ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The project for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium in downtown St. Petersburg is effectively dead.

Shortly before noon Thursday, team owner Stu Sternberg posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that they "cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment."

"A series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision," the statement said, pointing toward the damage Tropicana Field sustained during Hurricane Milton, forcing the Rays to play 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

Sternberg called Mayor Ken Welch before releasing the statement.

Welch spoke to reporters Thursday afternoon at City Hall and said he was "disappointed" with the latest development but said it was "not the end of the story." 

He said the city will move forward with developing the Gas Plant District, saying it "won't be a grand slam ... but it'll be a base hit."

Welch left open the door to a new Rays stadium with new team ownership, but said he has no more interest in talking with the current group. He claimed the Rays don't understand how important the Gas Plant District was.

The Rays were facing a March 31 deadline to provide required financial paperwork to move forward with the redevelopment and stadium deal

With the team pulling out of the deal, the agreement approved by the St. Petersburg City Council and Pinellas County Commissioners does not move forward.

Thursday afternoon, St. Petersburg City Council Chair Copley Gerdes said, "I'm certainly disappointed. You know, I'm disappointed for the work that the city and county has done. Countless employees have spent thousands of hours on this. I'm disappointed for the economic development, job creation, Gas Plant descendants, those promises."

Another council member, Corey Givens Jr., said the Rays don't have "financial feasability" for the project and that the city can't "bail them out."

"We have residents who have suffered from back-to-back hurricanes last October, last September, and that's our priority, takng care of people, not taking care of baseball," Givens Jr. said. "So, I wish Mr. Sterburg well, but I'm excited to have another conversation to see if we can restructure this agreement and get back to the drawing board."

Before his Thursday meeting with the media, Welch released a prepared statement that said in part:

"While the decision of Tampa Bay Rays ownership to terminate the agreements for a new stadium and new development is a major disappointment, it is not unexpected. Nor is it the end of the Historic Gas Plant District story.

He continued: "The city will continue to pursue all avenues that will help us deliver on our ultimate goal: utilizing the HGPD property to benefit the community and fulfilling the 40-year-old promises of economic development and opportunity made to the African-American community in St. Petersburg, as well as the community priorities identified through the current development process, which began in 2022."

Major League Baseball also released a statement:

This latest news on the years-long Rays stadium saga comes as multiple groups have come forward in recent days saying they are prepared to purchase the team and pursue a local stadium deal.

The latest group is being led by Dex Imaging CEO Dan Doyle Jr., who reportedly pulled out of a previous process to buy the Rays in 2023. Attorney Carter McCain is representing another group of investors mostly outside of Florida and former New York Yankees minority owner Joe Molloy is leading a Tampa-based group, according to our partners at the Tampa Bay Times.

Meanwhile, the St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP earlier Thursday called on the city to honor and move forward with the Gas Plant District redevelopment plan.

Sternberg's post on X came a few hours after the NAACP's letter, which you can read below.

"Our commitment to the vitality and success of the Rays organization is unwavering. We continue to focus on finding a ballpark solution that serves the best interests of our region, Major League Baseball, and our organization," Sternberg said.

The NAACP had wanted the city to grant the Tampa Bay Rays an extension to finalize their funding commitments.

"This project represents a critical opportunity to rectify past injustices and deliver economic prosperity to a historically displaced community," its letter said.

"While we acknowledge necessary adjustments after two hurricanes, please understand that the Rays were not and are not the only affected parties. The commitments made to this community are not up for debate."

NAACP branch president Esther Matthews had also called on the city to immediately come up with a clear timeline with a groundbreaking by the end of this summer.

The Gas Plant project looked to reconnect south St. Pete with downtown and address the impacts of constructing I-175 in the late 1970s, which uprooted many families of that historic African-American neighborhood.

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