ST. PETERSBURG – As the Tampa Bay Rays look to build a new baseball stadium, local businesses, corporations and fans need to show more support and to fill Tropicana Field more often, the team’s leaders said Tuesday.
Principal Owner Stu Sternberg and team President Brian Auld told a chamber of commerce lunch crowd of about 350 people that the fan base has grown and television and radio ratings are high, but more people and businesses need to buy game tickets.
Team executives said they remain committed to the area and think baseball will succeed here, but Auld added they cannot proceed on the assumption that if they build a new stadium, people will come.