On Thursday, the St. Petersburg City Council voted against spending more than $23 million to repair Tropicana Field’s domed roof, which was damaged in October by Hurricane Milton. The Council had initially voted to authorize the repairs. Hours later, they reversed course, adding to an already contentious situation that has the Tampa Bay Rays once again saber-rattling about relocating the franchise to another market.
“I can’t say I’m confident about anything,” Rays co-president Brian Auld told the council about the team’s future, according to the Associated Press.
As our Dayn Perry recently chronicled, Pinellas County Commissioners recently elected to postpone their vote on a $312.5 million bond payment by a month — that money would serve as public funding toward the construction of a new ballpark. Between the area being hit by two major hurricanes in recent months and the composition of the Pinellas County Board changing with November’s elections means that the deal is now in limbo…