The Tampa Bay Rowdies are looking to move up to Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional league in the US, and are attempting to expand Al Lang Stadium as a part of that bid for a few exclusive spots. In order to expand the stadium they will require a lease extension approved via a public referendum.

As part of the process for considering a public referendum, the St. Petersburg City Council is conducting conversations on the issue. There are some City Council members who are advocating to require a name change (or inclusion) from the "Tampa Bay" Rowdies to "St. Petersburg" as part of the lease extension deal.

• City Council Member Steve Kornell: "I want St. Pete in the logo.  That standard talking point in sports is that the publicity is invaluable [for a city.]  If the publicity is so valuable, I think it drops when you don’t have the name of the city in there." - Tampa Bay Business Journal
• City Council Member Ed Montanari: "One of the benefits of having a franchise in the city, especially a major league franchise, is how you can move the brand of the city forward.  I don’t want to solve naming issues right now today. But I think as we move this forward, I would like to explore somehow working the name St. Petersburg into the agreement." - The Unused Substitutes

While the efforts of the City Council are most certainly well-intentioned, a name change away from "Tampa Bay" might actually have a negative impact on the effort to land an MLS club. Like all of our other major league teams, the Rowdies represent the entire Tampa Bay region - and were the first of our teams to take the "Tampa Bay" name. Additionally one of the strongest components of a Rowdies bid for MLS is the ability to appeal to the entire Tampa Bay media market. Don Garber, the commissioner of MLS, cited exactly this as a reason the league would be intrigued by the Rowdies. Forcing the club to change its name away from "Tampa Bay" could draw lines between St. Petersburg other key areas of the television media market and might be limiting one of the strongest assets the Rowdies have in its quest for MLS expansion.

For those of us who are St. Petersburg residents, we are proud of our city, but recognize that a name change would more likely jeopardize the MLS effort than aid it. For those of us in neighboring communities, we're proud of the Rowdies "Tampa Bay" roots and it's representation of the whole area.

Respectfully, we ask the St. Petersburg City Council to reconsider its request to change the name of the "Tampa Bay" Rowdies as part of the lease extension process.