanced scouting/sign-stealing scandal hit Petitti with a blistering legal filing, claims of personal bias and choruses of boos and negative social media posts from fans.

Regardless, Petitti has sent a letter to the NCAA Committee on Infractions arguing that Michigan deserved no further punishment in a case focusing on the actions of former staffer Connor Stalions.

The letter was read at an early June infractions committee hearing in Indianapolis, multiple sources told ESPN. The NCAA has charged Michigan with 11 rule violations, six of them Level 1, which is classified as the most serious. The committee has yet to hand down a ruling, but one is expected before the 2025 season. It does not have to follow or even consider Petitti’s opinion.

The Big Ten confirmed to ESPN that Petitti sent the letter and said he would have attended in person but was recovering at the time from hip replacement surgery. The NCAA and Michigan are prohibited from commenting on a pending case. Petitti declined comment through a league spokesperson.

Petitti argued, sources said, that the Big Ten itself had already sufficiently punished the Michigan program when it suspended then-coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season: at Penn State, at Maryland and at home against Ohio State.

Even without Harbaugh, Michigan won all three en route to capturing the national championship.

The NCAA might still hit the Wolverines with penalties ranging from vacating past victories, a postseason ban, the suspension of coaches, a monetary fine or other measures.

Michigan, as ESPN previously reported, has proposed suspending current coach Sherrone Moore for the third and fourth game of the 2025 season for deleting a thread of text messages with Stalions as the scandal broke. Moore was the team’s offensive coordinator at the time. The NCAA was able to retrieve the texts, and Moore was not charged with having any knowledge of Stalions’ actions.

The NCAA could also punish individuals, including Harbaugh (now the coach of the Los Angeles Chargers), Stalions and others. Petitti’s letter did not address that, according to sources.

The concept of a league commissioner standing up for one of his conference’s teams is not unusual. The business of any conference is aided by its programs avoiding NCAA sanctions that might affect its ability to field competitive teams.

Petitti’s position is notable in this situation because of the extremely contentious relationship between him and Michigan when allegations first broke of Stalions sending friends and family to scout future Wolverine opponents and film sideline coaching signals.

Petitti, in a Nov. 10, 2023, letter to Michigan athletics director Warde Manual, laid out the Harbaugh suspension by arguing that “the integrity of competition is the backbone of any sports conference or league.” He noted that “taking immediate action is appropriate and necessary.”

Michigan, to put it lightly, disagreed.

The school vehemently fought back, arguing that due process had not been followed, the case lacked conclusive evidence, and there was no proof that Harbaugh had knowledge of Stalions’ activities.

The university even sought an emergency temporary restraining order in Washtenaw (Michigan) County Court against the Big Ten to let Harbaugh keep coaching.

In a fiery court filing, the school claimed the Big Ten’s actions “were fraudulent, unlawful, unethical, unjustified, and per se wrongful, and were done with malice.” It further claimed the league was causing irreparable damage to the reputations of Harbaugh and the university, declaring the suspension a “flagrant breach of fundamental fairness.”

The school eventually backed down and withdrew the restraining order request, but the rift between the team and the commissioner remained as Harbaugh was benched.

The suspension became a rallying cry for Michigan players as they continued their 15-0 season. Petitti chose to not attend the Ohio State-Michigan game in Ann Arbor that season, even though it was one of the biggest games in league history. The Big Ten said Petitti was never scheduled to attend the game.

A week later, at the Big Ten title game, Michigan fans lustily booed Petitti when he presented the championship trophy to injured Wolverines player Zak Zinter (notably, not Harbaugh, despite having completed his suspension by then).

All of that appears to be behind the commissioner. To Petitti, making Michigan overcome a three-game stretch without its head coach was apparently enough of a penalty. He noted in his initial 2023 decision that the suspension was not about Harbaugh but was a way to hit the program as a whole.

“We impose this disciplinary action even though the Conference has not yet received any information indicating that Head Football Coach Harbaugh was aware of the impermissible nature of the sign-stealing scheme,” Petitti wrote. “This is not a sanction of Coach Harbaugh. It is a sanction against the University.”

He also allowed that “additional disciplinary actions may be necessary or appropriate if [the NCAA or Big Ten] receives additional information concerning the scope and knowledge of, or participation in, the impermissible scheme.”

That Petitti is now suggesting that Michigan has paid its penance suggests no such additional information has emerged.

Apparently, bygones are now bygones, even B1G ones.

Continue Reading

Sports

Judge dismisses Pryor-led OSU lawsuit vs. NCAA

Published

on

By

Judge dismisses Pryor-led OSU lawsuit vs. NCAA

A federal judge in Ohio has dismissed a lawsuit seeking compensation for thousands of former Ohio State athletes from the NCAA.

In her ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah Morrison said former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor filed his proposed class action against the NCAA, Ohio State, the Big Ten and others too late.

Pryor, who played for Ohio State from 2008 to ’10, sued the NCAA and other defendants in October, accusing them of violating antitrust law by barring members of the school’s sports teams from seeking to profit from the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses.

Plaintiffs generally face a four-year window to bring claims under U.S. antitrust law.

“Mr. Pryor knew the material facts underlying his antitrust claims long before the four-year limitations period had run,” Morrison said.

The NCAA in a statement welcomed the judge’s ruling and said “we are hopeful that additional copycat cases will see the same outcome.”

Ohio State and attorneys for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pryor said in the lawsuit that the NCAA and others have continued to make money from the use of his name, image and likeness through videos and other broadcasts.

Former USC running back Reggie Bush filed a similar lawsuit against the university, the NCAA and the Pac-12 in September, as a number of former Michigan stars against the NCAA and Big Ten.

Morrison ruled that Ohio State as a public school and arm of the state was immune from the lawsuit.

The NCAA this year revamped its rules over compensation for college athletes, agreeing for the first time to allow schools to pay students directly.

As part of the landmark settlement, the organization agreed to pay $2.8 billion to compensate thousands of current and former athletes since 2016 for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

No. 1 running back Cooper commits to Longhorns

Published

on

By

No. 1 running back Cooper commits to Longhorns

Days after landing No. 1 outside linebacker Tyler Atkinson, Texas secured its latest five-star addition Sunday when coveted rusher Derrek Cooper, ESPN’s No. 1 running back in the 2026 class, announced his commitment to the Longhorns.

Cooper, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound recruit from Chaminade-Madonna Preparatory School in Hollywood, Florida, is the seventh-ranked prospect in the 2026 ESPN 300. After an unofficial trip to Texas in April, Cooper did not officially visit the program before choosing the Longhorns over finalists Florida State, Georgia, Miami and Ohio State on Sunday night.

Cooper’s father told ESPN that the presence of Longhorns running back coach Chad Scott, who replaced former assistant Tashard Choice in February, and the all-purpose role Texas coach Steve Sarkisian laid out for Cooper in the program’s offense were leading factors in his son’s decision.

“They’ve talked about his skill set and compared his build to [former UT running back] Bijan Robinson,” Corey Cooper told ESPN. “They don’t have a running back like Derrek right now. They feel like they can do a lot with him.”

Derrek Cooper is the fourth five-star pledge in the Longhorns’ 2026 class and continues a summer recruiting tear for the Longhorns, who have added 10 ESPN 300 commits since June 1.

Cooper’s commitment comes days after Texas edged Georgia for the pledge of Atkinson — No. 14 in the 2026 ESPN 300 and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Georgia — then flipped four-star Bulldogs defensive line commit James Johnson (No. 123 overall) later in the day.

Cooper is the second-highest ranked of six top-100 recruits committed to Sarkisian’s incoming class, joining Atkinson, fellow five-star pledges Dia Bell (No. 4) and Richard Wesley (No. 11), and four-stars John Turntine III (No. 43) and Samari Matthews (No. 99).

A gifted two-way star at Chaminade-Madonna Prep, Cooper trails only fellow Texas pledge Bell — ESPN’s No. 1 quarterback in 2026 — as the second-ranked recruit in Florida this cycle.

Cooper was credited with 124 carries for 905 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior last fall while leading Chaminade-Madonna Prep to a 1A state championship. In 2024, he added 46 total tackles and four sacks on defense, where he was a linebacker and safety.

Cooper will join a potentially crowded running back group next year with as many as five current Texas rushers eligible to return in 2026. However, with elite pass-catching ability out of the backfield, Cooper’s versatility could create early opportunities in a Longhorns offense that has routinely found clever ways to use skill position talents under Sarkisian.

“He wants to run, he wants to be able to catch the ball out of the backfield, he wants to line up at wide receiver,” Cooper’s father said. “He wants to show he has all the skills to play at the next level, and they’re going to let him do that at Texas.”

Upon Cooper’s pledge, defensive end Jake Kreul (No. 22 overall) stands as the last uncommitted player among ESPN’s 23 five-star prospects in 2026. Savion Hiter and Davian Groce, ESPN’s No. 2 and No. 4 running back prospects, respectively, are the only uncommitted running backs in the 2026 ESPN 300.

Continue Reading

Trending