The Tampa Bay area has close to 3.5M people and the state has over 20M. It easily has enough people to support two baseball teams.
Rex's argument about baseball being a dying game - and your own about taxpayer vs corporate support to fund a stadium are more persuasive, IMO.
I don't know if the game can work in Tampa. And I'd agree that its chances probably got a lot worse with today's presser. I see the point about taxpayer funded playgrounds for millionaires and billionaires. It is an easily defensible policy position to take.
I still think sports teams bind a city or region the way few other things can. If you're a white dude strolling down Kennedy Blvd. with your Rays or Lightning jersey on and you come across a black guy walking in the opposite direction wearing gear from the same team, there's an instant, (if fleeting) connection. He's not only some douche you have to push past, a leech on the system, as you weave your way through pedestrian traffic, and you're not just some entitled white cracker to him. You'll toss each other a nod, or at least be a little less annoyed by one another based on your shared allegiance. Communities rally around their teams. In a time when we are all being pulled apart seemingly constantly, these little things that help bind a community matter just a bit more. How a community quantifies that with its taxpayer dollars for a stadium, I don't know. But it should factor in.
The Tampa MSA is the second largest in Florida behind Miami and is among the fastest growing in the nation. Why, with that heat and humidity, I'll never know, but that's a topic for another thread. Look at the cities that recently lost major pro sports teams and how they yearn to get them back: Cleveland got a reconstituted Browns franchise back, after their franchise went to replace the relocated Colts. Montreal with baseball, Winnipeg got hockey back. Quebec wants hockey back. Seattle wants basketball back. Hell, isn't Tampa trying to join MLS after losing the Mutiny years ago? And getting a team back - be it through expansion or relocation - is always far more expensive and always includes the stadium/arena the original team wanted in the first place. If the Rays leave and we're still all on this crummy board a few years from now, I'll bet Tampa is neck deep in trying to woo MLB for an expansion team, or to relocate one. And this time, "they'll do it right!".
Both sides need to step back and see what they have mutually invested. There's been a generation spent of building fans and allegiances and strong TV ratings in the largest area that can realistically support a team (Charlotte, Vegas, Nashville, Portland). It's best for all to make it work here.
