The Tampa Bay Rays’ $1.3bn (£1.03bn/€1.23bn) new ballpark project has been cast in doubt after Pinellas County Commission further delayed a financing vote on the scheme, with the MLB team stating the planned 2028 delivery of the stadium has now been ruled out.
The latest news comes amid a tumultuous few weeks for the Rays and local officials in the wake of Hurricane Milton, which last month caused major damage to the team’s current home, Tropicana Field.
The fallout from Milton had already caused Pinellas County Commission to delay a planned October 29 vote on bonds to finance its share of the stadium scheme due to uncertainty over where the Rays would play the 2025 season after the damage caused to Tropicana Field.
Commissioners yesterday (Tuesday) again voted to delay a decision on the bonds, with the issue now rescheduled to December 17. Yesterday’s gathering was prefaced by comments by Rays owner Stuart Sternberg to the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday which were said to be received poorly by commissioners at their latest gathering.
“Last month, the County Commission upended our ballpark agreement by not approving their bonds, as they promised to do,” Sternberg said, regarding the initial delay. “That action sent a clear message that we had lost the county as a partner. The future of baseball in Tampa Bay became less certain after that vote.”
This stance was reinforced in a letter issued by Rays presidents, Brian Auld and Matt Silverman, ahead of yesterday’s meeting. The letter read: “We have been in regular communication with county commissioners and the county administrator over the last weeks and months. We also have answered or returned every phone call and message.
“At no point were we given any indication that the BOCC might choose to delay the supplemental bond resolution on Oct. 29. That resolution was a formality to be adopted by the commission that approved the project in July, and it was known and accepted that this adoption was needed prior to the Nov. 5 election for the 2028 timeline to be met.
“Prior to and following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the Rays successfully met every one of our obligations required to move forward. Those include completing 50% design documents, securing financing and more.
“When Hurricane Milton took the roof off of Tropicana Field, we were devastated. We took solace in the fact that we had a clear, approved path to our new, state- of-the-art ballpark in our hometown for the 2028 MLB season. We knew we would have to figure out a way to make it through the 2025-2027 seasons, but we believed we could manage knowing our future home was in the works.
“As we have informed the county administrator and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, the county’s failure to finalise the bonds last month ended the ability for a 2028 delivery of the ballpark. 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.
“We informed our many architects, builders and consultants that our agreement had not been honoured by the county. There were dozens of people who were about to relocate to St. Petersburg along with their families. There were large contracts with long lead times. We suspended work on the entire project ballpark and the Historic Gas Plant District development.
“The Rays organisation is saddened and stunned by this unfortunate turn of events. We have put in decades of work and spent more than $50m to bring this historic project to reality – a project that had been approved by the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. Now, that enormous investment of human and financial capital has been jeopardised by the county’s failure to live up to its July agreement.
“We remain grateful to our fans and our entire community. While we are focused on preparing for a unique 2025 season, we stand ready to work on a new solution with any and all willing partners to preserve the future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come.”
In July, the Rays had said they looked forward to building the “best neighbourhood ballpark in Major League Baseball” after clearing what appeared to be the final key hurdle for a stadium project that has been 17 years in the making.
The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners approved an historic partnership with the City of St. Petersburg and the Rays to build a multi-purpose ballpark that will anchor the City’s transformative $6.5bn Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment project.
The Commission voted 5-2 to contribute $312.5m of bed tax revenues toward the stadium design and construction. This tourist development tax provides revenue which the County can legally spend on a limited range of projects meant to encourage tourism, including sports venues.
The County vote came after the Rays took a “huge step forward” towards ending their near two-decade search for a new ballpark earlier in the month after St. Petersburg City Council approved the Historic Gas Plant District Redevelopment scheme.
This earlier announcement also included the news that construction and development firm, Skanska, had been approved to oversee the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant property and the design and construction of a new MLB stadium for the Rays.
The Rays’ anxiety over the current delays is tied to its side of the financing deal. Under the agreed-upon contract, the Rays are responsible for $700m for the stadium, plus significantly all cost overrunsincurred by any delay.
Mayor Welch told the Tampa Bay Times yesterday that the city believes the fundamentals of the deal approved in July by all parties remain valid. “We are focused on moving forward with fulfilling our obligations under the existing use agreement,” he said.
“Partnership has always been key to this plan, and the success of the plan going forward largely depends on the commitment of our partners to those agreements. We will continue to work with our partners towards that successful outcome.”
The Rays last week decided they will play the 2025 MLB season at the New York Yankees’ spring training home due to the repair work needed for Tropicana Field.
