History and Trivia: The Longest Wait

Sportslaw History: The Longest Wait

Tampa wins award for lost opportunities to have a baseball team

Many cities seek sports franchises in the hope of luring fans, tourists and businesses. They also wish a big-league team to bolster their image as a "major" or "growing" area which can compete with the more traditional venues where teams have thrived. Whether it is Nashville (which took the Oilers from Houston) or Charlotte (which received an NBA expansion franchise some years back), politicians and many civic leaders do their darndest to get a team.

Of all cities, I think Tampa takes the prize for being the most persistent. Until it received a franchise for the Devil Rays in 1995, it tried seven times to lure a team to the west coast of Florida. Here they are:

1984 -- A Tampa-based group purchased a share of the Minnesota Twins and sought to move them to Tampa. Eventually they backed down and sold their share and the team stayed in Minnesota.

1985 -- The same group reached agreement to buy the Oakland A's for $37 million. But an all-night meeting between the A's president and the mayor of Oakland resulted in a new stadium lease and some loans, so the team stayed put.

1988 -- The Chicago White Sox came close to ditching the Windy City and the South Side for the warmer confines of Tampa. The Sox were prepared to move if the Illinois legislature did not approve a deal to build a new facility to replace the aging (but to my mind, glorious) Comiskey Park. The Legislature did, in a narrow vote and the Sox stayed. Had the Sox moved, a new domed stadium was ready for them.

1988 -- A bid was made for the Texas Rangers, but it was eliminated when a minority owner used his option to buy the team. This sale was not approved by the American League owners, and the team was sold to a group led by now-Governor (and soon to be Presidential candidate) George W. Bush.

1991 -- Tampa was a finalist in the National League expansion, but franchises went to Miami and Denver.

1992 -- There was talk of the Seattle Mariners going to Tampa. But that was squelched when the team was sold to a Japanese-backed group and the team stayed.

1992 -- The owned of the San Francisco Giants sold the team to a Tampa group for $115 million, but the National League owners rejected it and the team was sold for $15 million less and stayed in San Francisco.

1995 -- Tampa finally received its franchise as an expansion team.

1998 -- The Devil Rays play their first game.

Source: Sports Law Practice by Martin Greenberg and James Gray (Lexis, 1998).