Rays Pull Out of Stadium Deal, Leaves Uncertain Future

Written by Grant Haffenden

This past Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays pulled out of a $1.3 billion deal for a new stadium in St. Petersburg. The deal, originally signed between the team, city officials, and Pinellas County officials, was struck last July, requiring the Rays to pay $700 million to fund the project.[i] However, landfall of Hurricane Milton in October destroyed the roof of the Rays’ current stadium, Tropicana Field, forcing the team to move to Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.[ii]

The official statement by the team expressed regret from Rays owner Stu Sternberg, saying that after careful deliberation, the team could not move forward with the project.[iii] Sternberg’s statement lamented that “a series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision.”[iv]

The collapseof the deal has only furthered the strain between local leaders and the team. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, whose first three years were devoted to landing the stadium deal, called the move “a major disappointment.”[v] Councilmember Corey Givens, Jr. was not as light, stating that he wished for more “honesty and transparency” in the timeline of the move, complaining that the move wasted “a lot of time and taxpayer funds for nothing.”[vi] Welch did leave open the idea of reopening stadium talks if a new owner bought the franchise.[vii]

That is where MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred finds himself with a now strained relationship between his offices and Rays owner Stu Sternberg. Even before the official announcement by the team, the Commissioner’s office was pressuring Sternberg to either get a stadium deal done or sell the team.[viii] Now, with the Rays abandoning the deal,, potential new owners could be pursued more intensely as the league still wants the team to remain in Florida, either in the Tampa area, or possibly Orlando.[ix]

The decision also comes at a crossroads for MLB in the growing discussion between publicly funded stadiums in a billion-dollar industry. The Rays will play this season, and possibly next season, in a minor league ballpark, along with the A’s, who will play in Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas, after a protracted leave from Oakland.[x] Additionally, the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals have begun lobbying for public funds to help build new stadiums, despite facing public resistance. [xi] Discussing the Rays‘ uncertainty, Ron Diner, a member of the advocacy group “No Home Run” that is opposed to the now dead stadium deal stated that, “baseball is nice, but baseball does not drive economic growth.”[xii]

It remains to be seen what will happen with the Rays. The MLB is looking at a potential sale of the team.. There have been numerous cities, including Nashville, Raeleigh, and Charlotte, that have proposed MLB expansion opportunities, but even more questions surround that idea, particularly after the media rights issues that came with MLB’s most recent relocation of the Washington Nationals.[xiii] For now, the next looming deadline for the Rays comes next year. The hope is to return to Tropicana Field at some point during the 2026 season, but the lease expires at the facility following the 2027 season.[xiv] Unless there is a change, the future of Tampa-based baseball remains uncertain for both the near and far future.

[i] https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6200970/2025/03/13/rays-stadium-st-petersburg-project-ends/

[ii] Id.

[iii] https://www.tampabay.com/news/st-petersburg/2025/03/13/rays-wont-make-stadium-deal-deadline/

[iv] Id.

[v] Id.

[vi] https://www.abcactionnews.com/sports/baseball/rays/tampa-bay-reacts-to-rays-stadium-deal-fallout

[vii] Id.

[viii] https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6189456/2025/03/09/commissioner-owners-pressure-rays-sale-mlb/

[ix] Id.

[x] https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/44096180/mlb-2025-spring-training-oakland-athletics-tampa-bay-rays-minor-league-ballparks-sacramento

[xi] Id.

[xii] https://www.abcactionnews.com/sports/baseball/rays/tampa-bay-reacts-to-rays-stadium-deal-fallout