From orlandosentinel.com:
More bad luck for baseball in Central Florida.
The Tampa Bay Rays finally have developed into a good team, but they may not be able to return next season for regular-season games at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.
Major League Baseball released its tentative 2009 master schedule today, and unless that schedule undergoes some unforeseen alterations, the Rays could be locked out of Disney.
The reason is this: The tentative schedule provides no good windows that the club has preferred traditionally.
The Rays want to play at Disney only in April or May because afternoon and evening rainstorms are less likely during those months than in the summertime. In addition, the Rays prefer to play weekday games in Orlando and keep their weekend home games in St. Petersburg so they can generate more revenue.The Rays also have wanted an off-day either before or after a series in the Orlando area. This is particularly important because the team has to secure permission from the Major League Baseball Players Association to play home games away from Tropicana Field.
Given all those factors, the 2009 schedule Major League Baseball released Wednesday doesn’t look good for the Rays returning to Central Florida next year.
