If hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field does get repaired, it likely won't be in time for the start of the 2026 baseball season. That's because St. Petersburg says there's no deadline to fix the stadium's tattered roof.
A letter sent Jan. 15 from the city to the Tampa Bay Rays says the use agreement with the team "does not establish a deadline for completing those repairs. As a result, it is possible the term of the Use Agreement could extend beyond the 2028 season."
According to the agreement, it extends a year for every year the stadium is not in usable shape. The team was originally going to play at the Trop through the end of 2027, then move into a new adjacent stadium.
How this will affect the ongoing negotiations over building the stadium is unclear. The team has gone back and forth over Tropicana Field repairs, which could cost over $56 million. It would then be torn down to build a new stadium.
The Rays plan to play the upcoming regular season at Tampa's Steinbrenner Field, the 11,000-seat spring training home of the New York Yankees. The Rays have until March to complete a list of conditions before they can access public money dedicated to build the $1.3 billion stadium.
In December, Pinellas County commissioners agreed to help pay for a new stadium using bed taxes, which are collected on hotel room stays.
St. Petersburg council members also approved their portion of the funding, so the ball is in the Rays' court to fulfill their obligations in the contract. As part of the deal, the Rays are responsible for any cost overruns.
The Rays at first said the original deal was effectively dead because of cost overruns from the delay and damages to Tropicana Field. But they recanted, saying they're willing to work on finding new funding sources.
