It looks like the Tampa Bay Rays will finally be able to move out of the infamous Tropicana Field. On Thursday, the St. Petersburg City Council voted 5-3 to approve the Rays to build a new $1.3 billion ballpark that would be a part of a larger $6.5 billion development project in downtown St. Petersburg.
The $6.5 billion investment would transform downtown St. Petersburg by building a Black history museum, affordable housing, a hotel, green space, a new music venue and office and retail space in addition to the brand new ballpark. The proposed project would also create an estimated 11,000 new jobs, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The new ballpark is expected to have a 30,000 seat capacity and a fixed roof. It's currently estimated to open before the 2028 season.
Perhaps most importantly for Rays fans, this new proposal guarantees that they will stay in the St. Petersburg. Over the past few years, there have been rumors about the Rays potentially moving to nearby Tampa, Nashville, or even splitting games between St. Petersburg and Montreal.
Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg confirmed that the final approval of this project, which is expected to occur later this month, would guarantee that his team will stay in St. Petersburg for at least 30 years, the length of the new agreement with the proposed ballpark.
“It's always been our intention and my intention to have the team remain in Tampa Bay, specifically St. Petersburg,” Sternberg said on Thursday. “We have never considered taking the team elsewhere, out of the region.”
Rays new ballpark set for 2028 opening
Until 2028 when their new stadium is expected to be ready, the Rays will continue playing at Tropicana Field, fulfilling the end of their lease which goes until 2027.
The Rays have had lots of issues with Tropicana Field. Whether it's the inaccessible location and traffic around the area, the unique rules due to the catwalk that sometimes interferes with balls in play, or its antiquated amenities, it's clear there needed to be a change. The Rays currently rank 3rd-to-last in Major League Baseball in attendance with an average of 16,627 fans per game. That's not good enough for a team that's made the postseason five years in a row, and is currently in the hunt for another postseason berth this year.
The hope is that with the new ballpark headlining a new downtown development in St. Petersburg, the Rays will finally be able to get some of those attendance numbers up and create a game day experience that is on-par, or even exceeds the rest of baseball.
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