KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Current situation in Tampa is all too familiar- Over 10 years ago the Rays had a similar unveiling of plans for a waterfront stadium in downtown St. Petersburg, but plans were abandoned because they were too expensive.
- A big difference is that last time, both Tampa and St. Pete mayor's were not supportive. Although Bob Buckhorn is not going to stick his neck out on the line this time around, he is much more sold on the idea then previously.
- People are very enthused about the Ybor City location, which could lead to higher attendance and is enticing to business owners that could potentially invest.
- Loosing the Rays wouldn't necessarily be a huge blow to the city, it would look worse to 'out of town-ers' than it would actually be.
Check out more from John Romano:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/Romano-It-s-time-to-decide-if-Tampa-Bay-is-a-big-league-market-_169899511
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/Romano-The-first-thing-the-Rays-need-to-build-is-consensus_169854386