Rays fans say they want organization and cooperation for new Rays baseball stadium

TAMPA - Politicians, fans, civic groups, and the Rays owners all seem to agree on one thing. If there's going to be a new stadium, both sides of the Bay need to cooperate.

Now some are asking if such cooperation could spawn a new regional Sports Authority to oversee the project and management of a new stadium. We took our questions to the Tampa Sports Authority where we met with their Executive Director on the field of Raymond James Stadium.

"The state legislature set us up and the city and the county work together to build," Eric Hart said.

The Tampa Sports Authority was established back in 1965 through Tallahassee. Hart has been at the helm for about a year now after a decade of work as a Michigan Sports Authority director that included a minor league baseball stadium.

"It's gonna take participation by the legislature and by the local politicians what role we would play. If we would play a role. If there is a role to play," he said.

As the Rays geared up to play the Padres at Tropicana Field Tuesday night, the movement to bring Rays baseball to Downtown Tampa was already taking shape. Ryan Neubauer is the co-founder of BuildItDowntownTampa.org, a group you've probably heard of before.

What you may not know is his organization is already spending money hiring architects and scouting land buys for a viable home for a new baseball stadium.

"We're also locking up the land with options because we've got a small investment group in place that has committed to putting forth the money needed to secure the land," said Neubauer.

Of course, the hurdles BuildItDowntownTampa has before it are plentiful. There's the task of harnessing corporate funding to pay for the project. Neubauer says a retractable-roof option tacks-on about 200-million to the cost. There’s also the outstanding lease issue in St. Petersburg.

Hart says if a new Rays stadium gets built, like Raymond James Stadium, Steinbrenner Field and the St. Pete Times Forum, a regional Sports Authority could certainly have a major part in it's creation. Still these are a lot of big "if's.” Right now, Hart says like most fans, he's just a spectator.

"We're watching. It's to be determined at this point. It's really. We're set up by the legislature. We work for the citizens, the county and the city. So our goal will be, what they want us to be a part of," said Hart.