Rays stadium may not be ready for 2025 season after hurricane damage

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 10/15/24

The Tampa Bay Rays may have to find a temporary home for at least part of the 2025 Major League Baseball season — and perhaps all of it.

Their home ballpark, Tropicana Field, suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Milton and is not expected to be ready for baseball when the Rays are scheduled to open the season on March 27, according to a report from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

The most significant damage happened to the roof, which was completely blown apart by the storm, but it was not limited to just that. The team's offices were also damaged, and there is significant concern about the structural integrity of the supports that held up the roof. The Rays have not really had an official update on the status of the stadium, and access to it has been hard to get due to safety concerns.

This is going to create some short-term headaches for the Rays and could leave them scrambling for options.

Topkin floated a couple of ideas, including nearby minor league and spring training facilities, as well as other cities like Durham (home of the Ray's Triple-A team), Nashville, Charlotte or perhaps even Montreal.

The benefit to staying closer to Tampa in a minor league or spring training facility would be that it might not force players and staff to relocate, would still allow local fans to attend and could be more logistically friendly in terms of keeping things more normal and on schedule.

But those stadiums might also need upgrades to host regular-season games, while the weather (both in terms of heat and rain) could be a problem during the summer months.

The Rays are expected to open a new stadium in time for the 2028 season, but that is still several years away.

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