ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The mayor of St. Petersburg says the city will not allow the Tampa Bay Rays to pursue a plan to split home games between new stadiums that would be built in Florida and Montreal.

Mayor Rick Kriseman informed the City Council in a memo that he and the team agree that the “best path forward” is to abide by an existing contract that requires the Rays to play at Tropicana Field through 2027.

The Rays have played home games in St. Petersburg since their inception in 1998.

Major League Baseball granted the team permission in June to explore the prospect of splitting games in open-air stadiums that would be built in St. Petersburg and Montreal, which has not had a team since the Expos left Canada after the 2004 season and became the Washington Nationals.