ST. PETERSBURG, FL (WFLA) – The St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday to allow the Tampa Bay Rays to pursue other stadium options, including in Hillsborough County.

The council members voted 5-3 in favor of letting the baseball team take a look at other stadiums.

The agreement allows the Rays to look into a possible move to Hillsborough County.

According to the agreement, the team:

  • Must inform St. Petersburg of how it will evaluate potential sites
  • The evaluation must be a minimum of six months to allow the city to make its case that the Rays should stay put.
  • The Rays will pay 50 percent for a new city directed master plan for redeveloping the Tropicana Field site.

Hillsborough County is prepared to begin meaningful discussions with the Rays, commissioner Ken Hagan said before the vote. “The day an agreement is reached with the team, I will place a call to Rays president Brian Ault and it would be my hope that we can sit down within a matter of weeks,” Hagan said last week.