The Rays are going to explore splitting home games with Montreal in future seasons as part of a plan they say would keep baseball in the Tampa Bay area long term.
The Rays were given permission Thursday by Major League Baseball to explore the possibility of doing so, though the plan would face several significant hurdles before being implemented, likely not until 2023 or so.
That would include negotiating permission from the city of St. Petersburg, Fla., given the use agreement requiring all home games be played at Tropicana Field through 2027; getting approval from the players union, as players would have two in-season homes; arranging for a new or vastly renovated facility in Montreal; working out logistics on how the schedule would be split; and getting formal approval from MLB based on working out a number of other issues, such as TV rights, sponsorships and more.
Having been frustrated with low attendance and efforts to get a new stadium built in the Tampa Bay area, the Rays see this plan as a potential solution by reducing the number of games played in the Tampa Bay market.
"My priority remains the same, I am committed to keeping baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come," principal owner Stuart Sternberg told the Tampa Bay Times on Thursday. "I believe this concept is worthy of serious exploration."
Rays officials said they would have no further comment until a media session planned for Tuesday interestingly at the Dali Museum rather than the Trop.
Obviously there are myriad questions about the plan that some in the Tampa Bay area will dismiss, some will view as a threat and others will consider the team's first step toward leaving when the use agreement at the Trop expires.
Among them:
How much harder would it be to get a new stadium financed and built in the Tampa Bay area for only 40 or so home games than 81? Related, would the Rays then be more open to staying at the Trop, or a new stadium at that site?
Would the leaders of the Montreal effort, who have been working for years to get a team back, be willing to go ahead with plans to build a new stadium for a similarly limited number of home games?
How could a split schedule work? Would the Rays play the first half of the season in Tampa Bay and the second half in Montreal, or would they alternate homestands? And what about postseason games?
How much opposition would there be from the players union, given how it would impact players the most, and also the potential to lure free agents. Former big-leaguer Brad Ziegler, who served as a player rep, posted this on Twitter: "Splitting time between the 2 cities would be an absolute nightmare as a player. ... Potentially moving your family/pets back-and-forth, finding pediatricians, doctors, vets, paying rent on multiple houses, even when you're not there. No thanks."
Reports of a potential schedule sharing plan have surfaced several times in recent years from Montreal media, and the Rays have dismissed them repeatedly.
MLB tried a similar plan in the final two seasons before moving the Expos from Montreal to Washington, D.C. in 2005, as the team played 22 home games in Puerto Rico in 2003 and 2004.
The Rays are signed to play at Tropicana Field through 2027, but have been looking for a new stadium in the Tampa Bay area for more than 10 years.
The most recent plan, to build an $892 million stadium in Ybor City, collapsed in December due to what the team said was a lack of specifics on potential financing, and coincided with the end of a three-year agreement with St. Petersburg, Fla., that allowed them to consider sites in Tampa, Fla.
The Rays now can only consider sites in St. Petersburg, Fla., and said they will let Mayor Rick Kriseman know sometime this summer if they want to pursue a new stadium on the Tropicana Field site as part of a planned redevelopment.
Even with a surge on the last homestand due at least in part to discounted tickets, the Rays rank 29th in attendance, averaging 14,545 per game. That included the two lowest crowds in franchise history, an announced 5,786 on May 28 that also was lowest in the majors this season, and 6,166 the next night.
