Featured image credit: Winfred Bailey on Unsplash
The Tampa Bay Rays have backed a plan from the City of St. Petersburg to carry out repair work at Tropicana Field that would allow the team to return to the stadium for the 2026 season.
The Rays will spend the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa after Tropicana Field suffered major damage during Hurricane Milton in October. George M. Steinbrenner Field is the spring training home of the New York Yankees and has a capacity of 11,000.
Tropicana Field is owned by the City of St. Petersburg, which appointed Hennessy Construction Services to conduct a Facility Damage Assessment and Remediation Report following the hurricane. The report found that Tropicana Field can be repaired at a cost of around $55.7m (£44.4m/€53.5m) ahead of the 2026 MLB season.
Hurricane Milton blew large parts of Tropicana Field’s roof away, but the report by Hennessy Construction Services concluded that the primary roof structure “does not appear to have been adversely affected”. At around $23.6m, the replacement of the roof itself will be the most expensive element of the repair works.
There had been uncertainty over whether the Rays would support the city’s plans to repair the stadium, but Matt Silverman, the team’s co-president, has clarified the Rays’ position.
In an email to the St. Petersburg chief administrator that has been reported by the Associated Press, Silverman said: “While we had been open to considering a scenario in which the city bought out of its obligation to rebuild the ballpark, the Rays support and expect the city to rebuild Tropicana Field in accordance with the terms of the current use agreement.”
With the Rays planning to build a new $1.3bn ballpark, there had been question marks over whether Tropicana Field would receive the necessary repair work, given that the stadium would eventually be demolished. Silverman said it is critical the works begin in earnest as soon as possible.
In a statement, the City of St. Petersburg said: “We look forward to working with the Rays – through participation in a collaborative working group – and with the City Council to return Major League Baseball games to St. Petersburg.”
Last month, Pinellas County signed off on its portion of the financing needed for the Rays’ new stadium, placing the onus on the franchise to determine whether to press forward with the project.
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.
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