Sports Venues
Tampa Bay Rays' Stadium Passes Funding Vote, but Team Raises Cost Concerns
The future Tampa Bay Rays ballpark would anchor a mixed-use redevelopment in St. Petersburg, Fla.'s historic Gas Plant district.
Rendering courtesy Tampa Bay Rays
After delayed votes and debate, Pinellas County, Fla., officials voted to help fund a $1.3-billion stadium for Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays. But the team says the later-than-expected approval has pushed back the project timeline and added costs that it “cannot absorb” alone.
County commissioners passed two resolutions by a 5-2 vote Dec. 16 to authorize $335 million in bonds and realign funds. The Rays plan to build a 30,000-seat enclosed stadium designed by Populous. The team has already selected contractor Mortenson for construction.
“It was unsurprising to see the commissioners acknowledge how important the Tampa Bay Rays and our stadium development agreement are to this community and its citizens,” Rays President Matt Silverman said in a statement after the vote.
The county and city of St. Petersburg have together agreed to contribute about $600 million toward the stadium, where the Rays will play for 30 years. Their current agreement to play at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg runs through 2027, though the ballpark was damaged by Hurricane Milton in October and is not expected to be repaired by the start of the upcoming baseball season.
The original goal was to open the new stadium in time for the 2028 baseball season. County commissioners adopted a resolution over the summer to support financing and construction of the stadium, and were originally scheduled to vote on the bond in October. However, commissioners delayed the vote until a November meeting, and then December, as they dealt with hurricane recovery and disagreements over the project and where the Rays will play while Tropicana Field is repaired. Pinellas officials pushed for another ballpark in the same county, while the Rays favor another venue in neighboring Hillsborough County.
By delaying the funding vote, the Rays say county officials have inadvertently pushed back the ballpark’s completion into 2029. But under the terms of the agreement, the Rays would be responsible for any cost overruns, city and county officials say.
“As a result [of the later expected completion date], the cost of the project has increased significantly, and we cannot absorb this increase alone,” Silverman said. “When the county and city wish to engage, we remain ready to solve this funding gap together.”
Even as commissioners authorized the bond, they shared some reservations about the deal. County Commissioner Chris Latvala spoke favorably about MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, but called on Rays owner Stuart Sternberg to sell the team “to someone who lives here, works here and truly cares about our community, and who won’t threaten to take his bats and balls or change the rules when the game he agreed to play isn’t going his way.”
“I believe Commissioner Manfred’s eyes are now wide open to the reality of our penny-pinching, double-dealing ownership,” Latvala continued. “He’s watched one of his franchisees use two devastating disasters and a few days’ delay in the bond vote to try to gain an advantage for themselves.”
The stadium is planned to be built in St. Petersburg’s Gas Plant district. Along with the stadium, Houston-based development firm Hines is planning a $6.5-billion project to build 8 million sq ft of mixed-use buildings on 86 acres around the future stadium site.
