Current:Home > MyTampa Bay Rays set to announce new stadium in St. Petersburg, which will open in 2028 season-LoTradeCoin
Tampa Bay Rays set to announce new stadium in St. Petersburg, which will open in 2028 season
View Date:2024-12-23 23:06:47
The Tampa Bay Rays are going to have a new home, and no, it won't be in Montreal.
After over a decade of attempting to fix the Rays' problem of finding a long-term home, it appears the baseball team is close to finding a solution. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays will soon announce a deal for a new stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Topkin notes that the stadium will seat around 30,000 and cost over $1.2 billion to build. The team will "pay for half or more" of the cost, according to Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, with the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County paying for the rest.
The new stadium will be built near Tropicana Field and is estimated to be ready by the 2028 season. Its construction will be part of the redevelopment of St. Petersburg's Historic Gas Plant District.
Tropicana Field:Stadium to host WWE Royal Rumble 2024
FOLLOW THE MONEY: MLB player salaries and payrolls for every major league team
Tampa Bay Rays stadium plans
One of the biggest drivers for the Rays to complete a new ballpark was to bring in increased attendance to home games.
Despite having made the playoffs for four straight years, the team is averaging fewer than 18,000 fans in attendance at their home games this year, according to ESPN's MLB Attendance Report. That's the fourth-lowest mark in baseball and better than only Oakland, Miami and Kansas City.
In Jan. 2022, MLB officials nixed a plan the Rays had been working on for over two years that would see the team split home games between new stadiums in Montreal and Tampa to drive attendance. It was MLB's rejection that forced the Rays to look for solutions in and around Tampa.
Tampa Bay Rays ballpark issues
Since the Rays joined MLB as an expansion team in 1998, they've played their home games at Tropicana Field, and for years, the stadium and its location have drawn the ire of MLB players and fans.
Despite "Tampa Bay" being in the name of the baseball team, Tropicana Field (or "The Trop") is located across the bay in St. Petersburg. The only way for a sizable part of its fanbase — those living in Tampa proper — to get to their team's home games is by crossing a bridge.
Without traffic, Google Maps estimates a 26-minute drive from downtown Tampa to the field. For those without a car, public transportation could take anywhere between 45-90 minutes.
"Nobody wants to come over the bridge and sit in traffic for three hours," Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow once said of the commute.
MLB power rankings:Orioles stand strong in showdown series - and playoffs are next
In addition to the distance from the park to downtown, there has been much criticism over the design of the park itself.
Four catwalks hang from the ceiling of the tilted dome at Tropicana Field. Since the dome is tilted, the catwalks are lower in some places. More specifically, they're lower in the outfield.
The unique design quirk of Tropicana Field has forced MLB to institute ground rules regarding whether batted balls are in play when they hit the catwalks. On several occasions, balls have hit the catwalk and resulted in a controversial play that determined a game's outcome.
The Rays' 30-year lease with Tropicana Field is set to end in 2027.
Chaim Bloom:Former Rays official fired by Red Sox
veryGood! (54424)
Related
- Elon Musk says 'SNL' is 'so mad' Trump won as he slams Dana Carvey's impression
- MacKenzie Scott has donated an estimated $146 million to 24 nonprofits so far this year
- Dangerous heat wave from Texas to the Midwest strains infrastructure, transportation
- Hunters kill elusive Ninja bear that attacked at least 66 cows in Japan
- Investigators believe Wisconsin kayaker faked his own death before fleeing to eastern Europe
- Ecuador votes to stop oil drilling in the Amazon reserve in historic referendum
- Dollar Tree agrees to OSHA terms to improve worker safety at 10,000 locations
- Driver of minivan facing charge in Ohio school bus crash that killed 1 student, hurt 23
- Pentagon secrets leaker Jack Teixeira set to be sentenced, could get up to 17 years in prison
- Authorities investigate whether BTK killer was responsible for other killings in Missouri, Oklahoma
Ranking
- Taylor Swift Becomes Auntie Tay In Sweet Photo With Fellow Chiefs WAG Chariah Gordon's Daughter
- Stephen A. Smith disagrees with Sage Steele's claims she was treated differently by ESPN
- Causeway: Part stock fund + part donor-advised fund = A new bid for young donors
- Mom gets life for stabbing newborn and throwing the baby in a river in 1992. DNA cracked the case
- Falling scaffolding plank narrowly misses pedestrians at Boston’s South Station
- New York City Mayor Eric Adams responds to migrant crisis criticism: Everything is on the table
- Body of skier believed to have died 22 years ago found on glacier in the Austrian Alps
- A California store owner was killed over a Pride flag. The consequences of hate
Recommendation
-
Trump has promised to ‘save TikTok’. What happens next is less clear
-
Burning Man gates open for worker access after delays from former Hurricane Hilary
-
Where Duck Dynasty's Sadie and Korie Robertson Stand With Phil's Secret Daughter
-
'Star Wars: Ahsoka' has a Jedi with two light sabers but not much else. Yet.
-
Shawn Mendes Confesses He and Camila Cabello Are No Longer the Closest
-
If You Hate Working Out, but You Want To Get in Shape, These Are the 14 Products That You Need
-
Serena Williams welcomes second daughter, Adira River: My beautiful angel
-
Aaron Rodgers no longer spokesperson for State Farm after 12-year partnership, per report