$2.3bn MLB ballpark handed stark financial parameters as starting gun fired in race to complete ‘forever home’
A big hurdle has been crossed in the Rays long-awaited quest to build a new ballpark.
The ambitious project will see the Rays abandon St. Petersburg to construct a futuristic, 31,000-seat stadium in the heart of Tampa.
The Rays have reached a blockbuster, tentative agreement with local government officials on a state-of-the-art $2.3 billion ballpark and entertainment district, days after it was up in the air.
Four months after detailing plans for a domed stadium mixed-use development on Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry Campus in Tampa, the club has reached a non-binding memorandum of understanding with city and county officials.
A nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MOU) was formally signed on Thursday, mapping out the exact financial parameters to keep the team in Florida for the next generation.
The agreement between the Rays, Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa include several elements according to Front Office Sports.
$1.3 billion in funding from the Rays, including all cost overruns. The mixed-use development element of the project, inspired in part by The Battery in Atlanta, would also be privately funded.
A $796 million contribution from Hillsborough County. That share would be split between a community investment tax (CIT), a tourist development tax (TDT), and prior reserves from those TDT funds.
There will also be a $180 million contribution from the city, also drawing in part from the local CIT.
“The Rays respectfully but resolutely encourage Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa to approve the MOU and make possible a Forever Home for our community’s Tampa Bay Rays,”said club CEO Ken Babby in a statement, via MLB.com.
“It will breathe new life into the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough College, and create a new privately financed neighborhood that will be an inviting and inclusive destination to work, live, learn, and play.”
Aside from the 2025 campaign spent at Steinbrenner Field following the catastrophic damaged caused by Hurricane Milton, the Rays have called Tropicana Field home since their inaugural season in 1998.
They moved back into the repaired and renovated Trop this season.
They have been searching for a long-term ballpark in the area for two decades, however, a search that spanned Stuart Sternberg’s entire time as principal owner of the club.
Sternberg would sell the team to a group led by managing partner Patrick Zalupski, co-chair Bill Cosgrove and Babby late last year for $1.7 billion.
On the field at the Trop and across America, the Rays have been one of the more surprising teams one third through the year.
Despite having one of the lowest payrolls, another factor in Sternberg’s sale, the Rays sit 29-15 top of the American League East.
If the upcoming political votes clear the final hurdles, the project will immediately shift into a formal 35-year lease agreement later this summer, finally locking down a permanent future for the franchise.
The skyline of Tampa is officially on the verge of a multi-billion-dollar transformation, securing the club’s “forever home” just as they establish themselves as the team to beat in the American League.
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