Naimoli sours chamber crowd with criticism, then sweetens raffle

By KYLE PARKS

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001

TAMPA -- Talking to about 200 of Tampa's corporate movers and shakers Wednesday, Vince Naimoli chastised the area for not doing enough to support his Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Then, several attendees said, the Rays' managing general partner singled out one culprit: the Hyatt Regency Westshore hotel in which he was standing. The hotel recently canceled its season tickets, he lamented.

The reaction from the crowd at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce luncheon? An uneasy silence.

This was not the first time Naimoli has complained about a lack of community support. Several years ago, he even told a group of area business people he might someday have to move the team, though he later denied making the comments.

Naimoli is known for playing hardball with area businesses on everything from how they use the Rays' trademarks to how they should buy tickets if they are doing business with the team.

Later at the luncheon, Naimoli moved to erase the public relations damage.

As emcee Dick Crippen raffled off some team paraphernalia to attendees, Naimoli threw in another prize: a night in his personal luxury suite. The co-winners were Alfonso Architects and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay.

"We're thrilled," said Roy Opfer, president of the Boys and Girls Clubs. "We probably will use the seats either to raise money or to reward some of our kids."

Rays officials downplayed the sequence of events, saying Naimoli's raffle-sweetener wasn't unusual.

"He has been known to do things like that at the spur of the moment at events," said Rick Vaughn, the team's vice president of public relations.

And why did the Hyatt cancel its four season tickets? It turns out they aren't unhappy with the team -- just the opposite.

"We want to bring more people to the games at a time," said Don McDaniel, the hotel's general manager. "Having just four seats didn't fit our marketing objectives. We would rather rent a box for a game so we could bring a larger group."

- Kyle Parks can be reached at parks@sptimes.com or at (813) 226-3405.

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