Tampa Bay Rays Commit to Tropicana Field Repairs

The Tampa Bay Rays will support a $55.7 million city plan to repair hurricane-shredded Tropicana Field in time for the 2026 season opener, The Associated Press reported Monday.

Hurricane Milton tore the Trop’s fabric roof to pieces when it came ashore Oct. 9, causing water and other damage to interior parts of the now-exposed ballpark. Work has been ongoing to ensure no further damage is caused by weather but there had been questions about the full repair in part because it would eventually be torn down to make way for a new, $1.3 billion ballpark under current plans to keep the Rays in St. Petersburg another 30 years.

Matt Silverman, the Rays’ co-president, said in an email to the St. Petersburg chief administrator that the team wants to “clear up” any questions about its support for the reconstruction.

The city must pay for the work under its current contract with the Rays. Members of the city council have balked at the cost, especially with residents and businesses still recovering from Milton and Hurricane Helene before that.

The Rays will play the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the New York Yankees, after Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg was significantly damaged by Hurricane Milton on October 9. The Rays’ home since 1998, the fabric roof over Tropicana Field was ripped to shreds after Hurricane Milton came ashore, bringing wind gusts exceeding 100 mph and flooding parts of Florida.

At about 11,000 seats, Steinbrenner Field is the largest of the spring training sites in Florida. It’s not the first time a Major League Baseball team will host regular season games in a spring training stadium. The Toronto Blue Jays played part of the 2021 season at their facility in Dunedin because of Canadian government restrictions during the pandemic.

The Pinellas County Commission in December voted in favor of its share of financing for a new $1.3 billion Tampa Bay Rays ballpark, part of a plan to keep the team in St. Petersburg for 30 years. The proposal caps years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future, including possible moves across the bay to Tampa, or to Nashville, Tennessee, or even to split home games between St. Petersburg and Montreal, an idea Major League Baseball rejected.

Earlier this month, the St. Petersburg City Council voted to approve its share of the bonds necessary to build the 30,000-seat ballpark. The county vote was 5-2 for bonds that would be funded by tourist or “bed” taxes; under the agreement, the city and county would put up about half the cost, with the Rays covering the rest, including any cost overruns.

The Rays say costs of the new ballpark will rise because its planned opening will be delayed from 2028 to 2029. Cost overruns are the responsibility of the Rays under the agreement. Matt Silverman, co-president of the Rays, said in a statement after the county vote the team “cannot absorb this increase alone” and that further negotiations are likely.