The St. Petersburg city council approved an offer that would let the Rays baseball team look for a new stadium site locally in exchange for paying millions if they leave Tropicana Field before their lease is up.
The Rays could begin looking in Pinellas County outside St. Petersburg and Hillsborough County, which is something they can’t do under their lease agreement.
But to get that right, the team would have to pay $5 million for Trop demolition plus $4 million dollars for each year they fall short of the 2027 lease end.
The deal is a breakthrough for council, which has rejected two other deals.
The plan now goes to team officials, who are anything but certain to agree to it.
