{"id":347858,"date":"2026-07-21T22:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T22:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/347858\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T22:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T22:32:12","slug":"too-big-to-fail-rays-negotiators-weigh-alternatives-if-tampa-council-votes-fall-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/347858\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Too big to fail:’ Rays negotiators weigh alternatives if Tampa Council votes fall short"},"content":{"rendered":"

Negotiators working on a proposed Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> stadium and surrounding redevelopment in Tampa are nearing completion of the project\u2019s final agreements, according to Tampa City Council Chair Alan Clendenin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clendenin said discussions have included potential ways to move the project forward if supporters cannot secure the four Tampa City Council votes needed for approval.<\/p>\n

Staff members representing the Rays, the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County have been negotiating the definitive documents after the City Council and County Commission previously approved a memorandum of understanding<\/a> (MOU) outlining the proposed deal.<\/p>\n

The MOU established a framework but did not contain the final terms elected officials would ultimately be asked to approve.<\/p>\n

Clendenin told Florida Politics Tuesday he expects additional information on the negotiations soon and believes the documents are close to completion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe politicians are not part of the day-to-day grinding of the negotiations,\u201d Clendenin said. \u201cWe make the decisions after those negotiations have been concluded by staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once completed, the agreements would be presented to elected officials for up-or-down votes. Both the Tampa City Council and Hillsborough County Commission are expected to have roles in approving the deal. The Tampa Sports Authority would also later consider portions related to its management responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Clendenin said the documents may come before the city first, calling the City Council the project\u2019s \u201cweakest link\u201d because of uncertainty over whether the proposal can attract a fourth vote<\/a>. <\/p>\n

That uncertainty comes after the Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), whose board is made up of the same seven Council members, delayed consideration of the CRA\u2019s proposed $100 million contribution until Aug. 20 despite earlier approval as the City Council for the city\u2019s $80 million contribution. <\/p>\n

Clendenin said negotiators have considered other options in case that support does not materialize, adding that part of the discussion has involved how the deal could be structured without relying on City Council approval.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re looking at, if for some reason they can\u2019t get that fourth vote on Council, how can we continue to move this project forward?\u201d Clendenin said.<\/p>\n

Clendenin said the definitive agreements could still follow the structure established in the MOU. But he suggested negotiators could also present a revised or more creative arrangement depending on the political support available when the documents are finished.<\/p>\n

His comments come ahead of a Thursday City Council meeting that includes a land-use item connected to the proposed stadium district at the Hillsborough College Dale Mabry campus<\/a>. Clendenin stressed that the vote is procedural and does not represent approval or rejection of the stadium proposal. The land-use change was requested by the college.<\/p>\n

Hillsborough College is seeking a future land-use change for more than 100 acres currently designated for public purposes. The change would allow the property to be considered for the stadium, commercial development, housing and other uses envisioned for the larger district.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s vote would authorize the city to transmit the proposed amendment to state officials in Tallahassee for review and comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a yes or no. It\u2019s not a, \u2018it\u2019s a good idea, bad idea.\u2019 It is all the information we have at this moment, and we\u2019re going to send it to decision makers in Tallahassee for their comments,\u201d Clendenin said. \u201cThis is just administrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

After state officials return their comments, the city would schedule public hearings before deciding whether to approve the land-use change.<\/p>\n

Clendenin is a supporter of the Rays proposal. He argues that the city\u2019s proposed contribution is modest compared with the scale of the development and the economic activity supporters say it would generate.<\/p>\n

Under the current MOU, the city would contribute $80 million in sales-tax revenue. Clendenin said the site is projected to generate between $50 billion and $80 billion in economic activity, along with as many as 15,000 permanent jobs after the district is completed.<\/p>\n

Clendenin also said the stadium and mixed-use development could transform an area surrounding Raymond James Stadium that predominantly activates during football games, concerts and other major events.<\/p>\n

The proposal calls for hotels, restaurants, housing and a redesigned Hillsborough College campus. Clendenin said the added year-round activity could also help support future transit connections between the district, Tampa International Airport and downtown Tampa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is too big to fail,\u201d Clendenin said. \u201cThe county is smart enough to understand that it\u2019s too big to fail. So, if you can\u2019t get it through the city, you\u2019ve got to go around it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Negotiators working on a proposed Tampa Bay Rays stadium and surrounding redevelopment in Tampa are nearing completion of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[28772,11284,22641,276,33192,7459,11708,29208,142351,135,3815,610,142352,137,136,11187],"class_list":["post-347858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-alan-clendenin","tag-city-of-tampa","tag-hillsborough-college","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-hillsborough-county-commission","tag-memorandum-of-understanding","tag-raymond-james-stadium","tag-rays-stadium","tag-stadium-financing","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-tampa-city-council","tag-tampa-city-council-chair","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-tampa-sports-authority"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}