This audio is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any comments.
Dive Brief:
- After weeks of uncertainty, leaders of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays have voiced their support for a $55.7 million plan to repair Tropicana Field before the 2026 opening, after Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof of the premises in October
- Rays co-chairman Matt Silverman wrote in a Dec. 30 letter to the city of St. Petersburg, Fla., that the team expects the city to rebuild the roof. The City Council released the letter to the public on Monday.
- Silverman stressed that time is of the essence for the project to be planned, designed, executed and completed by the spring 2026 opening day.
Diving knowledge:
On December 12, Municipal Architect Raul Quintana presented the St. Petersburg City Council with a schedule, showing approval of a guaranteed maximum price in March 2025 and completion of the reconstruction in time for the season 2026. No contractor has yet been announced for the work.
“The league and the Rays are prepared to work hand-in-hand with the city throughout the rebuilding process to ensure that the design and implementation meets MLB’s requirements and meets the necessary timelines,” Silverman said in the his statement of December 30.
But he seemed to indicate that playing at the stadium would be all or nothing, saying that a partial 2026 season at the Trop would “present huge logistical and revenue challenges for the team”.
The city responded by saying it intended to honor its obligations to the team.
“As with so many businesses in St. Petersburg, we empathize with the business disruption experienced by the Tampa Bay Rays due to the impacts of the hurricanes and appreciate the Rays indicating their preference for the future of Tropicana Field,” a statement said. of the city was announced on Monday.
For the 2025 season, the team will play its home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training site of the New York Yankees. Silverman’s statement acknowledged the extension of the term-of-use agreement through the end of the 2028 MLB season.
The damage to the Trop caused a dilemma as the stadium was set for eventual demolition and replacement. The team had announced plans for a new one $1.3 billion stadium as part of the $6.5 billion Gas Plant Historic District redevelopment
The venue was expected to open in 2028, but in late November, Silverman and co-chairman Brian Auld said the organization could not move forward on the new stadium project after the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners delayed twice the approval of bonds to provide public financing for the project, which made the construction schedule impossible. That raised questions about whether the team could be relocated.
The Board of Commissioners revalued the issue of bonds last month, there was a vote to approve it on Dec. 17, but the team must meet certain criteria by March 31 for the bonds to be released.
