ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays home stadium, the question of where they would play in 2025 swirled around the team. Thursday, the question was answered.
The Tampa Bay Rays will play their 2025 home games at the New York Yankees' nearby spring training ballpark as questions about the future of Tropicana Field remain.
Stuart Sternberg, the Rays' principal owner, said in an interview with the Associated Press that Steinbrenner Field in Tampa is the best fit for the team and its fanbase.
“It is singularly the best opportunity for our fans to experience 81 games of major league Rays baseball,” Sternberg said. “As difficult as it is to get any of these stadiums up to major league standards, it was the least difficult. You're going to see Major League Baseball in a small environment."
The Rays said the Yankees will continue to play Spring Training games at Steinbrenner Field, and the Rays will continue to use Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte for its spring training games.
According to the Rays, Steinbrenner Field was chosen because "it is the best-prepared facility in the Tampa Bay region to host regular-season Major League Baseball Games."
Steinbrenner was already undergoing renovations to improve clubhouse and playing facilities and will hold a maximum of 11,000 fans. The Rays said additional improvements are expected to be made before the regular season to ensure fans continue to have "a wonderful experience at Rays games."
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said the Rays-Yankees deal is good for the sport and the Tampa Bay region.
“This outcome meets Major League Baseball's goals that Rays fans will see their team play next season in their home market and that their players can remain home without disruption to their families,” Manfred said in a news release.
The Rays' home since 1998, the domed Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg was hit hard by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, with most of its fabric roof shredded and water damage inside.
The city of St. Petersburg, which owns the Trop, released an assessment of the damage and repair needs that estimated the cost at $55.7 million if it is to be ready for the start of the 2026 season.
The work would have to be approved by the city council, which earlier this year voted for a new $1.3 billion, 30,000-seat stadium to replace Tropicana Field beginning in 2028. The new stadium is part of a much larger urban revitalization project known as the Historic Gas Plant District — named for the Black community that once occupied the 86 acres (34 hectares) that include retail, office, and hotel space; a Black history museum; and restaurants and bars.
Earlier this year, the city reduced the insurance coverage on Tropicana Field, and that reduction in funds could complicate any effort to repair the stadium.
Amid all the uncertainty, the Rays know one thing: they will play 2025 in a smallish, outdoor ballpark operated by one of their main American League East division rivals. A ballpark with a facade mimicking that of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and festooned with plaques of Yankee players whose numbers have been retired.
Brian Auld, the Rays co-president, said in an interview that Tampa Bay must be ready for a regular-season MLB game on March 27 against the Colorado Rockies, just three days after the Yankees break training camp.
“There will be a ton of work toward putting in our brand,” Auld said. “The term we like to use for that is ”Rayful' into Steinbrenner Field."
It will also come with some weather challenges in the hot, rainy Florida summer climate the Rays didn't worry about in their domed ballpark. The Rays averaged about 16,500 fans per game during the 2024 season.
A person familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press that the Yankees will receive about $15 million in revenue for hosting the Rays. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because that detail was not announced. The money won’t come from Tampa Bay but from other sources, such as insurance.
“This is a heavy lift for the Yankees. This is a huge ask by us and baseball of the Yankees,” Sternberg said. “(Hal Steinbrenner) did not waver for one second. I couldn't have been more grateful.”
Hal Steinbrenner said in a news release that the Yankees are “happy to extend our hand to the Rays" and noted that the team and his family have “deep roots” in the Tampa Bay area.
“In times like these, rivalry and competition take a back seat to doing what's right for our community, which is continuing to help families and businesses rebound from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton,” he said.
The Tampa Tarpons, one of the Yankees' minor league teams, play their home games at Steinbrenner Field during the summer. However, this season, they will use baseball diamonds elsewhere in the training complex.
It's not the first time a big league team will host regular season games in a spring training stadium. The Toronto Blue Jays played part of the 2021 season at their facility in Dunedin because of Canadian government restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In fact, for the first time in recent memory, two MLB teams will be playing their regular season games in minor league stadiums. The Rays at Steinbrenner Field and the A's at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California.
Playing at Steinbrenner Field may carry some complications for the team, especially from July through September. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will open training camp sometime in July and then have preseason and regular season games at Raymond James Stadium.
Back-to-back storm events brought record storm surge, rainfall and winds to the Tampa Bay region. The question some are asking now isn’t where people should rebuild, but where we should let nature regain control.
