MLB Tropicana Field loses roof to hurricane
- Thread starter LadyStanley
- Start date
Voight
#winning
It's one of the few (somewhat) local fields with MLB quality amenities so makes sense.
Big McLargehuge
Fragile Traveler
Tampa is local and Steinbrenner Field is significantly better than either option in Pinellas County.Local politics will forever be a shitshow. Yes, yes, why wouldn't the Rays be jumping at the bit to play 30 miles from Tampa with 3,000 fewer seats.
Steinbrenner was also recently renovated and almost certainly has facilities closer to a MLB standard. It's a shit situation, but all things considered it's the best available option. Moving the team thousands of miles away on short notice is how you get an empty stadium for damn near every game (yeah, yeah, yeah har har har funny joke incoming I'm sure) with all of the negatives that go with this option. At least this will be an intimate setting where even the Rays should be able to fill it pretty much all season. Surely weather will keep fans out on certain dates and Rays fans will get endless shit for it, but I don't see any other option that'd be a better solution for the Tampa Bay Rays. Play almost exclusively night games and the weather issues will be manageable.
Now what they do come 2026-28 will be interesting. I fully think fixing that roof would just be a gigantic waste of money and resources if the replacement is being built and, well, it's not being built yet, groundbreaking is still a year away, it's both near enough and far enough away to make this a tricky question. You can only speed up the process so much.
The Yankees are getting paid handsomely for this and will likely end up with even nicer facilities for their troubles, but one has to imagine they're not going to want their youngsters getting second priority for four seasons.
If you're a Pinellas County politician I'd assume they'd prefer Clearwater, with Dunedin being second choice.
BayCare Ballpark (Clearwater) holds 8,500 and was built in 2004. It's a further 18 miles north of Tropicana Field on the St. Pete side of the bay.
TD Ballpark (Dunedin) was recently renovated and has a listed capacity of 8,500...but only 6,500 of those are seated. It's roughly 24 miles further north of Tropicana Field.
For the bulk of the Rays actual fan base, though, this is the local option.
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KevFu
Registered User
I really don't understand how they built the original roof in like 4-5 months, but now it's gonna take double that to just string up the fabric covers.
LadyStanley
Registered User
What do you all think of this?
www.tampabay.com
Rays say county’s stalling has likely killed the new stadium deal
John Romano | Delays on bond votes have halted stadium groundbreaking plans and jeopardized baseball’s future in Tampa Bay.
www.tampabay.com
Mightygoose
Registered User
At this time, I think it's sabre rattling with a country commission meeting coming up on Tuesday.
Tampa Bay Rays will reportedly play 2025 home schedule at Steinbrenner Field, spring training stadium of the Yankees
The repairs to Tropicana Field will cost $55.7 million and would not be finished until after the 2025 season.sports.yahoo.com
Yahoo Sports story of the same.
With a change in the political landscape, the deal is lees certain but to my knowledge the bonds have to approved by March 31 or else the deal dies. Getting the repairs to the Trop approved is another layer
Still lots of time for postering.
Golden_Jet
Registered User
- Sep 21, 2005
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KevFu
Registered User
THAT makes the most sense. Like installing the panels is quick, but CREATING them is the part that takes a long time. That would make sense since they knew they'd need them in 1986 and installed them in 1989.
Headshot77
We saw him heading straight for the mountains
LadyStanley
Registered User
Tampa Bay Rays suspend new stadium plans, blame county for not securing bond money in October
The Tampa Bay Rays say plans to build its new ballpark have been halted because Pinellas County didn’t finalize bonds last month.
Rays needed bonds approved (in October, before election) to ensure completion for 2028 season. They won't bear added costs (alone) for delay to 2029.
Willing to work out new deal.
Supposed to be slam dunk vote after July agreement.
KevFu
Registered User
Eerily similar to the Giants to San Jose deal that fell apart after the 1989 Earthquake -- which ironically is exactly why the Rays exist.
My thoughts:
1) A new ballpark doesn't fix the attendance problem. It's the location. St. Pete is bordered by water on three sides, and our interstates and transportation infrastructure make it a pain in the neck to get to St. Pete from a good portion of the greater Tampa Bay region. I live 13 miles away, and it can take up to 45 minutes to get to the ballpark in rush hour traffic. Now imagine trying to drive down for a weeknight game from Pasco County or other points north. Put the team in Tampa and it's more accessible to a wider population. The original deal will never realize the payback in the financial projections because it will never draw fans the way everyone hoped it would.
2) St. Pete and Pinellas County have much bigger priorities right now. As Milton approached, St. Pete had to voluntarily shut down the public water and sewage system for large portions of the city due to aging and inadequate infrastructure. The businesses on the beaches are still rebuilding, and many homeowners are locked in a holding pattern waiting for feedback on FEMA and insurance coverage for their claims before deciding whether to sell or rebuild. Spending all that money on a ballpark is a REALLY bad look right now, even if it means we might lose our team. That money can be much better spent on improving drainage and upgrading/weather proofing critical infrastructure. Baseball is fun, but at the end of the day it's a luxury. Working sewers that don't back up into your house are a necessity.
3) As pessimistic as this sounds, I'd still love to see the Rays stay in the area. I think Hillsborough County would make the team more accessible, improve attendance, and make for a better game day experience. Maybe this opens up the possibility to restart conversations on the other side of the bay and yield a better long-term outcome.
4) If the deal falls apart, there is also a very real possibility that the Rays maintain the redevelopment rights AND relocate. That right there shows how bad this deal was from the get-go. They can turn a massive profit off co-developing the public land that was sold to them at a significant discount AND still end up in another market. This should be a future case study in how NOT to structure a deal with a privately owned sports team.
1) A new ballpark doesn't fix the attendance problem. It's the location. St. Pete is bordered by water on three sides, and our interstates and transportation infrastructure make it a pain in the neck to get to St. Pete from a good portion of the greater Tampa Bay region. I live 13 miles away, and it can take up to 45 minutes to get to the ballpark in rush hour traffic. Now imagine trying to drive down for a weeknight game from Pasco County or other points north. Put the team in Tampa and it's more accessible to a wider population. The original deal will never realize the payback in the financial projections because it will never draw fans the way everyone hoped it would.
2) St. Pete and Pinellas County have much bigger priorities right now. As Milton approached, St. Pete had to voluntarily shut down the public water and sewage system for large portions of the city due to aging and inadequate infrastructure. The businesses on the beaches are still rebuilding, and many homeowners are locked in a holding pattern waiting for feedback on FEMA and insurance coverage for their claims before deciding whether to sell or rebuild. Spending all that money on a ballpark is a REALLY bad look right now, even if it means we might lose our team. That money can be much better spent on improving drainage and upgrading/weather proofing critical infrastructure. Baseball is fun, but at the end of the day it's a luxury. Working sewers that don't back up into your house are a necessity.
3) As pessimistic as this sounds, I'd still love to see the Rays stay in the area. I think Hillsborough County would make the team more accessible, improve attendance, and make for a better game day experience. Maybe this opens up the possibility to restart conversations on the other side of the bay and yield a better long-term outcome.
4) If the deal falls apart, there is also a very real possibility that the Rays maintain the redevelopment rights AND relocate. That right there shows how bad this deal was from the get-go. They can turn a massive profit off co-developing the public land that was sold to them at a significant discount AND still end up in another market. This should be a future case study in how NOT to structure a deal with a privately owned sports team.
While I agree the money can be better spent, apparently the tourist tax funds they're looking to spend can only be spent on tourist stuff and sports anyway, so it's not like they can just redirect it to infrastructure. From one of the articles about the county commission's discussions:
Personally I don't mind if the Rays leave (awful ownership that deserves plenty of blame) but the way the deal is falling apart sure makes the local government look silly with all their flip flopping and delayed votes. I really hope they don't end up with the worst case scenario of the team gone but still holding redevelopment rights.
Personally I don't mind if the Rays leave (awful ownership that deserves plenty of blame) but the way the deal is falling apart sure makes the local government look silly with all their flip flopping and delayed votes. I really hope they don't end up with the worst case scenario of the team gone but still holding redevelopment rights.
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