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After telling reporters in November that it was “next to impossible” for Tropicana Field to be repaired in time for 2026, the Tampa Bay Rays have asked the city to begin a repair process in time to play in their home ballpark following the 2025 season.
“The City of St. Petersburg is planning to complete the Tropicana Field repairs in time for the 2026 season, and the Rays organization stands ready to support that effort,” team co-president Brian Auld said in a statement on Monday.
It was Auld who told the Tampa Bay Times in November he didn’t foresee it being possible to finish the repairs in time for 2026. “That feels like a bad use of funds across the entire group,” he said.
However, on Dec. 30, Rays co-president Matt Silverman sent a letter to city administrator Rob Gerdes, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, making it clear the team wanted to move forward.
“While we had been open to considering a scenario in which the city bought out of its obligation to repair the ballpark, the Rays support and expect the City to rebuild Tropicana Field in accordance with the terms of the current Use Agreement,” Silverman wrote.
A damage assessment report released in November estimated that repairs would cost nearly $56 million, and wouldn’t be finished up until days before the 2026 season started.
There is no guarantee that the venue will be repaired in time. The building’s roof was torn off during Hurricane Milton in October. The Rays will play the 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees, located in Tampa.
The Rays’ lease of Tropicana Field ends following the 2028 season, and much of the drama encircling the franchise has been about its long-term home. Plans to build a new stadium in St. Pete were approved in July. However, delays in approving the funding from the city council and the Pinellas County commissioners have possibly led to a delay in the project and increased costs as a result. It remains unclear if the Rays will favor terminating that agreement over the increased costs. Funding from both the city council and the commissioners was eventually approved in December.
The team is hoping to have the Trop ready for Opening Day 2026. If the facility is fully repaired, it could create an avenue for the team to continue playing there long-term and look for a more permanent home after the expiration of the lease. As it stands, the Rays do not have a set home beyond the 2025 season.
“There is a very significant difference for the Rays between the repairs being completed for Opening Day on the one hand, and a completion date later in the season on the other,” Silverman wrote in the letter optioned by the Times.“A partial 2026 season in Tropicana Field would present massive logistical and revenue challenges for the team.”
Silverman requested the establishment of a working group to conduct weekly meetings with the city as part of this effort and noted that Major League Baseball would hire an independent advisor to monitor the progress.
St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times that “we look forward to continuing to work with the Rays” through those initiatives. The city council still needs to approve the repairs, though the Rays’ statement indicated that the city is planning to complete the project.
(Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
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