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The Rays will be going into enemy territory, so to speak, to address their pressing facility issues for 2025.
The club said Thursday it will play home games next season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the Yankees and the Tampa Tarpons, one of New York’s minor league affiliates. The decision arrived roughly 48 hours after the St. Petersburg, Fla., city council received an initial damage assessment on the hurricane-battered Tropicana Field, which will require about a year and nearly $56 million to repair. The report provided confirmation that a full-year alternate stadium solution was needed.
That difficult situation has led the Rays, with MLB’s input, to look to their American League East division rival, the Yankees. Steinbrenner Field is the largest spring training facility in the Tampa area with a seating capacity of about 11,000, and it has an array of recently improved amenities, including an expanded home clubhouse, new training facilities, and upgraded lighting. Broadcast positions at the ballpark are also well established through years of prior telecasts by the Yankees’ YES Network, allowing Diamond Sports Group to operate there with minimal issue.
“The hurricane damage to Tropicana Field has forced us to take some extraordinary steps, just as Hurricanes Helene and Milton have forced thousands of families and businesses in our community to adapt to new circumstances as we all recover and rebuild,” said Rays owner Stu Sternberg.
The choice also addresses a pair of key factors previously mentioned by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred: keeping the Rays in the Tampa area and making this decision by Christmas.
“Given the significant challenges caused by Hurricane Milton, I appreciate the hard work and collaboration between the two teams that allowed the Rays to make the best decision for next season,” Manfred said. “This outcome meets Major League Baseball’s goals that Rays fans will see their team play next season in their home market and that their players can remain home without disruption to their families.”
Logistical Issues
The Yankees will still train at Steinbrenner Field for the 2025 season, as they normally would, while the Rays will be at their complex in Port Charlotte, Fla. The Rays will then begin their home schedule for the regular season on March 27, three days after the Yankees break camp. The impact on the Tarpons has not yet been finalized.
Tampa Bay will then have a sizable challenge in getting its brand infused into Steinbrenner Field, which is modeled in part on Yankee Stadium and features extensive branding for that team. The Associated Press, meanwhile, reported the Yankees will receive about $15 million for hosting the Rays. The ballpark’s capacity is not far removed from Tampa Bay’s 2024 per-game attendance average of 16,515. The outdoor setting will still leave the Rays exposed to summer heat and frequent rains, but any other local option involves those same factors.
But the Rays’ move across the bay to neighboring Hillsborough County, even temporarily, could anger officials in Pinellas County, who are already eyeing a $1.3 billion plan to build a new ballpark in St. Petersburg with greater skepticism.
As the stadium issue for next year was settled, the Rays also have resolved their local television situation for next year and will be returning to DSG in a revised deal. The club will be the second in MLB to play next year in a minor league stadium, joining the A’s, who’ll be spending the next three years at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park.
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