Tampa Bay Rays In Danger Of Moving: ‘Saddened And Stunned By The Unfortunate Turn Of Events’

The Tampa Bay Rays issued a warning to Pinellas County commissioners on Tuesday. With a deal for a new stadium now in serious jeopardy, the team may have to move, permanently.

The Rays are already being forced to play the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field, home to the Tampa Tarpons, their Single-A affiliate. Repairs to the damaged 34-year-old Tropicana Field will take the better part of a year, according to a 412-page assessment received by the St. Petersburg city council earlier this month.

The Tampa Bay Rays did have an agreement to build a $1.3 billion baseball park in St. Petersburg, but now that agreement may not stand following this month’s election.

“Whatever was agreed to before needs to be looked at differently now, because we are dealing with a county where, you know, tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed, and our infrastructure that was inadequate to begin with has suffered a lot of damage,” newly-elected Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Scherer said last week.

A Pinellas County Commission vote on financing for the deal, scheduled for Tuesday, now hinges on the opinions of two new county commissioners and the Tampa Bay Rays don’t seem too optimistic.

“As we have informed the county administrator and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, the county’s failure to finalize the bonds last month ended the ability for a 2028 delivery of the ballpark,” Rays presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman said in a letter, adding, “As we have made clear at every step of this process, a 2029 ballpark delivery would result in significantly higher costs that we are not able to absorb alone.”

Should the vote fail, the Rays then would be on the hook for approximately $700 million more in stadium construction costs plus any cost overruns.

The Rays stated that they have spent more than $50 million already on the project, and “now, that enormous investment of human and financial capital has been jeopardized by the county’s failure to live up to its July agreement.” The team has “suspended work on the entire project,” which includes any work being done by architects, builders, and consultants, due to the vote’s uncertainty.

There is still hope that the Rays will remain in the Tampa Bay area, however.

“While we are focused on preparing for a unique 2025 season, we stand ready to work on a new solution with any and all willing partners to preserve the future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come,” the letter concluded.

UPDATE: The Pinellas County Commission meeting has finished and the county commissioners voted 6-1 to delay the financing vote again until Dec. 17.