Wherever the beleaguered Tampa Bay Rays decide to go, should they leave St. Petersburg, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has pledged that the state won’t kick in any money for construction of a new stadium.
“We are not taking your tax dollars at the state level to do any stadiums,” DeSantis said during a Tuesday press conference in Apopka. “Just not gonna happen.”
He did concede that the state might help with infrastructure, such as “roads and exits,” should the Rays find a way to build a stadium.
The team’s contract with St. Petersburg expires in 2028. With Tropicana Field’s vinyl roof in shreds since Hurricane Milton last October, games are being played at the much smaller George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
The City of St. Petersburg is paying to restore Tropicana Field and replace the roof.
A 2023 agreement between the Rays organization and Pinellas County, to build a new, state-of-the-art baseball stadium as part of a $6.5 billion redevelopment project, fell through in March. “I know that the current owner has basically not got a path forward in Pinellas County,” the governor explained.
Team ownership has not announced any plans beyond the current contract.
DeSantis said he had spoken with Major League Baseball representatives. “They told me, we are not allowing this team to leave Florida. Because I think they understand this is the fastest growing state, it’s the third largest state in the country. To have a major league team leave, that’s not something we want, obviously, but it’s actually bad for the league.
“Makes baseball look poorly that they couldn’t hack it in really big markets.”
The governor said he’d been “told for years that the Rays were likely to be sold soon, and it hasn’t really happened. Maybe we’re getting closer to that now, but I’m confident that the team’s not going to leave Florida.”
He added: “I’m not saying it should be in St. Pete, Tampa, Orlando or any of that. My job as governor … if I can be helpful to keep it in Florida, then I’m going to do that.”