For the first time in their 11 years, the Tampa Bay Rays are talking playoffs. Ticket sales are up 25 percent. Television ratings are growing even faster.

So why, in the middle of this surprising surge, are the Rays seeking a new stadium?

What's wrong with Tropicana Field?

In a word: Money. The Rays say only a new stadium will generate enough revenue to pay higher salaries and field a consistently competitive team.

A St. Petersburg Times review of baseball finances supports the Rays notion that modern, more intimate ballparks make huge sums of new money. Attendance, ticket prices and team value all increase, often dramatically.

But the link between new stadiums and more wins is tenuous at best. Over the past decade, teams in new ballparks averaged only 2.2 additional wins. Five of the nine teams got worse.

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Will run in Sunday's paper. On Web now. Also...sidebar:

Are Rays making money or losing it? Yes. Probably