Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan joined Ronnie & TKras to clear the air on the current state of Rays Stadium plans, saying St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman won't pick up the phone to discuss reopening Tampa's window to work with the team on a new location and citing that Stu Sternberg still wants the team in Ybor City as Option 1. Listen to the full exchange here...
VIA WFLA 8 News: Another pitch to move the Tampa Bay Rays from St. Petersburg to Tampa was made at the Hillsborough County Commission meeting today.
"Over the last several years, the team has routinely had either lowest or second lowest attendance. However, this year the rays are setting records for lowest attendance," said Commissioner Ken Hagan.
With attendance to the games declining, Commissioner Hagan believes now is the time to re-open talks about moving the Rays to Tampa. Much like the first go-around, Hagan didn't hold back on what he had to say about the team and the stadium.
"One ESPN sports broadcaster said the Trop is the worst stadium in major league baseball and that includes the minor leagues," said Hagan.
Hagan reminded the room that he had the support of former mayor Bob Buckhorn. He says he believes he will have the same support from Mayor Jane Castor.
Hagan is also pitching the idea to develop an entertainment district in Ybor City that will make the area more appealing to the Rays.
Plans to move the Rays to a state-of-the-art facility in Ybor City came to a halt in December of last year, after the Rays declined the plan citing several shortfalls and concerns about funding.
St. Pete Mayor Kriseman's comments from Twitter mentioned in the above interview with Hagan in response to this story are below...
Here's the original plan in Ybor City that fell through earlier this year, story via FOX 13 News...