$6.6bn NFL franchise’s stadium renovation threatened as money earmarked for new MLB ballpark

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a serious case of FOMO.

With the Rays leaning on the public purse to fund a $2.3 billion ballpark in the NFL team’s neighborhood, Bucs chiefs are looking for a handout of their own.

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Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Buccaneers “are seeking” a $1 billion renovation of Raymond James Stadium.

The team has a January deadline to negotiate a new lease agreement and execs have reportedly “held private talks about a five-year extension.”

Tampa Sports Authority officials have already earmarked $58 million for projects around the NFL stadium.

President & CEO Eric Hart said via Sports Business Journal that he expects the Buccaneers to “request somewhere between” $700 million to $1.3 billion.

Ray Jay opened in — 1998 making it one of the oldest arenas in the league — and maintenance is needed.

The Bucs also want to make improvements with sun coverage for fans is on the agenda.

Officials are hopeful to avoid closing the stadium like the Jacksonville Jaguars, who will play in Orlando in 2027, and instead work on sections at a time.

Emma Behrmann of the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports Tampa Sports Authority board members fear that funding the Rays’ relocation “could hinder local governments’ capacity to fund a Raymond James Stadium renovation.”

The MLB franchise narrowly survived a vote after six hours of City Hall debate and secured a non-binding memorandum of understanding.

The proposal would see $976 million contributed to the project, with the team coughing up the rest and the cost of any overruns.

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Ray Jay was last refurbished at a cost of over than $160 million between 2016-18.

The Glazer family paid much of the cost, with the The Tampa Sports Authority — funded by Hillsborough County — contributing $29 million.

So far, local lawmakers have seemed more positive toward bringing the Rays across from St. Petersburgh.

“We’re talking about a baseball stadium and substantially more activation and enormous footprint of other economic development opportunities that didn’t exist,” Tampa City Council chairperson Alan Clendenin said via the Tampa Bay Times.

“And we actually have a team established in the Tampa Bay area, not one that’s threatening to leave. You also don’t have to bend over and take it like the first deal.”

Bucs counting on Bain to bring the pain

After goin 8-9 and heartbreakingly missing the playoffs in 2025, the Bucs’ turned to highly touted pass-rusher Rueben Bain Jr. in the first round of April’s NFL Draft.

“Back in my Pittsburgh days, I played with a guy named James Harrison like that,” outside linebackers coach Larry Foote told ESPN. “It was just — you couldn’t block him. [Bain] has that trait, he has that ability.”

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General manager Jason Licht is trying to get meaner on defense.

“We’ve never said that we don’t want those kind of players,” he said. “We’ve stressed ‘high character’ — ‘football character’ — but that doesn’t mean that we don’t want some nasty a–holes when they get on the field.

“We have made it a little bit of an effort to concerted effort to try to find the right blend of high-character when it comes to team and being teammates, a ‘football character,’ but also edgy.”

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