Rays start assessing damage, viability of Tropicana Field

[Fenway]

Rays start assessing damage, viability of Tropicana Field

Winds from Hurricane Milton shredded most of the Teflon-coated Fiberglass roof; only a small number of staff were in the building at the time.

www.tampabay.com

The Rays on Thursday morning began the initial process of assessing the damage to Tropicana Field from Hurricane Milton, most notably the shredding of the roof.

“During the past couple weeks, our beloved city, region and state have been impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. We are devastated by the damage incurred by so many,” the team said in a statement. “Our priority is supporting our community and our staff. We are fortunate and grateful that no one was hurt by the damage to our ballpark last night. ...

“We ask for your patience at this time, and we encourage those who can to donate to organizations in our community that are assisting those directly impacted by these storms.”

The first step will be to have an operations crew survey the stadium and work in collaboration with St. Petersburg police to secure the building.

Most visible was the shredding of the roof, which was caused by the high winds on Wednesday night. Only a few panels of the roof — made of “6 acres of translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass” and supported by cables connected by struts, and built to withstand winds of up to 115 mph, per the team — remained intact Thursday, with remnants seen on the field.

There was no other obvious structural damage to the building viewed from the outside.
Another issue is water damage, as Tropicana Field, which was built in the late 1980s and opened in 1990, does not have a drainage system.

That is also a factor in the repair plan as the team would not be able to play at the stadium without replacing the roof.

An obvious priority after the team assessments will be to determine if the stadium can be made playable for the 2025 season, which is slated to open March 27, with a six-game homestand against the Rockies and Pirates.

If not, the Rays could seek a temporary home, such as at a nearby minor-league or college facility; the Blue Jays, for example, played regular-season games at their Dunedin spring stadium during the 2021 post-COVID season. Another option would be to relocate out of the Tampa Bay area on a temporary basis. Those decisions will be made in collaboration with Major League Baseball officials.

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[BB79]

I hear Oakland and Montreal have empty stadiums...

 

[Fenway]

Oddly this is very similar to the Metrodome where they had to replace the roof in 2010 knowing the building would be replaced in a few years.

According to the Rays, Tropicana Field’s roof was made of six acres of translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass. It was similar to the fiberglass fabric roof of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which once stood in Minneapolis and collapsed due to snow in 2010. Replacing the Metrodome roof took five months and cost $23 million. Campbell said that Tropicana Field has a similar size but fewer panels. That could make for a quicker installation, though that’s not guaranteed.

“It could be done, if the primary structure is serviceable,” Campbell said. “We could have the dome re-enclosed in five or six months.”

Age of Tropicana Field roof played role in Hurricane Milton damage, stadium engineer says

“It’s well past its intended service life,” said David Campbell, who worked on the team that installed the roof for the dome's 1990 opening.

www.nytimes.com

St Pete rolled the dice that the roof would survive 25 years and they made it to 34 but their luck ran out.

Ironically the 25-year iron-clad lease now becomes a headache for the city.

 

[Fenway]

 

[Suntouchable13]

I hear Oakland and Montreal have empty stadiums...

How is Kevin Cash's French?

 

[Unholy Diver]

I suppose they were considering doing the 2 city thing a few years back, if the Trop is going to take a bit of time to fix maybe they play the first couple of months in Montreal

 

[These Are The Days]

Play them at Steinbrenner

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I hope that isn't it for Tropicana Field. I know people on the West Coast of Florida and usually take a few small trips down there and go to few games there per year.

It's a nice reprieve from the large crowds and borderline unaffordable tickets (if i want a good seat)@ yankee stadium/citi field near me.

It might be a dump but i always enjoy going there, great seats for cheap, just lose yourself inside the dome for a few hours to watch some of the best in the world.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

The Trop actually looks like a proper ballpark if you take away the roof. It does have the shape of a ballpark. It’s not like the Kingdome or Metrodome.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Could be because they don't want to look like dicks after the state got ravaged by a hurricane, and probably a little bit of it's now sunken in even if they paid up to fix the trop, it's very likely to be not ready for the season.

Play them at Steinbrenner

This feels like the most simple solution assuming the Yankees would be willing to co-operate. Decent size and amenities on par with a lot of major league parks.

I think at absolute most Rays ownership must ensure they stay in the Tampa/St. Pete area. Fanbase is dwindling and you got a new park on the way, gotta try to keep momentum going. Even if that means something less than ideal like playing at Steinbrenner. That or maybe you call up the Blue Jays and see if you can bunk in Dunedin for a while. Another venue that got significant upgrades since the Jays called it home during the first bit of COVID.

 

[These Are The Days]

View attachment 917081

Could be because they don't want to look like dicks after the state got ravaged by a hurricane, and probably a little bit of it's now sunken in even if they paid up to fix the trop, it's very likely to be not ready for the season.


This feels like the most simple solution assuming the Yankees would be willing to co-operate. Decent size and amenities on par with a lot of major league parks.

I think at absolute most Rays ownership must ensure they stay in the Tampa/St. Pete area. Fanbase is dwindling and you got a new park on the way, gotta try to keep momentum going. Even if that means something less than ideal like playing at Steinbrenner. That or maybe you call up the Blue Jays and see if you can bunk in Dunedin for a while. Another venue that got significant upgrades since the Jays called it home during the first bit of COVID.

Dunedin would be a very soft landing spot too. I don't hate Tropicana Field but it's been time to move on for long time. It's one of those "Life finds way" moments brought to you by nature right now

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Why not just share with Marlins? Might as well make the most out of that tax payer funded palace.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

A Grapefruit ballpark seems like the most logical option, but if they have to go out of market might as well follow through on their threat to play part of their season in Montreal and just play in Montreal for a year.

Edit: oh wait, they’re doing major renos at the Expo park, right? Scratch that, just have ‘em play at one of the grapefruit parks.

 

[HoseEmDown]

A Grapefruit ballpark seems like the most logical option, but if they have to go out of market might as well follow through on their threat to play part of their season in Montreal and just play in Montreal for a year.

Edit: oh wait, they’re doing major renos at the Expo park, right? Scratch that, just have ‘em play at one of the grapefruit parks.

They should do a tour of the state type of season. You have all the Grapefruit parks but you could really go from Jacksonville down the coast into Daytona and Cocoa beach has a nice park. Orlando has wide world of sports ot the Citrus bowl. The can be the Florida Rays for a season. Think they'll do well ticket wise if they spread it around and if they plan the series right could be playing at most teams spring training or minor league park. The state loves baseball it's just so divided with all the spring training teams being here so long and having a foothold in many parts and the Braves being not too far away as well. Try to drive up interest in the Rays to convert other fans.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

A Grapefruit ballpark seems like the most logical option, but if they have to go out of market might as well follow through on their threat to play part of their season in Montreal and just play in Montreal for a year.

Edit: oh wait, they’re doing major renos at the Expo park, right? Scratch that, just have ‘em play at one of the grapefruit parks.

Yup, ironically, the Olympic Stadium is having its roof fixed right now. Doubt it will be ready in time.

 

[tank44]

Steinbrenner, Dunedin or Orlando or whatnot wont be much different than the As in Sacramento.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

A Grapefruit ballpark seems like the most logical option, but if they have to go out of market might as well follow through on their threat to play part of their season in Montreal and just play in Montreal for a year.

Edit: oh wait, they’re doing major renos at the Expo park, right? Scratch that, just have ‘em play at one of the grapefruit parks.

How long is Tropicana out of action for? Outdoor baseball in June in Florida might not be ideal.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

How long is Tropicana out of action for? Outdoor baseball in June in Florida might not be ideal.

No clue, but the critical thing is that their field isn't built to be exposed to the elements. Doesn't have drainage and I don't think it's effectively waterproofed. The grounds would absolutely not be game ready for days after rain, and let's just say that Miami gets rain frequently enough where they'd be assuredly a non-starter.

 

[Blitzkrug]

How long is Tropicana out of action for? Outdoor baseball in June in Florida might not be ideal.

Speculation is at the very least it won't be ready for opening day if construction on fixing the roof were to begin right now. The Rays from what i understand have only started to take bids/research feasibility meaning this is likely a little ways away from beginning. Assuming they don't decide the 100+ million dollar cost to replace the roof isn't worth it. (that and the rest of the park wasn't too badly damaged without the roof)

 

[Blitzkrug]

The more speculation grows, the more it also becomes apparent there's no actual "easy" answer even as much as people like us throw ideas around:

Miami - no bueno. If the MLB schedule wasn't made 3 months ago i could see this maaaaaybe being an option. But now you'd be forced to completely change everything to accommodate two teams playing at the same park which for the most part tend to start their games at the same time locally (7 ET) not to mention issues with having to compete for ticket sales, splitting revenue, etc. A guy on reddit did the math and said the Rays and Marlins play at the same time 49 times in 2025. That's an issue.

Montreal - Hilariously enough Olympic Stadium is undergoing its own roof repair that is estimated to be completed sometime in 2028.

George Steinbrenner field - makes the most sense logistically given it's right in the heart of Tampa but then you consider a) they also house a minor league team (two, in fact) that has its own schedule and b) it's not just a field but rather an entire development complex for the Yankees and i can't imagine they'd want another team setting up shop within it for competitive reasons.

Raymond James Stadium - Probably the easiest in terms of schedule since it sits empty for most of baseball season outside of September and per the Tampa Bay Times they have looked into if it's viable. Big problem is the Ray Jay was built for football and football only and there's questions on if it could reasonably house a baseball diamond dimensions wise.

Disney's Wide World of Sports complex - Per the Tampa Bay Times it apparently holds far too many youth tournaments to the point it becomes a headache

Even the couple options aren't exactly ideal given how much rain Florida gets in a year. I was reading somewhere that the team that plays out of Steinbrenner got rained out something like 14 teams over the course of their season compared to the total number of rainouts in the MLB as a whole. (30) Even that in itself is a headache for the league.

 

[Unholy Diver]

The more speculation grows, the more it also becomes apparent there's no actual "easy" answer even as much as people like us throw ideas around:

Miami - no bueno. If the MLB schedule wasn't made 3 months ago i could see this maaaaaybe being an option. But now you'd be forced to completely change everything to accommodate two teams playing at the same park which for the most part tend to start their games at the same time locally (7 ET) not to mention issues with having to compete for ticket sales, splitting revenue, etc. A guy on reddit did the math and said the Rays and Marlins play at the same time 49 times in 2025. That's an issue.

Montreal - Hilariously enough Olympic Stadium is undergoing its own roof repair that is estimated to be completed sometime in 2028.

George Steinbrenner field - makes the most sense logistically given it's right in the heart of Tampa but then you consider a) they also house a minor league team (two, in fact) that has its own schedule and b) it's not just a field but rather an entire development complex for the Yankees and i can't imagine they'd want another team setting up shop within it for competitive reasons.

Raymond James Stadium - Probably the easiest in terms of schedule since it sits empty for most of baseball season outside of September and per the Tampa Bay Times they have looked into if it's viable. Big problem is the Ray Jay was built for football and football only and there's questions on if it could reasonably house a baseball diamond dimensions wise.

Disney's Wide World of Sports complex - Per the Tampa Bay Times it apparently holds far too many youth tournaments to the point it becomes a headache

Even the couple options aren't exactly ideal given how much rain Florida gets in a year. I was reading somewhere that the team that plays out of Steinbrenner got rained out something like 14 teams over the course of their season compared to the total number of rainouts in the MLB as a whole. (30) Even that in itself is a headache for the league.

How about the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum?

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

The more speculation grows, the more it also becomes apparent there's no actual "easy" answer even as much as people like us throw ideas around:

Miami - no bueno. If the MLB schedule wasn't made 3 months ago i could see this maaaaaybe being an option. But now you'd be forced to completely change everything to accommodate two teams playing at the same park which for the most part tend to start their games at the same time locally (7 ET) not to mention issues with having to compete for ticket sales, splitting revenue, etc. A guy on reddit did the math and said the Rays and Marlins play at the same time 49 times in 2025. That's an issue.

Montreal - Hilariously enough Olympic Stadium is undergoing its own roof repair that is estimated to be completed sometime in 2028.

George Steinbrenner field - makes the most sense logistically given it's right in the heart of Tampa but then you consider a) they also house a minor league team (two, in fact) that has its own schedule and b) it's not just a field but rather an entire development complex for the Yankees and i can't imagine they'd want another team setting up shop within it for competitive reasons.

Raymond James Stadium - Probably the easiest in terms of schedule since it sits empty for most of baseball season outside of September and per the Tampa Bay Times they have looked into if it's viable. Big problem is the Ray Jay was built for football and football only and there's questions on if it could reasonably house a baseball diamond dimensions wise.

Disney's Wide World of Sports complex - Per the Tampa Bay Times it apparently holds far too many youth tournaments to the point it becomes a headache

Even the couple options aren't exactly ideal given how much rain Florida gets in a year. I was reading somewhere that the team that plays out of Steinbrenner got rained out something like 14 teams over the course of their season compared to the total number of rainouts in the MLB as a whole. (30) Even that in itself is a headache for the league.

push comes to shove I can see the MLB stepping in and forcing a solution.

Something like games are at Steinbrenner Field and the Rays use USF for practice/conditioning

 

[The Burdened]

just play in it without the roof. it's like when an escalator breaks down. it just becomes stairs.