St. Pete council votes to kill Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal
In the last hour, Saint Pete City Council voted to dissolve a multi-billion dollar development agreement that would have brought a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium with it. In March, the team pulled out of the agreement. Tonight’s unanimous vote returns the redevelopment rights of the historic gas plant district back to the city. Saint Pete leaders can now start looking at how they want to revitalize the area with or without a new stadium. I know this, you know, isn’t everybody’s preferred outcome favorite thing to do today, but, uh, you know, what a gift that we were able to get to a point where the termination, uh, it has a minimal impact on our city. The city is still required to repair Tropicana Field, giving the team a home through 2028, and tonight they approved spending $5.2 million to repair lighting and electrical equipment, work to replace the roof. That’s set to begin next month. We’ll be right back.
St. Pete City Council voted unanimously Thursday to formally terminate a failed Tampa Bay Rays ballpark deal.
It comes at a precarious time for the team, as talks surrounding a potential sale intensify and momentum builds for the Rays to possibly move across the bay, for good.
Months before the team’s home ballpark, Tropicana Field, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton, the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County approved a new $1.3 billion ballpark in an adjacent location that would open in the 2028 season, part of a much larger downtown revitalization project.
After back-and-forth discussions and uncertainty, the team announced in March 2025 that they would not be moving forward with an on-the-table deal for a new stadium and surrounding redevelopment in St. Petersburg.
Thursday’s vote terminates an agreement between the city, the Rays and the development partner, Hines, ultimately dissolving plans tied to the project.
Council also approved license agreements that give the team exclusive use of four parcels of city-owned land in the area for parking, storage, operation of an exterior marquee and certain special events.
The vote gives control of redevelopment back to the city for the Gas Plant District, which consists of 86 acres, including the land Tropicana Field sits on.
MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/sports/mlb/rays/rays-stadium-deal-st-petersburg-team-sale-tropicana-field/67-61164de3-b3d2-4244-bf9e-d02461dff7a3
6 comments
Good! If anything the Rays should pay to fix the stadium!
Orlando Rays
Carolina Rays (in Raleigh)
Good! Cities need to stop handing over land and building stadiums to turn millionaires into billionaires at taxpayers expense.
They're putting a lot of money into renovating the old stadium. A new roof. Improved air conditioning. There's one thing about baseball in the summertime in Florida, you HAVE to have an indoor stadium. Something with air conditioning where fans are going to show up at the gate waiting to get in the stadium. This month of July this year has shown us that it is too hot to play at a stadium that's not air conditioning and indoors.
They shouldn't spend a dime on that stadium. Tell the Devil Rays to kick rocks. Stop wasting tax money on this bullshit.