Tampa Bay Rays CEO Ken Babby pledged on Friday to meet with every Tampa City Council member in the coming weeks to hear concerns about the team\u2019s stadium project.<\/p>\n
Hours earlier, council members’ longstanding complaints about being left out of financing negotiations culminated in two votes that cast doubt on the city’s role in the proposed $2.3 billion ballpark and surrounding $8 billion privately funded mixed-use district.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Babby met over breakfast with council member Bill Carlson, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor took to social media and blasted the lawmakers, contending they \u201care clearly intent on killing the plan before negotiations are done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt defies common sense that they would prefer to have no say in the benefits a Rays project would bring to our city & instead punt it to the county,\u201d Castor wrote on Friday.<\/p>\n
ALSO READ: Two city council decisions cloud Tampa’s role in Rays’ ballpark proposal<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt’s beyond frustrating that as city and county leaders are working tirelessly to hammer out an equitable deal to bring the Rays to Tampa, City Council members want to halt our efforts in their tracks.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlson, who has been among the council\u2019s most vocal critics of the negotiating process, pushed back on Castor\u2019s criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this deal fails it will be the fault of you and your office for your arrogance and incompetence,\u201d Carlson wrote.<\/p>\n On Friday, the Rays appeared to be responding to one of the council\u2019s central complaints: that members wanted more direct communication about the project.<\/p>\n Carlson said Babby reached out after Thursday\u2019s meeting and the two met the next morning. Carlson said Babby told him he planned to meet with all council members \u201cto listen to the concerns of their constituents.\u201d<\/p>\n If this deal fails it will be the fault of you and your office for your arrogance and incompetence. Do you really think that council and the public don’t know what’s going on?<\/p>\n \u2014 Bill Carlson (@carlsonbill) July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe community is always better when we maintain a dialogue,\u201d Carlson said.<\/p>\n Babby confirmed the planned meetings in his own statement released by the team.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve had a great week, and that even includes last night at Tampa City Council when a vote that didn’t go our way actually helped to underline where we need to go, and what we need to do to bring this project to reality,\u201d Babby wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent the morning with Councilperson Bill Carlson, who emphasized the importance of connecting with each member of the council, to better hear the views of their constituents. So, I am on it and will be meeting with each of them in the week ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Votes set off Castor on social media <\/p>\n The Castor-Carlson dustup, which offered a rare public peek inside politics, followed Thursday\u2019s contentious votes by the seven council members.<\/p>\n First, in their role as the city\u2019s Community Redevelopment Agency, they voted 5-2 to remove from their Aug. 20 agenda a vote on pledging $100 million in future property tax revenue toward the stadium project.<\/p>\n Then, the council voted 4-3 against sending state officials a list of proposed land-use changes for the 120-acre Hillsborough College property tied to ballpark and adjoining development, which the Rays expect will dramatically increase the tax revenue inside the CRA.<\/p>\n The Rays consider the CRA money vital to the $976 million public contribution from Hillsborough County and the city, which has been represented during talks by the mayor\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n ALSO READ: Rays’ latest renderings focus on mixed-use district surrounding planned stadium<\/a><\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s votes were considered key to staying on the Rays\u2019 timeline to open the stadium in March 2029. Their lease at Tropicana Field ends after the 2028 season, and Babby has warned the team could seek other options should the schedule not be met.<\/p>\n The land-use vote was considered procedural and did not involve any expenditure, according to council Chair Alan Clendenin.<\/p>\n Babby previously said there have been discussions about moving forward without the city\u2019s involvement. Carlson said the plan would involve the county implementing \u201chome rule\u201d tax-increment financing that would replace the CRA, but that would add hurdles and time to the process.<\/p>\n The city council approved a memorandum of understanding in May outlining the use of $80 million in Community Investment Tax funding. Since then, Carlson and other councilors have repeatedly argued that they need more involvement before approving agreements.<\/p>\n ‘Not authorized to negotiate’ for CRA board<\/p>\n That concern was on display during Thursday\u2019s CRA meeting, where Carlson explained the CRA board had not been directly involved in negotiations.<\/p>\n Carlson questioned the role of the mayor\u2019s administration in negotiating on behalf of the CRA, which he said is a separate legal entity from the city.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city, the mayor, can negotiate on behalf of the city and then present something to the city council. That would be the city\u2019s part of it,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cBut on the CRA, the mayor is not involved. The mayor and her staff are not authorized to negotiate on our behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlson said a briefing from city staff would not be the same as participating in negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe (city) chief of staff sent a memo to us the other day offering to brief us, but that\u2019s different than being involved in negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n ALSO READ: Could the Rays build a Tampa stadium without any money from the city?<\/a><\/p>\n
\u201cRepresenting the public means having tough conversations even when you disagree,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cHats off to Ken Babby, Rays CEO, for reaching out last night. We had a productive conversation this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n