If funding were approved, St. Petersburg residents would have been on the hook for a new stadium for one of baseball’s least attended teams.

Before the Pinellas County Commission punted on finalizing bonds for a new $1.3 billion stadium again on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Rays wrote a letter saying the deal approved this summer no longer works financially for the team.

It was essentially buried after St. Petersburg City Council members delayed a vote on allocating bonds for the new stadium — and nixed paying for a new roof for storm-damaged Tropicana Field.