MLB Team is Set to Announce $1.2 Billion New Stadium Deal: Report
According to sources from the Tampa Bay Times, the Tampa Bay Rays are set to announce an agreement on Tuesday (September 19) to build a new stadium in downtown St.
Petersburg, effectively concluding a search that has spanned more than a decade to locate a new home for the team.
It is expected that the 30,000-seat domed stadium would be situated next to the existing home of the Rays, Tropicana Field,
as part of a redevelopment project that will cover 86 acres in the Historic Gas Plant District.
The stadium is projected to be finished in time for the start of the Major League Baseball season in 2028. The team, the city of St.
Petersburg, and Pinellas County will all make financial contributions toward the construction of the stadium, which is anticipated to have a price tag of more than $1.2 billion.
Before the beginning of this month, Stuart Sternberg, the major owner of the Rays, stated that he anticipated the team would pay for "half or more" of any projected stadium expenditures.
After the 2027 MLB season, the Rays' current lease at Tropicana Field will come to an end. This has prompted speculation about potential new homes for the team in Pinellas County and Hillsborough County
as well as a brief plan to split the team's games between Tampa and Montreal, which was ultimately rejected by the league. In January, the Mayor of St. Petersburg, Ken Welch,
made public his decision to provide permission to the Hines-Rays partnership to rehabilitate Tropicana Field and the nearby Gas Plant District.