Will Tampa Bay Rays move without stadium deal? Will owner be forced to sell? What we know

The Tampa Bay Rays will no longer be going through with their plans to move to a new stadium in St. Petersburg. That decision could mean the current owner will sell the team. Could it mean the Rays are leaving Florida?

The Rays announced ahead of a March 31 deadline that they did not have money to proceed with their plans to fund a $1.3 billion stadium. The plans have been in doubt ever since Hurricane Milton tore the roof off their current stadium, Tropicana Field, in October.

“After careful deliberation, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment,” owner Stuart Sternberg said in a social media post Thursday. “A series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision.”

The announcement comes days after a report by The Athletic that a group of Major League Baseball owners, as well as commissioner Rob Manfred, are pressuring Sternberg to sell the Rays if he didn’t have the money to go forward with the stadium plans. The team, which has been in St. Petersburg since its founding in 1998, is set to play in a temporary stadium in Tampa for the 2025 season that starts March 28.

Here’s what we know about the Rays stadium situation, as well as what we know about the team potentially moving:

What happened to the Tampa Bay Rays stadium?

The night of Oct. 9, Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. Winds recorded at over 100 mph tore the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, doing more than $55 million worth of damage to the 35-year-old stadium.

The field was deemed unplayable at least until the 2026 season, and because the team was scheduled to move to a new $1.3 billion stadium in 2028, there were questions over whether the stadium would be rebuilt at all.

Where will the Tampa Bay Rays play in 2025?

The Rays’ immediate future is known. They will play their home games for the 2025 MLB regular season at Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees‘ spring training home across the bay in Tampa. The stadium has a capacity of 11,206, lower than the average 2024 Rays home game attendance of 16,515.

A release from owner Stuart Sternberg said the city of St. Petersburg was advancing plans to renovate Tropicana Field in time for the 2026 season. The City Council is scheduled to vote March 27 on whether to replace the stadium’s roof. If approved, the Rays would be expected to play at the Trop through 2028. That was the case, at least, as long as the new stadium was coming.

What happened to the new Tampa Bay Rays stadium?

The Rays were originally supposed to move into a new stadium in 2028 as part of a massive renovation project of the Historic Gas Plant District in St. Petersburg. That timeline was extended to 2029 after the hurricane made Tropicana Field unplayable, but negotiations over payments to rebuild the Trop put the whole deal in jeopardy. The Rays have said delayed votes from Pinellas County commissioners contributed to delays in construction and therefore higher costs than they could afford. Basically, they want more public funds.

The team had a March 31 deadline to prove to St. Petersburg officials they could pay their $700 million share of the stadium deal. If they didn’t meet that deadline, the deal would fall through and effectively cancel the new stadium plans.

Are the Tampa Bay Rays leaving Florida?

For now, no. Owner Stuart Sternberg said in a social media post Thursday that “our commitment to the vitality and success of the Rays organization is unwavering. We continue to focus on finding a ballpark solution that serves the best interest of our region, Major League Baseball and our organization.

“The City of St. Petersburg is currently advancing plans to restore Tropicana Field for the 2026 season. We are thankful for their efforts and are excited to return to our home field next spring.”

But there’s a lot that could change those plans. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the city must keep Tropicana Field playable and provide parking under a 1995 deal still in place. That deal also keeps the team locked in until 2027, though it gets extended every year Tropicana Field is unplayable. If the city votes against replacing the roof, the deal could be off, and the Rays could be free to head elsewhere.

Is MLB forcing the Rays owner to sell the team?

According to a story by The Athletic posted Sunday, a group of MLB owners and commissioner Rob Manfred have been pressuring Stuart Sternberg to sell the Rays if he pulls out of the stadium deal. There are reportedly several groups interested in buying the team. Among those are a Tampa-based group led by Edward DeBartolo Jr., whose family is part of the San Francisco 49ers ownership group, and includes former Yankees minority owner Joe Molloy. The Athletic reported Sternberg is also looking for minority investors. Manfred has previously said he wants the Rays to stay in the Tampa Bay region.

Pushing Sternberg to sell the team would be a bold move by Manfred, especially considering the current situation closely resembles that of the former Oakland Athletics. Owner John Fisher had fought with the city for decades over the Oakland Coliseum, one of the few ballparks rated lower than Tropicana Field. The A’s are spending the next three seasons in a minor-league park in Sacramento while their new home gets built in Las Vegas.

MLB has forced two owners to sell their teams. Frank McCourt was involved in a contentious divorce with his wife, which led to investigations that uncovered fraud in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ payroll. Commissioner Bud Selig wrested control of the team in 2011, leading to the current group including Magic Johnson taking over in 2012. MLB also forced Marge Schott to sell the Cincinnati Reds after she was banned for the 1993 season for making racist, homophobic and antisemitic remarks.

Stuart Sternberg net worth

Stuart Sternberg is a Wall Street investor in addition to principal shareholder of the Tampa Bay Rays ownership group. His net worth is $800 million, according to the wealth-monitoring site Celebrity Net Worth. The Rays are worth $1.25 billion, according to Forbes.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Tampa Bay Rays stadium news: Owner Stuart Sternberg pressured to sell

Will Tampa Bay Rays move without stadium deal? Will owner be forced to sell? What we know

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