St. Petersburg City Council softens Rays name change pitch

ST. PETERSBURG — A proposal to include changing the Tampa Bay Rays’ name to the St. Petersburg Rays as part of a publicly financed stadium and redevelopment deal got a rebranding on Thursday.

City Council member Gina Driscoll changed her proposal to instead ask Mayor Ken Welch’s administration for a report on the ways the city and the Rays could “elevate St. Petersburg.” While that could include renaming the team after the city, the language approved no longer prescribes the way to make it happen, with other examples discussed including renaming the stadium, though the Rays have exclusive naming rights.

Chairperson Brandi Gabbard and vice chairperson Deborah Figgs-Sanders voted no. They objected to requiring a progress report for the council by Jan. 4 on city officials’ negotiations with the team on centering their home city . That report will include details about conversations the city has with the Rays regarding naming rights and the name change, which Welch said “was off the table.”

There was an hourlong, sometimes passionate discussion about the initial name change proposal. Strong condemnation came from Welch and Brian Auld, Rays co-president, who was invited by Gabbard to speak at Thursday’s council meeting.

Auld said the Rays’ name is “deliberately inclusive.” He was unequivocal: “There will not be a new ballpark nor a redevelopment project if there’s a requirement to change our franchise’s name.”

Welch called the idea of a name change “an idea of a past era” and said the proposal “undermines our progress toward an agreement with the Rays” and “distracts from our goal of redeveloping the Historic Gas Plant.

“We think it’d be detrimental to the progress we’ve made, if not fatal to this redevelopment,” he said.

Driscoll took issue with that notion. She said she was troubled by the assertion that floating the idea could jeopardize the broader negotiations.

“All I’m asking is for the conversation,” she said.

The Rays are seeking to build a new $1.3 billion stadium coinciding with the end of their lease agreement on Tropicana Field, which expires in 2027. The city and Pinellas County are being asked to cover slightly less than half the cost with public money.

The stadium proposal is part of a larger multi-billion dollar proposal to redevelop much of the 86 acres that include the stadium as an entertainment and residential complex that pays homage to the historically Black Gas Plant District once located there.

Former Mayor Rick Baker also spoke at the meeting. He wrote a column in favor of the name change last month. The idea was floated when he was mayor years ago and the Rays first proposed building a new stadium on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront. Baker has been texting council members and meeting with them individually to rally support for the idea of a name change.

“If (St. Petersburg) is going to put in hundreds of millions of dollars and incredibly valuable property .... then at least we ought to have a discussion about whether the team name could be St. Petersburg,” he said.

Council member Copley Gerdes said a name change would be “alienating” to Pinellas County, which is contributing tourist tax dollars toward the deal, and the Tampa Bay region that attracts visitors. He asked Driscoll to take the name change language out of her proposal.

He took aim at Baker: “You were part of the Tampa Bay Rowdies for a period of time. You didn’t change the name to the St. Pete Rowdies.”

Figgs-Sanders, who will serve as the council’s chairperson in 2024 pending ratification, said she’d rather go over housing and job goals for the redevelopment rather than debating whether St. Petersburg is recognized through its name.

“I just wish that when we have these conversations about the term sheet, that we’re just as passionate about the housing issues and other things I think that we really need to address,” she said.

Council member Richie Floyd said the name change does nothing to solve the issues he cares about: child poverty, cost of living, infrastructure and the environment.

“The stadium deal is a money pit and, quite frankly, I’m a lot less worried about the name that we assigned to the pit that we throw public funds down and a lot more worried about the fact that we’re throwing public money down this pit in the first place,” he said.

After the meeting, Baker called the proposal that was approved “a very positive step.”

“It’s about branding the city,” he said.

After the meeting, Auld said it was “our responsibility to let them know when there are things that are literal deal-breakers.”

Asked about whether the Rays would consider naming the stadium after St. Petersburg, Auld said that is a “significant economic impact” and there are many opportunities for naming rights throughout the Historic Gas Plant District.

“We are open to considering just about anything,” he said.