Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to a massive $2.36 billion stadium deal, with the expectation that the stadium will be ready before the end of this decade.
The Rays have played at Tropicana Field for almost the entirety of their existence, barring the 2025 season, when they played at the George M. Steinbrenner Field.
However, after 20 years of trying to get a new stadium project underway, the Rays have finally put their plan in motion.
Photo by Julio Aguilar/MLB Photos via Getty ImagesTampa Bay Rays’ $2.36 billion stadium deal explainedAfter two decades of planning, the Tampa Bay Rays are finally moving forward with their plans for a new stadium.
The Rays got approval for a new stadium, along with public funding, after submitting a proposal to the Hillsborough County Commission.
The city of Tampa falls under Hillsborough County; hence, the franchise had to approach the County Commission to get approval for the new stadium.
Tampa Bay Rays CEO, Ken Babby, gave a celebratory statement to Front Office Sports following the approval of the multi-billion dollar stadium project.
“Today our entire region can celebrate the coming of a private finance and mixed-use neighbourhood, a reinvested Hillsborough College campus, and a new ballpark that secures the long-term future of Major League Baseball here in Tampa.”
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan explained why the decision to approve the new stadium was made easier when considering the development of Tampa as a city.
“I’ve wondered what I would say if we ever got to the position of being able to discuss and hopefully approve a ballpark agreement. Do we want Tampa to be a world-class community? What side of history do you want to be on?”
Even with the public funding that the Hillsborough County Commission approved, the Rays will be shouldering most of the financial burden of the new stadium.
The Rays will cover approximately 63% of the total cost of the stadium. This percentage is more than what teams like the New York Rangers and Atlanta Braves paid for their new stadiums recently.
Given that the Rays have been playing in St. Petersburg at Tropicana Field, nearly 24 miles outside of Tampa, their desire to build a stadium within the city makes sense.
Ground will be broken on the construction site, currently designated as a site at the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough College, later this year.
The current expectation is that the stadium will be ready to be used from 2029. However, projects of this size do always experience delays of some kind.
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