Saint Petersburg Mayoral Candidate Pete Boland proposes Rays and Rowdies split venue

ST. PETERSBURG – Pete Boland hasn’t been a key player in the Saint Petersburg mayoral race, given his experience lies in restaurants and not politics, but he has developed a reputation in the race as the outsider candidate.

In an interview with Bay News 9 on Friday, he spoke about his plans for the city to try and appeal to voters and get his name out there. Among appealing to his experience in business and trying to appeal to progressive issues despite being a registered Republican, a must in fiercely progressive Saint Pete, he has spoken of one of the biggest hot-button issues in this campaign. A stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.

With the Rays organization also owning the Rowdies any decision made for the Rays will impact the Rowdies and a popular option among many candidates has been one venue for both teams. That may suit the city well but won’t be well-liked by soccer fans. That is the solution that Boland has proposed.

Boland believes that the Rays are bluffing with their proposal for a split season with Montreal, especially since that will not be allowed under the team’s current deal with the city.

The candidate proposes that the city would approve one stadium that houses both the Rays and the Rowdies, a manner similar to New York City FC sharing Yankees Stadium in MLS and MLB.

That NYCFC agreement has had issues, while many USL Championship teams play in minor league baseball stadiums the schedule for those baseball teams is less hectic, and as such it’s easier to accommodate. The MLB schedule has led to some New York City matches moved away from Yankees Stadium, and more to their biggest rivals stadium. In addition, a stadium built to Major League Baseball capacity would be bigger than the Rowdies really need, but luckily since they’re owned by the Rays the rent won’t be an issue, it just might make for a difficult atmosphere for Ralph’s Mob.

In all previous polls conducted by Saint Pete Polls Boland wasn’t an option so falls under the 16 percent “other” option. As such he’s certainly got a lot of work to do if his proposal for the Rowdies will be the final option.