Tampa Bay Rays May Now Be Headed For Relocation

Just a few months ago, the Tampa Bay Rays home ballpark situation finally seemed settled. After decades of playing in a depressing Tropicana Field, the team finally secured public funding to start work on a new stadium and ballpark district in the Tampa area.

Then Hurricane Milton hit Florida, and quite literally tore the roof off. Suddenly, Tropicana Field became unplayable, with debris and destruction littering the stadium and field. Problems with the building are so bad that it would take an estimated $55 million in repairs to make it playable again, and would take the entire 2025 season to fix.

As a result, the Rays are now going to play their next season at the Yankees spring training facility, with significantly lower capacity and an outdoor environment in the harsh summer weather in Florida.

READ: Rays Will Move Into Yankees Spring Training Facility For 2025 Season

And the news might be getting worse for baseball in Tampa.

ST PETERSBURG - The roof of Tropicana Field is seen in tatters after Hurricane Milton destroyed it as the storm passed through the area on October 10, 2024. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay Rays New Stadium Put On Hold

The Rays this week appeared before the Pinellas County Commission and explained that beyond their 2025 issues, their brand-new building that was supposed to be ready in 2028 may never open.

Per the Associated Press, there are "political delays on financing" that have impacted the stadium's feasibility and potentially the team's commitment to the region entirely.

The Rays have reportedly spent $50 million on early work for the new building, which has an estimated total cost of $1.3 billion, and told the county that they can't continue funding it alone. In a new letter to the County Commission, co-presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman said the organization is "saddened and stunned by this unfortunate turn of events." 

"As we have made clear at every step of this process, a 2029 ballpark delivery would result in significantly higher costs that we are not able to absorb alone," they added.

The commissioners have yet to act on financing bonds, and the delays, according to the team, could jeopardize baseball in Tampa. Owner Stu Sternberg said that the outlook is  "less rosy than it was three weeks ago. We’re going to do all that we can, as we’ve tried for 20 years, to keep the Rays here for generations to come."

We've heard that before, mostly from Oakland A's ownership.

The Rays' stadium situation was effectively solved this summer. Now it's a complete mess. The team has no idea where it's playing in 2026 and 2027, and will be at a spring training/minor league facility in 2025. There's no guarantee that the new building will be ready in 2028, and ownership claims to not have the money to continue development on its own. 

This could easily lead to relocation; several cities, including Nashville, have been waiting and hoping for MLB to expand. But the destruction of Tropicana Field might force Major League Baseball's hand. Baseball in Tampa has always been hanging by a thread, with bottom tier attendance despite generally competitive teams. A new stadium was expected to help fix the problem by giving fans a better experience. But if that goes away, what's keeping the Rays in the region? The answer, quite frankly, is not a whole heck of a lot.