Rays Stadium Saga Clears Hurdle Toward New Tampa Development

The Rays’ decades-long search for a new stadium took a major step forward as the Hillsborough College District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve a memorandum of understanding with the MLB club for a new ballpark and mixed-use development. 

The plan, a key priority of new club ownership led by Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski, calls on the Rays and the institution to pursue a formal deal to redevelop the college’s Dale Mabry Campus near Raymond James Stadium, George M. Steinbrenner Field, and Tampa International Airport.

The current agreement between the Rays and the college is non-binding, but it sets the path for a more formal deal that would include a MLB-caliber ballpark, the mixed-use development, and new facilities for Hillsborough College.

“There’s still great work ahead of us to be able to bring this reality,” said Rays CEO Ken Babby. “But what I can say with certainty is that we believe with conviction that we’re going to be able to create a work-class work-live-learn-play development here in Tampa Bay, and we’re very, very encouraged and pleased by [Tuesday’s] outcome.”

Successful Blueprint

Zalupski, Babby, and the Rays have made no secret of their aim to emulate many parts of The Battery, the Braves’ highly successful development surrounding Truist Park. In doing so, they have found a likely partner with Hillsborough College, which would lease most of the Dale Mabry Campus to the Rays, except for a “College District” portion still designated for Hillsborough students, faculty, and staff. 

“This has been a 30-year saga for the region. While I joke we’ve only been here for six weeks, we are not unaware or uninformed how much fatigue has gone into the future of the Tampa Bay Rays,” Babby said. “We must find that forever home, and we think [this] is an encouraging first step.”

Many key details, including the final financing for the planned stadium, remain incomplete. 

The Hillsborough College deal, however, furthers the Rays’ efforts to relocate to the east side of Tampa Bay and out of Pinellas County, where the team has been since its 1998 debut. 

The nearby Steinbrenner Field, the spring training site for the Yankees, served as a temporary home for the club in 2025 while Tropicana Field underwent repairs from hurricane damage. That ballpark in St. Petersburg is set to reopen for the 2026 season and will house the Rays until the new facility is built. The club intends to open a new ballpark in 2029, after the expiration of the lease with St. Petersburg for the city-owned Tropicana Field.