SP Times: Does math for Rays’ stadium add up?

With...Neil deMause, Victor A. Matheson, Mark S. Rosentraub and Andrew Zimbalist.

The Tampa Bay Rays released their plan this week to pay for a new $450-million waterfront stadium.

The St. Petersburg Times asked four stadium experts to double-check the Rays’ math. The Times presented the experts below with the same details that the Rays released Thursday at a meeting with the City Council, along with a story published by the Times about the plan.

The Times then asked the experts, who all are generally critical of taxpayer-funded sports facilities, to examine the materials and prepare an analysis to compare the Rays’ plan to other stadium developments.

The Rays $450-million financing plan includes $150-million from the team, $175-million by extending city and county payments now made at Tropicana Field, $70-million from the developer purchasing the 86-acre Tropicana site, and $55-million from guaranteed parking revenues.