Tropicana Field repair timings unclear

Image: Tropicana Field, Adog, CC BY-SA 4.0

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Tampa Bay Rays have thrown their support behind a $55.7 million plan to repair hurricane-hit Tropicana Field.

AP said Ray’s co-resident Matt Silverman wrote in an email to the St. Petersburg chief administrator that the team wanted to “clear up” any questions about its support for the reconstruction.

Hurricane Milton caused significant damage to Tropicana Field when it sliced through the roof of the venue last October.

Silverman wrote, “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.”

But while the team wants the ballpark to re-open for the 2026 season, the City of St Petersburg says there is no deadline for the repairs.

A letter sent from the city to the Tampa Bay Rays says the use agreement with the team “does not establish a deadline for completing those repairs. As a result, it is possible the term of the Use Agreement could extend beyond the 2028 season.”

The city must pay for the work under its current contract with the Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League East Division.

After Hurricane Milton caused significant damage to Tropicana Field, where they had been set to play through the end of the 2027 season, the Rays will play their 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field, the 11,000-seat spring training home of the New York Yankees. Their future beyond next year is unclear.

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.

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch has said that insurance and Federal Emergency Management Agency funds should cover the bulk of the cost.

Silverman said Major League Baseball has told the team it will hire its own advisor to monitor the repair work and timeline.

The planned new downtown Rays ballpark is part of a $6.5 billion project that will include affordable housing, a Black history museum, retail and office space, restaurants and bars.

The project is known as the Historic Gas Plant District, which was once a thriving Black community displaced by the construction of the ballpark and an interstate highway.

The new stadium project, which is being designed by Populous, includes 5,000 residential units, 600 affordable/workforce housing units, 1.4 million square feet of office/medical space, and 750 hotel rooms.

In December, Pinellas County commissioners agreed to help pay for a new stadium using taxes collected on hotel room stays.

St. Petersburg council members also approved their portion of the funding, so the ball is in the Rays’ court to fulfill their obligations in the contract. As part of the deal, the Rays are responsible for any cost overruns.

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