{"id":522503,"date":"2026-01-15T23:46:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/522503\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T23:46:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:46:26","slug":"potential-new-rays-stadium-at-hillsborough-college-dale-mabry-campus-slotted-for-first-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/522503\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential new Rays stadium at Hillsborough College Dale Mabry campus slotted for first step"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tampa Bay Rays appear one step closer to identifying a location for a new stadium and related development, with an expected meeting Tuesday with the Hillsborough College District Board of Trustees to discuss a potential development at the school\u2019s Dale Mabry campus, the Tampa Bay Business Journal first reported Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A deal with Hillsborough College, formerly Hillsborough Community College, would allow Rays ownership to develop a 110-acre mixed-use development, including a new stadium and a range\u00a0of other community amenities. The Rays\u2019 new owners have previously discussed a development that includes a mix of affordable housing, park space, retail, entertainment and more.<\/p>\n

The meeting on Tuesday<\/a> would be a first vote on a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a potential stadium deal. The Hillsborough College administration has recommended approval.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that an MOU does not guarantee a project; it allows the parties to move forward with plans and terms for an eventual binding agreement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear at this early juncture what public subsidy the project would require, but the team\u2019s new ownership group \u2014 Ken Babby, Patrick Zalupski and Bill Cosgrove \u2014 previously said one would be required.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking in October<\/a> shortly after the team\u2019s sale was finalized, owners said, and have since reiterated, they are looking at Atlanta as a model for a successful stadium development. The Atlanta Braves play at Truist Park, located in the Battery district.<\/p>\n

And Babby said this week on the newly launched \u201cHunks Talking Junk\u201d podcast<\/a>, hosted by College HUNKS Hauling Junk and Moving co-founder Nick Friedman, the group has set an aggressive timeline to open a new ballpark in April 2029.<\/p>\n

The ownership group has long said its goal was to keep the Rays in the Tampa Bay region and has made clear its preference is for Tampa.<\/p>\n

The Rays item is the only issue included on Tuesday\u2019s Hillsborough College Board of Trustees meeting. It notes that the school \u201chas been approached\u201d by Rays\u2019 leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MOU does not require the College to do the Project, and it can be terminated by the Board at any time,\u201d the agenda reads, noting that, if approved, the MOU would allow both parties to \u201cbegin negotiating and drafting Project agreements for the Board\u2019s review and approval at a future meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The agenda also notes that \u201cthe Rays have included a proposal to reimburse the College for the costs of preparing the final Project agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Rays appear one step closer to identifying a location for a new stadium and related…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2377],"tags":[5,24878,35960,24876,4,24877,297,20044,2550,68,2551,2549],"class_list":{"0":"post-522503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tampa-bay-rays","7":"tag-baseball","8":"tag-bill-cosgrove","9":"tag-hillsborough-college","10":"tag-ken-babby","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-patrick-zalupski","13":"tag-rays","14":"tag-stadium-deal","15":"tag-tampa-bay","16":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","17":"tag-tampabay","18":"tag-tampabayrays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115901785995744637","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}