Whenever the Tampa Bay Rays played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, tourists and locals alike would flock to nearby bars and restaurants like Ferg's Sports Bar & Grill on Central Avenue for a bite to eat or a drink to enjoy the day.
But times are changing.
With Hurricane Milton destroying Tropicana Field last fall, the team has temporarily relocated this season to Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, leaving behind St. Petersburg and its businesses.
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The Rays have been a steady source of income in the city since they began play 27 years ago. Chris Steinocher, president of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, told "Florida Matters" host Matthew Peddie that downtown's economy was built around baseball.
"When we as a community decided to do this way back in 1998, we knew that we were depending on this to bring people to our downtown on a regular basis. Many of our businesses had invested in that model," Steinocher said.
"Especially when we heard 'here to stay,' many of them doubled down on their investment into the corridors that would bring those visitors to us."
Steinocher was referring to last summer's celebrated deal to build a $1.3 million stadium. Businesses finally heard a long-awaited commitment from the Rays. But the optimism was short-lived because owner Stuart Sternberg pulled out of the agreement.
Steinocher anticipates that having no baseball in St. Petersburg will be a big loss to the local economy and the community itself.
"It's registers that don't ring. It's people that don't get called in for their shift, and those people that don't get to buy groceries that night and don't feed their families. So it's a huge loss for our community," he said.
And although Steinocher said the city will bounce back from any obstacles and that it will have to adjust, he said summers will be a big test because that's the time of year that's thin with tourists. That was already obvious during the first homestand in Tampa.
"I know most of our folks that are around the stadium like our Ferg's right now would be blowing and going right now because the schools would be closed, and we'd have a lot of people out there partying right now, and while I'm sure there are some people out there, it's not like it used to be," Steinocher said.
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The team's stadium agreement with St. Petersburg now goes through 2028 (it gets extended every year the team doesn't play there). The Rays plan to be back in St. Petersburg next season, assuming Tropicana Field is repaired in time.
On Thursday, the city council approved spending $22.5 million to replace the roof, the first phase in repairs, with construction expected to start by August.
In the meantime, Steinocher said members of the chamber are putting their heads together with business districts to inspire meetings and get messaging out for people to want to come to downtown St. Petersburg. He mentioned that they will most likely double down on art promotions or concerts.
"So I don't think it's necessarily always sports, but it is those kind of activities that we can count on so that shifts can happen and people can get paid and people can buy groceries for their families," Steinocher said.
He said there are openings to continue to have bigger events like festivals or sporting events like the Firestore Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
"I really believe we've only scratched the surface of it," Steinocher said. "I really do believe that, you know, we have the opportunity to continue to attract more and more folks to our community for those bigger events."
This article was compiled from an interview conducted by "Florida Matters" podcast host Matthew Peddie. For more on that episode, click here.
