FanPost

TB Rays Inc.: Stealing a Page from the Packers' Playbook


Most sports fans are aware that the Green Bay Packers are publicly owned, a primer from SI:

"The Packers pride themselves on being the only publicly-owned, not-for-profit, major league professional team in the United States. Instead of having one owner or a handful of partners like every other NFL team, the Packers are owned by hundreds of thousands of fans. In 1923, four years after the team was founded, the fledgling Packers found themselves on the verge of bankruptcy, so they sold shares to the community to keep the lights on. The team has held four additional stock offerings since the original in ‘23, and according to the team’s website, there are currently 360,760 shareholders who own a total of 5,011,558 shares. More than 269,000 shares were sold in the most recent offering that began in December 2011."

Surely there are at least half million people who care enough about keeping the Rays in central Florida that would be willing to pay, essentially tax themselves, $100 or more to help get a new stadium built? Even if only $50 million is raised, it would be a powerful statement to MLB about the depth of support for the Rays in our area.

As a youth, Governor DeSantis participated in the Little League World Series for Dunedin so we can surmise that he's a baseball fan who doesn't want to see the Rays moved out of Florida, if he were to promote this concept as statewide cause celebre it's not out of the question that the entire cost of a new stadium could be raised.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.