The Tampa Bay Rays have been searching for a way to leave Tropicana Field over the last several years with little success. Their desperation has led them to a plan that has never before been implemented in the history of American professional sports.
Major League Baseball permitted the Rays and owner Stuart Sternberg to begin exploring the possibility of moving the franchise partially to the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This would mean that the Rays would play a part of their season in Florida and the other part in an entirely different country.
The Rays’ reasoning for considering this seemingly strange possibility comes down to money. The team has found that it will be unfeasible to construct a stadium that would be able to be used in Florida during the entire year. Rains and oppressive heat mean that the stadium would at least need to be able to have a retractable roof, and according to Sternberg, the money to do that just doesn’t exist.
This means that, according to the new proposal, the Rays would play their games in the middle of summer in Montreal. This plan sounds convoluted and unrealistic, but Sternberg’s statements to the press have demonstrated that he is serious about this strange possibility.
Several legal and practical hurdles stand in the way of this potential partial move, including the Rays’ commitment to their current city of St. Petersburg until 2027. The proposal currently seems unlikely to happen, but Sternberg will at least give it a try and see if he can make the unlikely become reality.
