Where the Tampa Bay Rays play in the coming years has been a point of discussion in recent weeks, what with Hurricane Milton wreaking havoc on The Trop, the Rays needing to play in a minor-league park in 2025 and their move to a new ballpark for the 2028 season.
As everything unfolds, it appears that the move into a brand new ballpark might not quite be such a sure thing. In fact, it now appears we're back to uncertainty around the Rays even staying in the Tampa-St. Pete area.
Last month, the Pinellas County Commission delayed the vote on a series of bonds that would help to finance the new stadium and its estimated $1.3 billion price tag, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Another delay, as expected, would throw off the timeline on construction plans and likely raise costs on the entire project.
"That action sent a clear message that we had lost the county as a partner," team owner Stuart Sternberg told the Times about the delayed vote. "The future of baseball in Tampa Bay became less certain after that vote."
What Sternberg called a "confluence of events" here has really complicated the situation. The hefty price tag on repairs to Tropicana Field are a big deal, as is the possibility of playing in spring training and minor-league parks for years; the current plan has the Rays at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa for 2025 with the goal of reopening the Trop for 2026. Not only that, but local government is juggling how to rebuild the area after the hurricane and delays in the timeline regarding the Rays' new ballpark only make it tougher to break ground on time. Plus, construction costs go up the longer they wait to start, especially if the plans are now rushed.
Per the Times:
In the hurricane's wake, October bond votes scheduled by the City Council ($287.5 million) and County Commission ($312.5 million) were postponed for a month. The timeline was already tight for a planned groundbreaking in early 2025, and the bond votes were supposed to go hand-in-hand with requirements the Rays have been working toward. The team needed to have its $700 million financing plan in place, secure a $100 million loan from Major League Baseball and have 50% of the design documents completed, among other things. It was a cascading series of benchmarks with virtually no wiggle room.
The issue was exacerbated when the delays took the council and commission beyond the Nov. 5 election that altered the makeup of both entities. Now, it's not simply a delay on bonds but a reexamination of the deal itself, led by commissioners Chris Latvala and Dave Eggers. What was once a 5-2 vote in favor of the redevelopment project by the commission is now potentially a 4-3 vote against it.
Sternberg has said the Rays will do everything they can to remain in the area, but we've gotten to the point that it's a realistic possibility the Rays move as soon as 2026. They will play in Steinbrenner Field in 2025, but after that, everything is unknown.
Of course, moving entirely by 2026 would require the Rays to find a site with an MLB-ready facility and there aren't many of those sitting around.
The situation right now is a mess and it'll continue to unfold in the months and years ahead.