Returning to Tropicana Field for the 2026 MLB season, the Tampa Bay Rays will wear a patch on their jerseys that incorporates fabric from the roof that was torn off the stadium during Hurricane Milton in 2024.
The Rays announced Thursday that their jerseys will feature a sponsored patch for Webull, an online investment platform whose offices relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida, from New York in 2022. Each patch will have a piece of the original Tropicana Field roof sewn into it.
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Tampa Bay is believed to be the last MLB team to add sponsored patches to its jerseys since they were first allowed during the 2023 season.
Made from Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric, the Tropicana Field roof was torn away when the storm, which reached Category 3 status, made landfall on Florida’s west coast on Oct. 9, 2024.
Due to the damage sustained to the roof and parts of the stadium interior, the Rays played their 2025 home schedule at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. (The Yankees’ Class A club, the Tampa Tarpons, played their 2025 home games at the adjacent Community Field in the team’s spring training complex.)
The special patches will be worn on the field by all Rays personnel throughout the season, for home and road games, and fans can purchase them at the stadium’s team store.
As the Rays and Webull each said in announcing the patches, incorporating the Tropicana Field fabric is intended to commemorate the Tampa area’s “strength and resilience” in recovering from Hurricane Milton.
“This partnership represents more than just a logo on a jersey. It is a commitment to the community,” Webull head of strategic partnerships Carlos Questell said in a statement.
After a season-opening nine-game road trip through St. Louis, Milwaukee and Minnesota, the Rays play their home opener on Monday, April 6, versus the Chicago Cubs. That begins a six-game homestand that includes a three-game series with the Yankees.