Exclusive poll: St. Pete residents say let Rays look at Tampa

There's at least one obvious reason why St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster - locked in a tight race to win a second term - has softened his stance on preventing the Tampa Bay Rays from looking at new stadium options in Hillsborough County.

Public opinion.

It has been morphing for some time, with many residents coming to the understanding that holding the Rays to their contract to play at Tropicana Field through 2027 without at least being able to consider other options in the Tampa Bay area could come at a steep price.

The Rays could well give up on the region and move to some far-flung destination. Or even be absorbed by Major League Baseball in an act of "contraction."

Tampa is a viable alternative because of its more central location and younger population, and new data from an Bay News 9, Tampa Bay Times and WUSF Public Media poll establishes that nearly half of the city's residents - a solid majority of those who ventured an opinion - favor allowing the team to explore options in the city.

Thirty-eight percent of the poll respondents said the Rays should be able to look across the bay if they pay the city a fee for amending their lease, and another 10 percent said they should be permitted to look even without any conditions attached.

That brings the total percentage of residents who say the club should be allowed to flirt with Tampa to 48 percent, according to the poll.

That's far from a consensus, of course. Another 39 percent of city residents who say the Rays shouldn't be allowed to flirt with Tampa under any circumstances. And 12 percent they don't know or weren't sure about the right answer.

Change in position

Foster, who for years steadfastly held the Rays couldn't even look sideways at Hillsborough County, acknowledged in August that ongoing poor attendance in the face of the club's excellent performance on the field is a legitimate concern. He admitted that letting the Rays look elsewhere might be a way to keep them close.

No agreement permitting the Rays to talk to Tampa has come about, though, and Foster reported to the City Council last month that negotiations were going nowhere and that Major League Baseball does not "seem interested in a cooperative effort to keep the Rays in the Tampa Bay region for the long term."

Rick Kriseman, Foster's challenger in the Nov. 5 mayoral election, has repeatedly pointed to Foster's shift in philosophy as indecisiveness and playing politics.

"For the first 3 1/2 years of his administration, it was, 'we have a contract. It's good through 2027, and we are not going to allow them to look elsewhere,' " Kriseman noted during a recent debate produced by Bay News 9 and the Tampa Bay Times. "The election cycle starts, and there are discussions, so that position has changed."

Both candidates say their primary objective is to protect the interest of city taxpayers who invested hundreds of millions of dollars to build Tropicana Field and attract a MLB expansion team to the city. Foster favors "negotiating in good faith," while Kriseman said he would not amend the agreement "unless we get something in return."

And that, the poll data shows, is what many city residents want. 

Different perspectives

But that thinking isn't across the board. Notably, more men than women are willing to let the Rays look around. Forty-three percent of men are willing to let the Rays look at Tampa options for a fee, while the number drops to 34 percent for women.

"I think (allowing talks with Tampa) is a good thing because, in the big picture, keeping the Rays here until 2027 on their lease is just going to drag the situation out," poll respondent Harold Remark said.

"They're a great team," notes Joe Egerlie, "but they've got no support from St. Pete."

There's also a difference in how the issue is viewed by race. While 53 percent of white respondents said the Rays should be allowed to look around, 52 percent of African-American respondents said the club should be held strictly to its lease.

Foster seemed to be expressing yet another shift in his position in the recent debate when he said he, too, sees a risk in giving the Rays an opportunity to break any part of their lease.

"This owner (the Rays' Stu Sternberg) who believes in Tampa Bay as a major league region is up against 29 other owners and the commissioner of baseball who do not see Tampa Bay as a viable market," Foster said. 

"If you start playing with the use agreement, you weaken the use agreement and give them the ability to leave the region prior to 2027. I’ve been at the table. I know what Mr. Sternberg is up against. And so we do have to work together. But we have to get Major League Baseball to make a commitment well beyond 2027."

And that's something the poll data suggests a majority of St. Petersburg residents recognize.

Complete survey results

Should the city allow the Rays to look at stadium sites in Tampa only if there is an advance agreement on financial compensation, without any conditions, or not at all?

** Less than 1 percent

This poll was conducted by Braun Research and has a margin of error of +/- 3.4 %.