Legendary sportscaster Dick Vitale blasts Tampa Bay Rays 'sister city' plan

Nah, baby.

click to enlarge Legendary sportscaster Dick Vitale blasts Tampa Bay Rays 'sister city' plan
Photo via Dick Vitale/Twitter
Sarasota resident, massive Tampa Bay Rays fan and legendary sportscaster Dick Vitale is not saying "This is awesome, baby" to principal owner Stu Sternberg's "sister city" plan.

Dickie V took to Twitter yesterday to point out that not everyone agrees with a recent letter to the Tampa Bay Times signed by a bunch of local rich guys, who not only support the idea, but also benefit from a taxpayer funded stadium plopped in the middle of Ybor City.

"Many ppl DO NOT AGREE WITH 36 EXECUTIVES that support a split concept with Montreal," tweeted Vitale. "I will save lots of cash as my season tickets for ⁦ @RaysBaseball will be over."
Vitale then ended the post by stating he agrees with J.P. Peterson, a local sports podcaster and former radio host who is currently organizing a protest against the split-season concept later this spring.

Essentially, the "sister city" plan would allow his team to score two publicly-subsidized, half-used stadiums in Tampa and Montreal. No exact dollar amount has been publicly announced for Tampa's new "boutique" stadium, which would be built in Ybor City, but  a poll sent out by Mayor Jane Castor's reelection campaign asked residents if they were cool with spending $350 million for the idea, with Sternberg reportedly paying another $350 million. 

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Colin Wolf

Colin Wolf has been working with weekly newspapers since 2007 and has been the Digital Editor for Creative Loafing Tampa since 2019. He is also the Director of Digital Content Strategy for CL's parent company, Chava Communications.
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