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The Tampa Bay Rays have released renderings showing a proposed megaproject stadium at the center of a mixed-use development.
On March 2, the team released a video showing a new stadium, which it dubbed its “forever home,” which was located on about 130 acres in the Westshore District of Tampa, Florida, and on Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry Campus.
the new $2.3 billion stadium would sit in front of Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It is also adjacent to Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the Rays’ division rival New York Yankees, local channel Bay News 9 reported.
The team said it would pay for it 50% of the cost of the stadiumbut the rest should come from Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa, ESPN reported.
On their team website, the Rays described how Room with 31,000 seats it would serve as an anchor for a “walkable, retail-rich district” with open spaces, parks and commercial areas. The Rays say building the entire mixed-use area could create more than 39,000 jobs in constructionusing estimates from real estate consultancy RCLCO of Bethesda, Maryland.
Jobs love much more than other recent stadium constructions. The Buffalo Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, for example, has created approximately 10,000 jobs. But the Rays’ proposed project would also include the mixed-use aspect.
San Francisco-based Gensler is serving as the master plan architect for the entire project, while Kansas City, Mo.-based Populous will design the stadium.
the wind
In January, the Hillsborough College District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a non-binding settlement memorandum of understanding with the RaysMLB.com reported.
That marked the first step in securing a new home field for the Rays starting in the 2029 season. The memorandum included a 180-day window to exclusively negotiate and vote on a final deal covering a new MLB stadium, a mixed-use development and new facilities for Hillsborough College, according to MLB.com.
A Feb. 24 vote by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s cabinet transferred 22 acres of state land to Hillsborough College for the Rays to build this new ball stadiumAxios reported. As a condition of the vote, the land must be used for a stadium and mixed-use development within five years, or Florida can repossess the land.
Rain delays
The current proposal is not a done deal. In the fall of 2024, Hurricane Milton damaged the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Rays have played their home games since 1998. During the 2025 season, the Rays hosted games at Steinbrenner Field.
The Trop, which is about to end in $59.7 million repair and renovation after that injury, he is on track to be ready for the Rays’ 2026 home opener against the Chicago Cubs on April 6, according to St. Pete Rising. The team is under contract to play their home games there until 2028.
Previous project plans
The Rays had been planning a permanent move from Tropicana Field long before Hurricane Milton, and the renderings released last week aren’t the first change in new construction.
Pinellas County commissioners had approved public funding for a new $1.3 billion Rays Stadium in 2024. That project would have focused on a $6.5 billion redevelopment of the historic property of the gas plant in St. Petersburg. Skanska USA Building was established to manage the construction of the overall project as well as to serve as the stadium owner’s representative.
Hurricane Milton’s damage to Trop and the wider Tampa region, however, created too great an obstacle for the gas plant project. Pinellas commissioners voted in July 2025 to delay the approval of bonds for this stadiumciting future economic uncertainties caused by the need to repair Tropicana Field.
In March 2025, the Rays walked out of that $1.3 billion stadium dealwith team presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman saying the delay in new construction funding had put the schedule in jeopardy.
Public opposition
The proposed new stadium across from Raymond James is the team’s latest foray into building a new home. At the first public forum meeting on the proposed stadium on March 3, Hillsborough College students expressed concerns about the traffic impact an additional stadium and construction could bring to the area, Bay News 9 reported.
Members of the Tampa Sports Authority also expressed concern about the massive project and its eye-watering price tag.
“If it gets built, I don’t think the Rays want to pay a dime in taxes on a $2.3 billion ballpark,” he said. member of the board of the sports authority Joseph Robinson, according to Bay News 9.
The Rays and Sports Authority did not immediately respond to Construction Dive’s requests for comment.
