Tampa Bay Rays and local officials announce a tentative $2.3B deal for a new ballpark

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Tampa Bay Rays and local officials announce a tentative $2.3B deal for a new ballpark

Tampa Bay Rays and local officials announce a tentative $2.3B deal for a new ballpark

The Tampa Bay Rays and local officials announced a tentative $2.3 billion agreement on Thursday for a new ballpark funded by public and private money. The nonbinding memorandum of understanding among the Rays, Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa outlines the costs of a stadium, which would in

Tampa Bay Rays and local officials announce a tentative $2.3B deal for a new ballpark

Tampa Bay Rays and local officials announce a tentative $2.3B deal for a new ballpark

The Tampa Bay Rays and local officials announced a tentative $2.3 billion agreement on Thursday for a new ballpark funded by public and private money. The nonbinding memorandum of understanding among the Rays, Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa outlines the costs of a stadium, which would include $967 million of tax dollars. “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, 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," Rays CEO Ken Babby said in a statement.

The Tampa Bay Rays are one step closer to calling a new venue home, as the team and local officials announced a tentative $2.3 billion agreement for a state-of-the-art ballpark. This nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Rays, Hillsborough County, and the city of Tampa outlines a funding plan that includes $967 million in tax dollars—a move that could reshape the region's sports landscape.

Elected officials from both the city and county are expected to vote on the deal next week, setting the stage for what could be a transformative project. "We respectfully but resolutely encourage approval of the MOU," said Rays CEO Ken Babby in a statement. "This is about creating a Forever Home for our community, breathing new life into the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough College, and building a privately financed neighborhood where people can work, live, learn, and play."

The proposed stadium would anchor a mixed-use entertainment district on the college campus, located just next to the New York Yankees' spring training facility and across the highway from Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Rays' ownership group, which took over last September, earlier this year reached an agreement with Hillsborough College to develop the site and renovate some campus buildings. The team hopes to have the new ballpark ready within three years.

For context, the Rays have played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg since their inaugural 1998 season, except for a temporary move to the Yankees' Steinbrenner Field in 2025 after hurricane damage at the Trop. Their current lease runs through at least the 2028 season, and the team returned to Tropicana Field just last month for the start of this season. This new deal comes after a proposed $1.3 billion redevelopment plan for a ballpark next to the Trop fell through last year, raising fresh questions about the franchise's future.

For fans and apparel enthusiasts alike, this marks an exciting new chapter—one that could bring a fresh home-field identity and a vibrant new district to cheer for.

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