Rays owner focused on Montreal proposal: 'There is no plan B'

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg remains focused - perhaps even more so than before - on splitting the franchise's seasons between St. Petersburg and Montreal.

The Rays' lease at Tropicana Field ends after the 2027 season and a two-city approach, with the first half of a season being played in the Tampa area and the second half taking place in Montreal from 2028, is "the only option," Sternberg told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

"We are getting towards 2028 and you can't snap your fingers and just have the stadium show up," Sternberg said, adding that there has been "tremendous progress" made regarding negotiations with the city of Montreal.

"It's getting trickier and trickier by the year to get something done. This year certainly set things back, but fortunately, we've got a strong group of people who work for us and we've got a very motivated group of people in Montreal who want us. And I think we have a plan that makes incredible sense. At least it does to me. And we’re going to try to see it through."

When asked about a contingency in the event the Montreal plan does not work out, Sternberg said, "I'll figure out what the next step is at that point. But there's no plan B right now."

The controversial idea to play each season split between two cities in brand new, open-air stadiums located somewhere near Tampa and then in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, rose to fruition midway through the 2019 season. Sternberg has spoken publicly since then about his desire to move forward with the plan, while St. Petersburg's mayor Rick Kriseman has openly opposed the idea.