Rays owner will consider move to Tampa

One of baseball's top teams is exploring relocation options.

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg announced that his team will not stay in St. Petersburg once the team's current lease with the city expires in 2027. Experts believe that the Rays will break that lease if it can work out an arrangement with Tampa, according to CBS affiliate WTSP.

Since the team's inception in 1998, the Rays have suffered from low attendance at their home park, Tropicana Field. When he took over the team five years ago, Sternberg said he assumed that winning would bring fans in, but even a trip to the 2008 World Series did little to drum up fan support in St. Petersburg.

"Baseball will not work in downtown St. Petersburg," Sternberg told assembled reporters, adding that the club needs a new stadium to survive.

Tampa mayoral candidate Bob Buckhorn told the station that he supports any plan that puts a stadium in Tampa but uses mostly private funds and very little city and public investment.

Many cities are reluctant to use taxpayer money to finance new stadiums. This was evidenced recently in Las Vegas, where city officials balked at building a new arena with public funds.

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