Q&A: Rays CEO Ken Babby on the MOU, public investment, and why the future of Tampa Bay is bigger than baseball

Q&A: Rays CEO Ken Babby on the MOU, public investment, and why the future of Tampa Bay is bigger than baseball

The Tampa Bay Rays, Hillsborough County, and the City of Tampa have a deal — or at least the framework for one. Last week, the three parties released a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a $2.3 billion enclosed ballpark and surrounding mixed-use district anchored on the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough College. The non-binding MOU caps the public contribution at $976 million, with the Rays committing more than $1.2 billion plus any cost over…

The future of Rays baseball in St. Pete has businesses taking it game by game

A month and a half into the season, businesses around Tropicana Field are already feeling the impact of the Tampa Bay Rays' return but the team's future in St. Pete remains an open question.Bill Georgiou has owned The Burg Bar & Grill on Central Avenue for 17 years. He says the difference in foot traffic on game days is significant."It's gonna be probably a 30% difference of more customers, and that's a big difference for small businesses," Geor…