RUMOR MILL: ROWDIES to sign Multi-Year Deal to stay at AL LANG STADIUM!

Yes. They could, but why would they? It is why I made the point that as long as Al Lang is operated by baseball folk, they are going to have baseball every spring, which means that everyone can park their dreams about permanent changes to ALF that would compromise its dual nature.

I think you missed my point with the parking comment. Goes along with your line of thought that St. Pete isn't an ideal permanent site. Of course every site has drawbacks, but my thoughts about controlling revenue is that the ALF site would not allow for the Rowdies to get parking revenue and that is a valuable revenue stream to be considered. Yes they could build a garage on the existing parking lot and if they had a permanent deal with the city it would most certainly include parking revenue (or at least a split). The problem is that if I am right and the only way you can shoehorn a soccer stadium into that plot of land is by knocking down the existing stands and moving the whole stadium a bit north and in a north-south alignment, then there goes the parking garage. Not a deal breaker of course, but just trying to bring some people down to earth after they get all lathered up over turning ALF into Jeldwen Field 2.0.

or we could go the PRI route, the stadium would fit:

There is no spring training there anymore.

And moving their tournament kind of defeats the purpose of having a contract to control ALF and have....a baseball tournament there.

I think you are right. People forget the $31m to turn Jeld-Wen from a baseball stadium to a soccer stadium wasn't really to turn a baseball stadium to a soccer stadium, but from a stadium that could host baseball games into a stadium which could not. I think Al Lang could be repurposed, but it would take a hell of a lot more than just dumping $31m into a brand-new stand, plus cleaning the guano out of the top row of the stadium.

No chance that stadium would fit on the AlF footprint. That is even larger than OR's plan.

Jeld Weld only cost 31 million?

Interesting considering the $32 million price tag on the hotel complex being financed by Rowdies owners.

********ING SIGH

That $31M was on top of a bunch of other millions the city pored into the place just in the last 10 years.

And it's much easier to convince people to invest in a hotel than a stadium for a second-division soccer team. Even if the numbers are similar, the situation isn't the same.

Yes, the $36 million (there was a cost overrun, which Merritt Paulson was responsible for) was only for the most recent construction. Meaning, it paid for the new sideline stand and luxury boxes in what was left field, and the end stand in what was right field, as well as new video boards. And they likely didn't need to do much expanding to the utilities feeding the stadium.

Ok, that is what I was thinking before. Thanks for clarifying.

Yes but as you mentioned.. it is temporary. San Antonio will have its own field next year. So one year in a high school football stadium is worth having to wait.

Just was asking as there is a small chance I may have to move to Tampa.. is why I ask.

Hi, I have read these forums quite a bit but just now beginning to post. The spirit behind holding the baseball tournament at Al Lang is really to continue having events at that particular location. There doesn't seem to be a clear profit motive there from the city's point of view at least in the short term. If you guys are going to Rowdies games then you would know that downtown St pete has something to offer in the way of entertainment on a weekend night (moreso than Tampa's downtown proper). The Rays clearly have a finite life in downtown, and it would be to St Pete's benefit to keep the Rowdies at Al Lang as long as possible to see if interest grows to the point where perhaps they can make a decision on whether or not it would be worth their while to make a pitch to make downtown their permenant home (way in the future). For these reasons I think it would not be that far fetched for the city to really give the Rowdies a sweetheart lease deal so that the club can keep operating and the city can continue to guage the situation. This current incarnation of the NASL is so new that it also buys the city time to see how permenant the league is as the second division to the MLS. If the league can establish some sort of permenancy perhaps support will come organically just because the product has been there long enough.