Lyash dishes out coalition details

The coalition tasked to find a viable location for a new Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium will include nine members from the Tampa Bay area and will likely conclude its work within 18 months, coalition chairman and Progress Energy CEO Jeff Lyash said at a morning press conference announcing details of the groups' plans.

The coalition, which will be formally called A Baseball Community, will also attempt to build fan and business support for the Rays, Lyash said. But it's primary focus, at least publicly, will be to vet possible stadium locations.

Nominations to join the nine-member group are now being accepted at the coalition's web site, www.abc-baseball.com (photo above). Nominations must be submitted by midnight Aug. 4. Lyash said he hopes to have the coalition seated sometime around Labor Day.

 "One primary qualification," said Lyash (photo at right), who was flanked during the announcement by Mayor Rick Baker, members of the Pinellas County Commission and Rays president Matt Silverman. "You must be a baseball fan. You must be committed to helping the Rays succeed in the longterm."

Lyash said later that means you must be open to the idea of the Rays needing a new stadium. No location in the Tampa Bay area will initially be off the table, Lyash said, but local elected leaders seem set on a site somewhere within the city limits of St. Petersburg.

"It's important that the members of the coalition recognize the importance of Major League Baseball here and what it can bring to the community," the Rays' Silverman said afterwards.