MLB Slams Door on Tampa Bay Rays Plan to Play Split Home Season, “Flat-Out Deflating”, Says Stuart Sternberg

Major League Baseball on Thursday rejected a proposed plan by the Tampa Bay Rays to split the home season between its current home in Florida and Montreal. After the rejection by MLB, Rays’ owner Stuart Sternberg called the decision ‘flat-out deflating.’

Notably, the Rays owners and officials have been discussing this proposal over the past several years after their attempts to build a new full-time ballpark locally failed. Therefore, the Rays officials believed that the ‘sister city’ proposal will be their best bet to increase the revenue without permanently moving their franchise.

Rays owner Stuart Sternberg on MLB’s decision

As per Sportsnet, the Rays principal owner was not happy with this decision by the Major League Baseball. He called this news flat-out deflating. 

“Today’s news is flat-out deflating. Things progressed nicely and things had been working nicely, and then recently it just sort of took a turn to the South and we don’t precisely know why. I have no doubt that what we tried to accomplish with our sister-city plan will become accepted in all of professional sports. Major League Baseball simply isn’t prepared to cross that threshold right now,” said Sternberg.

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The Rays in MLB over the years

Tampa Bay Rays have won back-to-back American League East titles, leaving behind the financially strong teams like the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. They also played the World Series in the 2020 season against Los Angeles Dodgers. But when it comes to audience attendances, the Rays rank at 28th out of 30 teams in MLB.

Tampa Bay Rays have been playing in their current ballpark at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida since its inaugural season in 1998. Notably, this is on the lease, and it will expire after the 2027 season. Sternberg took over the Rays as a struggling franchise in 2005. Since then, the team has done wonders on the field, but the financial crisis remains intact.

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Even after the rejection of his proposal by the MLB, Sternberg has no plans to sell the team. Or request permission to explore a relocation from Major League Baseball.

He said, “We’ll see how the stands look this year and the support we get, and that’s going to help inform us as well going forward on our plans.“

What are your thoughts on MLB’s verdict on the Rays’ proposal?