Join fans everywhere to tell the MLB and league owners to Keep The Rays In Tampa Bay. STAND WITH US. The future of baseball depends on it! 

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Mr. Manfred, MLB Owners and Partners, and Baseball Fans Everywhere:

    Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. The purpose of this letter varies greatly depending on you, the reader.

    To the Tampa Bay Rays organization and Major League Baseball, this is not simply persuasion, but a plea to do everything in your power to keep the Rays in Tampa Bay - FULL-TIME, and a promise that we will do the same. To fans of the Rays, let this serve as a call to action to come together and do whatever we can to Keep The Rays In Tampa Bay. To fans of the game, regardless of the team you root for, this is a chance to not only help us for the good of our team, more importantly, for the future of baseball as a whole. If a split season is possible with the Rays, who’s to say your team won’t be next? Regardless of your affiliation with the game or relationship with the team, there are a plethora of good reasons for everyone to want to keep major league baseball in the Tampa Bay area for the foreseeable future.

      The Tampa Bay area is rich in baseball history. Long before Tampa Bay was awarded a franchise in 1998, by being voted in unanimously by team owners, baseball had roots that ran deep in the area. It has always been home to a number of minor league teams as well as a spring training home for a number of professional franchises as well. In fact, since 1914, more spring training games have been played in St Petersburg than any other city in America. The region is home to all time baseball greats such as Al Lopez and Lou Piniella. That in and of itself is evidence that this is a baseball city and to not have a major league team representing the Tampa Bay area would be a disservice to the rich history of not only the region, but all of America’s pastime.  (Read the MLB article HERE)

       The Tampa Bay region is a booming metropolis that boasts the fourth highest population growth in 2019. It is the fifth largest metro area in the Southeast and the region continues to grow. (Read World Population Review Statistics HERE). Tampa’s bustling downtown and Channel District are growing every day with new businesses and services opening their doors almost daily, offering opportunities for strong partnerships and business ventures. The Clearwater/St Pete corridor, and Pinellas County in general, is enjoying unprecedented growth and predicted to continue throughout the next 10 years. Future job growth in Pinellas over the next ten years is predicted to be 41.0%, which is higher than the US average of 33.5%. (Read more HERE) This is a region that also loves their sports teams. While The NFL’s Buccaneers have enjoyed popularity in the region for decades, the sudden explosion in popularity of The Tampa Bay Lightning should come as no surprise. With a rapidly growing fan base, centralized location, and successful public relations, this should serve not only as a blueprint for The Rays, but proof that they are not far off from enjoying the same success.

       It is for these reasons, as well as many others, that we, the fans, have decided to rise up to the challenge. While the fate of our beloved team does not lie solely in our hands, we vow to do everything we can to keep the Rays, OUR Tampa Bay Rays, in the region – FULL-TIME - in which they belong for generations to come.

From Dedicated Fans Everywhere, Sincerely.

KEEP THE RAYS IN TAMPA BAY