The roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays MLB team, was torn off by Hurricane Milton’s strong winds. Satellite imagery from Maxar shows the damage on October 10, 2024. Before landfall, the stadium was converted into a base camp for emergency responders. The future of the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida is in limbo, with one stadium rendered unplayable by hurricanes and funding for a planned replacement now in doubt.
Pinellas County commissioners late Tuesday agreed to delay a vote on issuing bonds to pay for part of a new $1.3 billion ballpark in St. Louis. deal made in July, made a motion to delay the vote because sensed the issue will go down to defeat there.
Two new commissioners elected in the November 5 election are believed to have opposed the deal, replacing two who supported it.
“We hope to give our new commissioner some time to expedite this,” Scott told the Tampa Bay Times about the delay.
Commissioner Rene Flowers was the only one in the 6-1 vote to postpone the funding discussion, and he told the newspaper he didn’t see it.
“I just feel that instead of, you know, having additional conversations and taking time, let’s be honest and let’s put our responses on the table and stand on a level playing field,” he said. “I don’t believe that additional time will change his mind.”
Previous elections had been postponed due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The results of the meeting made the beam reeling. Earlier on Tuesday, the club sent a letter to the commissioner, telling them that the current financial conditions for the stadium are no longer viable and that a new solution must be reached.
In the letter, club presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman said that the commission’s failure to approve funding at this time has set back to 2028 the move to the ballpark, forcing the team to stop construction plans for the stadium and the surrounding area.
“As we have informed the district administrator and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, the failure of the district to finalize the bond last month ends the ability to deliver the 2028 ballpark,” the letter read. “As has been clear at every step of this process, delivery of the 2029 ballpark will result in higher costs that cannot be absorbed alone.”
When team officials attended the commission meeting, they did not comment. However, he did react to the latest events in the letter.
“The Rays organization is saddened and shocked by this unfortunate event. We have worked for decades and spent more than $50 million to bring this historic project to fruition – a project that has been approved by the City of St. and Pinellas County Now, an investment that An enormous amount of human and financial capital has been destroyed by the failure to comply with the July agreement.
Welch, in a statement to the Times, said he believes the July deal is still valid and the city “will continue to work with our partners to achieve a successful outcome.”
Pinellas County commissioners approved $312.5 million in public funding through a tourism tax in July, financed initially by bonds, but a bond vote was delayed in October. The reason given was the uncertainty of where the Rays would play next season after the roof at Tropicana Field was destroyed by Hurricane Milton.
The Rays will play their home games in 2025 at the New York Yankees spring training complex in Tampa.
“As we focus on preparing for the unique 2025 season, we are ready to work on new solutions with any and all partners willing to preserve the future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come,” Auld and Silverman wrote in the letter.
The next test for the ballpark comes Friday, when the St. Louis City Council
–Field Level Media
