The Rays are uncertain about where they’ll play in 2025 after Hurricane Milton damaged the Tropicana Field roof. One option that will not be under consideration: Montreal. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the city’s Olympic Stadium — the former home of the Expos and a speculated possibility for the Rays — is undergoing an $870MM renovation to replace its own roof. The stadium will not be available for three years.
“Until 2028, the field of play will be within a construction site and therefore not open to the public,” the stadium’s communications officer told Topkin via email. Montreal is the second city to back away from serving as a potential temporary home for the franchise. The Durham Bulls, home of the organization’s Triple-A affiliate, released a statement earlier this week saying they “do not anticipate hosting (the Rays) for a full season due to schedules overlapping and other logistical challenges.”
The Rays still haven’t confirmed they won’t be able to play all of next season at the Trop. Topkin reported earlier in the week that the facility was unlikely to be repaired by Opening Day, however. The Rays are scheduled to open a new stadium in St. Petersburg in 2028. Assuming that timeline isn’t delayed, it’s not clear if the organization and city will find it worthwhile to repair Tropicana Field if the team is leaving the Trop after three years anyhow.
Montreal was mentioned as a possibility largely because the Rays flirted with the idea of playing there a few years ago. While the Rays were trying to secure public funding for their new stadium, owner Stuart Sternberg floated a plan to divide the team’s home games between Tampa Bay and Montreal. MLB’s executive council killed the idea in January 2022. The Rays turned back to securing the funding for the new facility in St. Petersburg, which was approved this past July. Topkin’s column lists a few other cities the Rays might consider if the Trop is unavailable.
The Rays and A’s traveling road show coming soon to MLB…
They can borrow the White Sox park. Not like there’s much of a team worth using the stadium right now. Jerry will find a way to fit both teams.
Actually attended a Marlin home game there at the Cell. Against the Expos. Brought the home graphics and fish and everything. Fun times!
I don’t know why, but your comment made me think of the old Bob Hope and Bing Crosby song, The Road to Morocco. Just a couple of hijink prone teams off on adventures together
Sure felt that way, sorta a Dystopian Bill and Ted 2 where they encounter their bot elses- Bogus!
Port Charlotte?
While in FL, their capacity is only 7500, while they averaged 16K. I don’t know how they’d make it happen, but I’d suggest the Truist Field Charlotte, home of CHW’s AAA affiliate (Charlotte Knights) in Charlotte, NC with a capacity of 10,200. That city could support baseball, and a regional pro team. The city’s consistently mentioned with possible expansion (along with Nashville and others).
I’d think MLB has some kind of obligation to play as feasibly close to their home base as logistically possible, making Montreal not as an option, unless there’s nothing in-between.
Same scheduling problems in Charlotte as in Durham. Minor league teams alternate 1-week home series with 1-week away series. Implemented when the MLB home office took over the minor leagues.
Its been a dump well before the Expos left
Right? I can’t believe they’re replacing the roof there…why? To reopen in 2028? That place should have been torn down 20 years ago.
They can’t implode it because the subway runs underneath it or something like that, so it would have to be dismantled piece by piece. Apparently the powers that be feel that it’s more cost-effective to replace the roof and continue using it as a venue for events.
If the Rays’ owner has a jones for Canada, perhaps Ottawa Park is an option? Capacity is just a tick above 10k, but what a friendly 10k it would be, eh?
The Braves have a nice spring training park in Orlando. There are other closer spring training ballparks they could use.
This is the most realistic option as much as I want them to go to the Coliseum for pure comedy purposes
The Braves haven’t been there in over 5-YEARS now, & that place is a total DUMP. Will have to be completely overhauled. IF, that is even possible at all, then it could definitely be an option’ – But it’ll be REAL TOUGH… Unless, they can get some big-time help from Disney!?
Surely the Dunedin stadium that hosted actual Blue Jays MLB games not long ago would be a better choice?
Ted – I went to a game there, that was 2021 when attendance was extremely restricted because of Covid so it worked. However it would not work for regular season games next year because the lost revenue from the smaller seating would be significant.
I know many people here look at the Rays relatively low average attendance, but what they don’t realize is how much revenue would be lost when the visiting team is a popular one (keeping in mind dynamic pricing means they make a LOT more money playing against certain teams).
Looking at their schedule, the Rays have these high-demand home games:
Home Opener – 1
Braves – 3
Red Sox – 6
Yankees – 6
Phillies – 3
Astros – 3
Dodgers – 3
I just don’t see the Rays being willing to take that big a hit in revenue … and that’s on top of all the other aforementioned reasons they can’t play in an open-air park in Florida during the summer months (ie: heat, humidity, rain delays and postponements, peak hurricane season, etc).
All good points, Fever, but that leads back to the question of where? If they can’t repair the roof, where do they go that has the capacity as well as a roof? I don’t think that option exists unless they leave the state. The line in the story “it’s not clear if the organization and city will find it worthwhile to repair Tropicana Field if the team is leaving the Trop after three years anyhow” makes zero sense. They HAVE to fix it because there’s nowhere else to go that addresses what you noted. Three years is a long time!
It seems the ESPN WideWorld Sports Complex is an option, but the capacity is under 10K. The Rays drew on average about 16K a game last year. The largest seating capacity at a Spring Training park is Steinbrenner Field, but even that’s limited to 11K. No roof, and the biggest issue is it’s the Yankees A-ball team home park, but beyond that the Yankees built a high-tech facility that serves as a rehab and training site for all their minor leagues and major leaguers throughout the year. It’s also the home offices for Steinbrenner and his executive staff.
It’ll be interesting to see what they do here, but not repairing the Trop doesn’t seem like an option. It’s what they do while it’s being repaired.
Just add more seats to the Yankees spring training stadium. It sits right in the heart of Tampa, they would probably outdraw what they were getting at the Trop.
Best move would be for MLB to engineer a deal in which that site gets built out to be the permanent home for the Rays. They would have to find a way to compensate the Yankees but it is extremely doable.
Turner Field was purchased by GA State Univ. and converted into their football field (and baseball field?).
youtube.com/watch?v=9138Dux4W94
Other than some fall scheduling conflicts in the fall, I wonder if it be converted into baseball on the filed…for the right price. But I’d also imagine they don’t want 2 pro teams in ATL and spread the wealth.
Georgia State has its own separate baseball stadium, and is building a new stadium next to the former Turner Field. I like the creative thinking but I’ve not seen any evidence it can be returned to an MLB stadium.
Oakland has a baseball park available in 2025. Or go make big money by playing in various parks around the world — Japan, Mexico, Korea, China — TB – Traveling Baseball.
Asia is not an option as travel would be brutal. Monterrey Mexico might make sense, but Monterrey already has a summer baseball team. As do the Asian cities.
It would be amusing if the Rays played in Oakland next year and their attendance is higher than the A’s.
Only if they play the Bananas fron Savanahs
The Oakland rAys has quite a ring to it
Couldn’t they play in San Juan like the Expos did?
Next stop: jarry park
the braves haven’t been there in 5 years?Disney has not done any renovation or upkeep of the park is likely to be torn down to build another basketball stadium. Disney wants to be the big host of all AAU games and some ncaa games.
Catch up that was torn down in the early eighties
It was the lingering stench of the place callyouout. Was shocked myself to see another poster, other than myself mention it here. means few more old geezers who remember it and how players complained about what a decrepit dump it was.
As for why no olympic stadium to be used? My money is on Andre Dawson threatened a tell all on how awful the playing field actually was and just maybe.. The old franchise and city was fully aware and did nothing about it for decades.
@ call you out they played at Disney until 2019.
History
The Braves played spring training at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida from 1998 to 2019.
Only if Steve is handling security. But think of the murderers row of misfits and exes and baby mommas they could pull out. Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!
Omaha has basically an MlB stadium that’s empty almost all summer. They’ve hosted MLB and frankly it’s more than big enough for Tampa
An empty stadium, the rays would feel at home.
I hear the oakland collesium is open
St Pete needs to stop holding the Rays hostage at this point especially considering the Trop was already a dump now it’s going to be exponentially worse. Let them go ahead with stadium plans in downtown Tampa already they’ve ruined this franchise for long enough this needs to be the last straw
Heads up cr4.. FEW things more important going on ATM than where Tampa plays next year.. For the ones, who like to live in bubbles.. 2nd major hurricane just left FL and St Pete/Tampa got hammered, 1 of my brother in laws lives in Tampa and didn’t have power restored until late Thursday.. Much more important things going on in the area than some loser sports team and where they play, which I also post about, but when see these snippy posts, acting like it’s foot dragging? Generally the ones who reside in the old fashioned protected bubble and no nothing about the situation.
There.. Maybe that helps…
You are correct. 100s of thousands are hurting and will be for awhile. If there wasn’t enough interest years ago, there’s much less now.
You don’t have even the first clue as to what you’re talking about. There is NO ONE being “held hostage.” They allowed the Rays to work out a deal for a new stadium in Tampa YEARS AGO, & there was no deal to be made there. PERIOD. End of Story. Annnnddd…. There IS an agreement already set in place for the “Trop-site” and the 86-acres surrounding it in downtown St. Pete for a BRAND NEW stadium and Ballpark/Entertainment District. Just like the Battery in Atlanta… Hotels, Condos, Apartments, Restaurants, Bars, Shops, A Museum, An Amphitheater, A Park, & etc. I mean, WHY even comment at ALL, about something that YOU obviously, know absolutely NOTHING about!? Alsoooo… IF, you had actually READ the article in the first place, you would’ve CLEARLY SEEN that the Rays are opening a brand new stadium in 2028!!!!
MelvinSenior, give your kid some apple juice and graham crackers and call him down.
His point was, rather than build a city AROUND the stadium in ST PETE, let them build in downtown TAMPA where more PEOPLE who aren’t RICH can actually go to SEE the GAMES!!!!
here – If you knew how cheap ticket prices are in the Trop, you wouldn’t have posted that.
And besides, St Pete was accepted because a much larger percentage of the stadium cost will be subsidized.
St Pete is contributing $288M and Pinellas County $313M towards the $1.3B cost of the new stadium.
Here, Two different cities and counties. If Sternberg wanted to privately finance a stadium in Tampa they would already be playing there. He wanted the taxpayers to pay for his stadium. St Pete and Pinellas County agreed to give him $626 million and $700 million in land. So that is why they are building there. Seeing games at the Trop had nothing to do with being rich. Tickets were inexpensive and so was parking. The problem has always been and will continue to be when the new stadium is completed that it’s very hard to get to.
FPG, don’t forget the land. Sternberg and Hines are being sold $700+ million worth of land around the stadium for $105 million.
Exactly right Melvin. It’s tough being a Rays fan for many reasons, including having to put up with the ignorant know-it-alls who feel the need to comment on Rays matters they know nothing about.
Rays didn’t want to pay most of the costs Tampa wanted then to. St Pete offered to cover most of the costs. If anything, St Pete kept the Rays in TB area. I’m sure Stu would have tried relocating if both cities refused to pay more than half the costs.
My ultimate prediction is they’ll play some regular season games in their Spring Training ballpark
Do you have a penultimate prediction?
Please just move them to Charlotte or Raleigh.
No
Concur. Tampa gets spring training baseball and fall instructionals. They get plenty of baseball and don’t seem to need a ML team based on attendance
It’s actually more than tha get down to it Guapo.. ST, GCL, Many of the stadiums are also used for FSL league games, What is missing, is was a time where 3/4 teams had ST in Florida and a dozen were located along the I-4 corridor, well from Orlando to say Sarasota lets say so 275 and I4. Many of those cities long since lost ST teams and they went to S/Florida, many more went to AZ. It’s more like half and half now between FL/AZ and only Lakeland has a team for ST between Orlando and Tampa. Much has changed over the years.
Did they build a major league park there and didn’t tell anyone?
Wouldn’t you think the TB owner and MLB would want them to play in a park relatively near TB Florida?
You would think one of the spring training sites could be used. Total capacity isn’t up to major league standards but (not to be cruel or sarcastic the team usually has low attendance) OR share HOU, ATL or TX park when they are on the road. Scheduling challenges.
Maybe they can take the old roof and plop it down on the Rays roof? Like a wig.
I love it Human being.. Then we could call them the Tampa Bay Rug Rats…
HAHAHAHA. You’re a funny guy. You know the old roof was ripped to shreds, right? It’s not just lying in the Bay waiting to be picked up and reattached.
mp2891- Think saw somwhere some so called fine folks were selling pieces of the roof they had scavenged on various social media sites last week. Like who would want a 25yo piece of old and worn out piece of canvas to begin with??
I’m still not ruling out Durham. They didn’t completely shut the door on the option….
Any park currently in use is going to have overlapping schedules and logistical challenges. Any park that isn’t currently in use is going to have its own logistical challenges that will probably require substantial updates.
Just move the Rays to Pittsburgh so they can have a team.
Best option is Steinbrenner field with 11,000 seats. They should work with Disney and the Yankees to get their minor league team to play at Disney World’s stadium with a capacity of 7,500. The Ray’s will have a full ballpark for every game and Disney will draw more fans of the Yankees than they did when the Ray’s minor league team used to play there.
Yea, those are both good options. In fact, a dual option makes the most sense. Play in Steinbrenner Field when the Yankees Low A team is on the road. Otherwise, play at Disney. Capacity could also be increased with some temporary seating. Plenty of time to make upgrades. Usually lighting is the biggest upgrade and there are plenty of ways to do that with temporary lighting. Trailers can be brought in as well for temporary club houses if need be though most MiLB clubhouses are serviceable if not quite up to MLB standards.
I agree! They could build in larger bleachers in OF and up the capacity by 5K. Yanks can use the $ that they’d get for the lease to help pay for Soto ✔️ contract.
The city owns the stadium, the Rays operate it. Unless both were foolish, they should have insurance to cover the repairs. Plus, the league already has one traveling circus in the A’s playing in a MiLB stadium for 2-3 seasons. So they will fix it. The Rays will then need a temporary home until the repairs are finished. That should not take an entire season. Plenty of options for a temporary home in the area. I personally like spitting time between Steinbrenner field and Disney. Disney currently does not have a tenant and should be able to be upgraded enough to host games by late March. But again, plenty of options.
Now if both were foolish and they are not insured, then a pox on both of their houses. MLB needs to step in at that point and force the issue. MLB was way too passive in the A’s situation. I get that these are individual teams owned independently. But they are also part of a league and have a responsibility to the rest of the league.
Of course they have insurance on it. But the city, which owns the ballpark, surely doesn’t have the funds to pay for immediate repairs upfront while they fight with the insurance company.
It’s not like an insurance company could ever deny coverage, right?
That’s why it’s so important to click on the links and read the articles that MLBTR mentions before commenting. You get to learn about what insurance they did and didn’t have.
Why not play in atlanta at center parc stadium? Didn’t the braves play there between Fulton County stadium and truist park?
You’re referring to the Olympic Stadium that was rebuilt for baseball and renamed Turner Field. Now owned by Georgia State University as its football ground. Not available.
Money makes things available.
Nashville Sounds have a really nice newer stadium. Hosting the Rays for a season or two would be a great way to test the market here.
Not if the Sounds themselves are using it. Scheduling is a problem in any shared facility.
They are testing Tennessee with the Bristol track.
Tennessee doesn’t need more NASCAR. It’s next for baseball expansion. This would be a great precursor. See below:
mlbmusiccity.com/
Dave Dombrowski and other big baseball names have been heading this project up for a few years now.
Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, NE.
– host city for the CWS since 1950. This ballpark has been around since 2011.
– Omaha has been committed to continuous development with restaurants, hotels, etc. in and around this downtown location.
– seating capacity of 24,000, with the ability to expand to 35,000.
– geographical location in the United States makes it easier on travel to each of the coasts.
– In 2019, the Tigers and Royals played a regular season game at this ballpark. MLB wanted a way to connect College Baseball with Major League Baseball, and did so by scheduling an MLB game two days before the 2019 College World Series in Omaha.
Folks, this situation is a hot mess and there is no easy solution. I’m not going to pretend to know what the Rays are going to do. What I do know is this: (1) Florida has thunderstorms nearly every day in the Summer, and those storms come with lots of lightning (Tampa is said to be the lightning capital of the world). That means plenty of cancelled games screwing up the schedules of a lot of teams, not just the Rays. It’s not a workable solution to play outdoors in Florida. (2) The Rays averaged 16,500 in attendance last year and many of the stadiums being bandied about seat 10,000 or less. I think Port Charlotte seats 6,000.. Rays are already one of the poorest teams in baseball and things just got a lot worse. (3) insurance is not the answer that some think it is. First, there are deductibles and caps, both of which could easily come into play given the extensive damage to the stadium (it’s not just the roof you know). Second, there are already reports that the roof outlived its life expectancy and even if covered by insurance there could be a lawsuit to determine if insurance has to pay. The Rays and St. Pete are not going to spend many tens of millions of dollars (maybe even $100MM) to fix the stadium for just 3 years with no guarantee of an insurance recovery. Any delay in insurance agreeing to pay means there will be no repairs to the stadium. That’s life in the real world guys. I could go on but the point is this – There is no simple solution to this problem, and that includes having the Rays leave St. Pete for Tampa or Nashville or Charlotte (they have signed an agreement to remain in St. Pete after all). .
A fine post. Insurance is funny thing. If something is fully depreciated, insurance doesn’t necessarily cover it. If an earthquake took down our factory in CA, the insurance company wouldn’t reimburse us for a million $ piece of equipment that was now 30 years old.
Unless you had full replacement value insurance, which is more expensive. And we don’t know if the roof was even covered. The park was due to be replaced in 3 years. Would you pay a lot of insurance for asset that you were p[anning on replacing?
As someone who apparently needs a new roof because of Milton (based on 2 roofing companies appraisal of the damage), I fear I am about to learn a lot about the games insurance companies play to avoid honoring their commitments.
I say head up to Orlando and tap that market. If it needs to be upgraded perhaps some deal could be struck with the owner of it (Disney or city of Orlando). The other options are just to retrofit one of the countless stadiums in Florida to handle the elements. East side of Florida is not as active as the west coast when it comes to Tstorms so maybe somewhere along the east coast near Miami or Orlando.
Why not just share Sacramento with the A’s?
If you’re asking a serious question, because playing on the West Coast would screw up the schedules for the beloved ALE teams like the Yankees and Red Sox (to say nothing of the Rays), and because the vast majority of Rays fans are in the East Coast and wouldn’t be able to watch games that routinely started at 10 PM. That solution would be the death knell for the Rays as a franchise.
FYI, The ball park in Sacramento is the home of the Giants AAA team, the River Cats
First off I didn’t know Olympic Stadium was still standing… saw game there early 90’s and thought hands down the worst stadium I’ve ever been to and that total is over 20. Walking to seats and looking up I could swear it was gonna collapse on us.. the turf.. makes my knees and ankles sore just remembering it… but on plus side it was cool seeing scoreboard in English and French and PA announcer…
Quebec City has a state-of-the-art arena and deserves a team! C’mon, Bettman!!!
oh shoot, wrong league. my b
The Rays made the mistake already by wanting to build a new stadium in the Tampa/St.Pete area for a community thats never embraced or supported the team in the first place. Anyone that has been in the Tampa sports circle knows that Tampa has a larger Yankees fan base than the Rays have.
A few years ago, the Rays had to play a few games at Disney’s Wide World of Sports and I can say the Orlando crowd showed far more support for the team. Why they didn’t build the new stadium in Orlando area or at least closer is perplexing.
Orlando got passed over for baseball expansion twice when MLB gave Miami and Tampa teams, and both times Orlando was the runner up. In hindsight, they should have been awarded one of those teams.
What about Miami? Mets and Yanks shared Shea for 2 seasons back in the 70s when the old Yankee Stadium was being renovated.
One of the articles said 49 conflicting home games.
Why don’t the Rays just play their games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa? Using a football stadium isn’t unheard of while a baseball stadium is being built. The Dodgers played in the LA Coliseum prior to Dodger Stadium being built. The Blue Jays played in Exhibition Stadium prior to the Skydome opening. In both cases, major adjustments to the fences were made to accommodate baseball.
No can do for Raymond James — Tampa Bay Buccaneers come first, USF Bulls come second. Besides, the Yankees’ spring training site and George M. Steinbrenner Field are next door.
The seating bowl at Raymomd James doesn’t have any sections that are movable. You would have a RF wall that was 180-190 ft from home plate.
As long as rays have an endpoint they can pretty much go in any direction.
Can the Trop be converted to an outdoor ballpark?
It doesn’t have a drainage system. Installing one would probably take longer and be more expensive than replacing the roof.
Gotcha. Thanks.
Why would the rays want to play in a 7 to 10k seat stadium there are a ton of minor league stadiums available but I can’t see it. Find a former mlb stadium… Atlanta, Texas? Or how about something recently used for mlb special games. Rickwood field is to small but something that maybe holds 25k
Why can’t they play in their Spring Training complex!
It’s too small and not conducive to regular season MLB games. Plus, Port Charlotte is regularly used for Low-A games and extended spring training/rookie league, so scheduling would be an issue. Not to mention there would be a lot of rain delays.
“Montreal is the second city to back away from serving as a potential temporary home for the franchise. The Durham Bulls, home of the organization’s Triple-A affiliate”
Weird way of saying an unsubstantiated rumor was debunked 2x’s.
Play with out a roof
What about the CWS ballpark in Omaha? Has 24k capacity
Texas rangers old stadium is still there:
Enjoy!!!!
The Indians own it now but I am sure you can have baseball and gambling at the same time!!! Said Pete Rose, too soon????
I like the idea of improving the field at Disney World. My family went there during ST, and the older kids and my wife went to the parks while my youngest daughter (softball player) and I went to the ST games. Good times.
So play in the vacated MLB stadiums when other teams are on the road! IDK if it would draw enough to work, but if it is only for a half to a full season, it could be possible to supercomputer up a schedule that has them playing as much as possible in southern cities.
There are also vacated previous stadiums, such as those of the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Atlanta Braves, to name a few off the top of my head. The Oakland A’s just left the worst stadium. I am not sure what happened to the San Francisco Giants’ old wind stadium.
There have been independent league teams that don’t have a home and play every game on the road. Have the Rays be designated the home team and share in the attendance and concessions… and maybe have MLB help w/travel.
New Orleans Superdome doesn’t have a baseball team. Is it a possibility?
Univ of Tampa baseball field. Seats 200, easily, so there wouldnt be a big drop in attendance, concessions are cheap, open air, and easier to get to.
There’s Choctaw stadium in Arlington tx wide open