Rays abandon plans for new ballpark in St. Petersburg
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The Tampa Bay Rays have thrown fresh doubt on the future of the team in St. Petersburg.
Plans for a new ballpark have been scrapped, the team announced on Thursday.
"After careful deliberation, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment," team principal owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement. "A series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision."
The team had previously announced plans for a new stadium in a mixed-use development in downtown St. Petersburg in the Gas Plant neighbourhood. Set to break ground this winter, the project would come with a $1.3 billion price tag with the city contributing $287.5 million and Pinellas County adding $312.5 million. Both district councils voted to approve the project this past December with the team responsible for any overages. The Rays had until the end of this month to hit certain benchmarks to fully unlock funding.
The team says that it will continue to find a ballpark solution.
With the damages to Tropicana Field in the wake of Hurricane Milton, the team will play its home games in 2025 at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the Grapefruit League home of the New York Yankees.
Sternberg notes that the City of St. Petersburg hopes to have Tropicana Field restored and ready for the 2026 season.