Tampa Overhauls Rays $2.3B Stadium Funding As Clock Ticks

The Rays, increasingly racing against the clock to get a deal done for a new, $2.3 billion ballpark in Tampa, are likely looking at a vastly different financing model for the stadium project. 

After months of planning for a city contribution of up to $180 million coming from a community investment tax and a community redevelopment area, Tampa leaders are now looking at a reworked model. The new notion is instead based on tax-increment financing of a mixed-use development around the ballpark. 

This revised structure is designed to draw from commerce created within the ballpark project, as opposed to funds targeted for broader public-sector needs. The TIF model is also designed to spin off additional money for public infrastructure after the stadium is funded. 

“What I’m trying to do is create a win-win-win situation,” said Tampa city council member Bill Carlson, seen as a critical swing vote, to WUSF-TV. “The city went from having to pay money, taking money from other sources, to now participating in a revenue stream that will fund infrastructure without raising taxes. We’re not subsidizing any for-profit activities.”

Political Realities 

The shift is designed to provide stronger political support for the long-debated project. The new structure could be critical in resolving a growing political rift between the office of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who is leading the city’s negotiations with the Rays, and the city council. 

The club received city and county support in May for a non-binding memorandum of understanding regarding the stadium—but only barely. It was clear then, and remains true, that final political approval, however, will require meaningful changes to the ballpark funding. 

Those alterations are now coming into focus, and for the club, not a moment too soon. The Rays intend to open the new ballpark in time for the 2029 season, a timetable that will require a final agreement within the next several weeks and a groundbreaking later this year.

The Rays are attempting to build a domed ballpark, seating about 30,000 people, along with a mixed-use development inspired in part by The Battery in Atlanta, at Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry College, near Tampa International Airport and Raymond James Stadium. 

The total public-sector contribution is set to be capped at $976 million, with the Rays covering the rest, along with all cost overruns. Hillsborough County is also heavily involved, and it remains to be seen whether the city-level financing shifts under development will lead to further changes in the overall stadium funding model.