For me this is an easy question. Anyone who has a vested interest in the Tampa Bay Rays success knows there’s one team whose presence looms over the franchise, and soon the new owners will seek to undo decades of damage when they build a stadium that shadows over big brother.
Yes, I’m talking about the Yankees.
Nearing 30 years of Rays existence, there is no good reason for the Yankees to still be a 25% market share in the region. Local fans should be local fans! Or at least the next generation should be. The problem, so to speak, is that the Yankees are great neighbors to the place they call home — Tampa.
Charity events, taxes, good relationship with the Bucs… it’s enough to make me sick. We got one blissful year of the Rays wiping their marketing off Dale Mabry, and I can’t wait for that to be permanent.
God only knows how the Yankees and Rays could co-exist once the new stadium is built, and I hope they don’t. Send ‘em to Disney or Miami or Orlando, but Tampa is ours.