Rays nixing new stadium development; team remains committed to reaching 'ballpark solution'

The Tampa Bay Rays person made the "difficult decision" to halt an estimated $1.3 cardinal stadium and onshore redevelopment deal. The task would person secured the MLB club's aboriginal successful St. Petersburg, Florida, with a state-of-the-art ballpark adjacent to Tropicana Field. 

The Rays' existent location is undergoing repairs aft the stadium's extortion was heavy damaged by Hurricane Milton successful October. The Rays volition invited visiting teams to Steinbrenner Field successful 2025. The 11,000-seat ballpark serves arsenic the New York Yankees' outpouring grooming home.

Rays main proprietor Stuart Sternberg said "a bid of events" successful October and financing delays led to "this hard decision."

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A drone representation shows the dome of Tropicana Field, which was torn unfastened by Hurricane Milton successful St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 10, 2024.  (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)

"After cautious deliberation, we person concluded we cannot determination guardant with the caller ballpark and improvement task astatine this moment," Sternberg said successful a statement. "A bid of events opening successful October that nary 1 could person anticipated led to this hard decision."

Sternberg added that the enactment remains committed to resolving its stadium issue.

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"Our committedness to the vitality and occurrence of the Rays enactment is unwavering. We proceed to absorption connected uncovering a ballpark solution that serves the champion involvement of our region, Major League Baseball and our organization."

"Major League Baseball remains committed to uncovering a imperishable location for the nine successful the Tampa Bay portion for their fans and the section community," MLB said successful a statement. "Commissioner (Rob) Manfred understands the disappointment of the St. Petersburg assemblage from today’s announcement, but helium volition proceed to enactment with elected officials, assemblage leaders and Rays officials to unafraid the club’s aboriginal successful the Tampa Bay region."

Tropicana Field opened successful 1990 and has been the Rays’ location since they took the tract successful 1998. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, a driving unit down what was dubbed the "Here To Stay" inaugural aimed astatine keeping the Rays successful the metropolis for different 30 years, said the determination was disappointing, but "it is not unexpected."

It's imaginable the Rays could beryllium sold, helium noted.

Tropicana Field earlier a crippled betwixt the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today Sports)

"If, successful the coming months, a caller proprietor who demonstrates a committedness to honoring their agreements and our assemblage priorities emerges, we volition see a concern to support shot successful St. Pete. But we volition not enactment our city’s advancement connected clasp arsenic we await a collaborative and community-focused shot partner," Welch said.

Under their existent declaration with the metropolis of St. Petersburg, the Rays would play 3 much seasons astatine their existing ballpark aft it is repaired. Those repairs are expected to beryllium completed successful clip for the 2026 season.

"The City of St. Petersburg is presently advancing plans to reconstruct Tropicana Field for the 2026 season," Sternberg said. "We are thankful for their efforts and are excited to instrumentality to our location tract adjacent spring."

The damaged extortion of Tropicana Field, the location of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, aft Hurricane Milton made landfall successful downtown St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 10, 2024.   (Reuters/Octavio Jones)

The projected 30,000-seat stadium is simply a signature portion of a broader $6.5 cardinal revitalization task known arsenic the Historic Gas Plant District, which refers to a predominantly Black vicinity that was forced retired by the operation of Tropicana Field and an interstate road spur.

The Rays' determination puts the broader task successful limbo.

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The Rays had faced a March 31 deadline to determine whether to proceed with the caller ballpark project. Under the statement antecedently approved by the metropolis and Pinellas County, the governments would screen astir fractional the outgo of the $1.3 cardinal stadium, with the Rays and their improvement spouse Hines covering the rest, including immoderate outgo overruns.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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