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The Tampa Bay Rays will play their entire 2025 home schedule at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, due to the damage sustained by Tropicana Field after Hurricane Milton in October.
Steinbrenner Field, which seats 11,000, is the spring training home of the New York Yankees and the team’s Class-A affiliate, the Tampa Tarpons. The Tarpons will use other fields at the spring training complex for their home games.
The team reportedly chose Steinbrenner Field over the Philadelphia Phillies’ spring training stadium in Clearwater after consulting with Major League Baseball. The Yankees will receive about $15 million in revenue as part of the agreement.
“It is singularly the best opportunity for our fans to experience 81 games of major league Rays baseball,” Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg told The Associated Press. “As difficult as it is to get any of these stadiums up to major league standards, it was the least difficult. You’re going to see Major League Baseball in a small environment.”
The Rays needed a home for the 2025 season after a survey of Tropicana Field post-Hurricane Milton found that while the stadium remained structurally sound, the cost of repairs would total $55.7 million and would not be completed until after the upcoming season.
“This outcome meets Major League Baseball’s goals that Rays’ fans will see their team play next season in their home market and that their players can remain home without disruption to their families,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
The main damage to Tropicana Field, which opened in 1990, was to the fabric roof panels, which were essentially ripped off when the storm made landfall. Eighteen of the 24 panels failed due to Hurricane Milton’s high winds, and the failure of the roof allowed the rain and wind to cause more damage inside the stadium.
Prior to the full damage assessment of the stadium, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he preferred to keep the Rays in Tampa with an interim home or if full repairs of Tropicana Field were possible before the 2025 season got underway.
“The one thing I can tell you for sure, they’re playing next year. We’re going to find them someplace to do it,” Manfred said in October on The Varsity podcast.
As it is used year-round by the Yankees organization, Steinbrenner Field houses state-of-the-art facilities, amenities and equipment for players and would not need many upgrades to meet MLBPA standards. The stadium is also open air, not a dome like Tropicana Field, which means it is susceptible to rainouts as well as hot temperatures in the summer.
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