If the Rays are able to engineer a deep postseason run, they will be allowed to stay at Steinbrenner Field. “Our rule has always been that people play in their home stadiums during the World Series Game,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said this week, per Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. “And I’m not of a mind to change that rule. I understand it’s a unique situation. It’s different, but that’s where they’re playing. That’s where they’re going to play their games.”
The issue has been a theoretical talking point for a while. Tropicana Field suffered significant hurricane damage in the offseason, making it unplayable for the 2025 season. The Rays made arrangements to move to Steinbrenner Field for the year. The facility is normally the home of the Tampa Tarpons, the Single-A affiliate of the Yankees.
The capacity of the field is a bit more than 10,000. During the 2024 season, all 3o MLB venues had a capacity of at least 34,000. This year, the Rays and Athletics are both playing in minor league parks on a temporary basis. As mentioned, the Rays had to move due to the hurricane damage to The Trop. The A’s are building a new stadium in Las Vegas but couldn’t work out a deal to stay in Oakland for the interim, so they are playing at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. That’s the home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants.
For the Rays and A’s, playing in those venues was generally viewed as acceptable for the regular season but it was fair to wonder if the league would allow postseason games to be played at either spot. For the A’s, it quickly became a non-issue for this year as that club slipped in the standings. But the Rays have been in contention all year, having been in a postseason spot for much of the season.
Last month, it was reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that some preliminary conversations had occurred about what to do. Having playoff games in such a small venue would be less than ideal. “The league sets aside about 7,500 tickets for players, umpires, visiting teams, sponsors, broadcast partners, media and others” for World Series games, Rosenthal wrote last month. For pre-World Series games, the number is smaller but still notable. That lesser capacity would be a concern for the Players Association as well as the league, since players get a cut of gate receipts in playoff games. Beyond that, there would be concerns around the aesthetics of the broadcast as well as the straightforward logistics of getting all the media into the smaller facility and properly set up to cover the game.
But forcing a team to vacate its home turf for the postseason could be seen as a competitive disadvantage and it seems the league has opted to let the Rays stay. It may be a moot point, as they are not guaranteed to make the playoffs. They are currently a game and a half back of the Mariners for the final American League Wild Card spot. They would need to get the top Wild Card spot or win the East division to play any home games in the first round. Under the current playoff format, the top two division winners get a bye past the first round. The third division winner and the top Wild Card team each get to host the opening round for a best-of-three, with the two lesser Wild Card clubs being on the road for that entire series.
Last month’s reporting indicated that the league was comfortable with the Rays hosting the earlier rounds but was more concerned about the ALCS and World Series. It now seems that, if that becomes a reality, the league is willing to let the Rays stay at their temporary home and figure out how to make it work. Manfred tells Topkin that they will have conversations about potentially finding ways to add more capacity. “We’ll do the best we can to make the facilities good and service as many fans as we can,” Manfred said.
Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times provides a bit more info on the Rays and their upcoming sale. It was reported this week that owner Stuart Sternberg has an agreement in principle to sell to a group led to Patrick Zalupski for $1.7 billion. Though that could become official as soon as September, Topkin notes that the transfer of power wouldn’t occur until the offseason. If the Rays manage to win the 2025 World Series, Sternberg would be handed the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Jinx
Yankees should demand some top prospects for rental fees.
They got 15mm in rent
Unless of course we want to change the rules again like we did in 2020
Tatis’s balls are encircled by ringworm
“they will have conversations about potentially finding ways to add more capacity”
Perhaps they could add some scaffolding out in the middle of centerfield and hoist a bunch of people up there. Add some local rules… if the fielder or the ball runs into any of the metalwork, it’s a ground rule situation.
It would feel more like Tropicana field then.
I’m pretty sure the article clearly states that he is the one that won’t change the rule. Quite firmly, in fact.
It would be cool for those stadiums to add makeshift bleachers so it would look like the old school multi purpose stadiums
Maybe they could put the Rays monuments out in left field to show respect to the Yankees.
Longoria. Snell. Glasnow. Arozarena. Price.
Make it like 450 feet to left center. Just rebuild the entire outfield.
Good. That’s the field they picked to play in. Let’s hope it’s Rays vs. Yankees for the AL final.
They didn’t ‘pick’ the field. A terrible hurricane blew the roof off of the park they were going to play at in the 2025 season. Let’s hope the Yankee$ don’t make the playoffs. Rays up!!
I would still laugh if the A’s and Tampa would find a way to make the ALCS playoffs. Then Dictator Manfred will change the rules and move it.
The A’s are in last place and 16 games under. 500
Not even a juiced up Canseco could get them into the playoffs.
What if we add a juiced up Ozzie Canseco?
Then I would have no choice but to root for them in the world series against my Dodgers.
The playoffs would be rigged. It would be another NBA. An A’s runner would be called out at second even if the ball arrived five seconds after he got there.
*It would be another NFL. There’s no more soft-rigged league than the NFL.
National Fixed League
So if the Yankees and Rays make the playoffs, Yankees technically get to play at home for that series lol
I will throw my TV against the wall with the power of 100 Ken Caminitis if the Yankees and Rays meet each other in the playoffs and the Yankees get eliminated in the deciding game at Steinbrenner Field.
Please set up multiple cameras in advance. Thank you.
If malt liquor is involved I’m just gonna take this Ruben Sierra game used bat from 1995 that I have and swing at the TV like it owes me money
And be ready to post the video on YouTube.
I am now rooting for this outcome!
MLB won’t be embarrassed on tv by a three-quarters empty stadium this way. In reality if the Rays were to make the playoffs the games should be moved to Miami and played in Marlins Park as it’s more than a little embarrassing to imagine a potential World Series being played at a spring training facility
2020 happened…so not sure what MLB cares about empty stadiums, but that being said TB was a bottom-3 in MLB attendance WITH a roof in 2024. They don’t want to take them out of their market, opening up a pandora’s box by doing so – though they could get more tickets sold in the right market (or at least more than Steinbrenner Field’s capacity) for a playoff game.
Yea it would be a nightmare for Tampa to make it to anything more than the ALDS and lets be honest.. they look pretty good to me in a more wide open AL so u never know
Maybe a Cat 5 hurricane will be arriving in Miami when the Rays are scheduled to host WS games in Miami. Might as well address all the hypothetical scenarios.
Yep your just right
All of a sudden, I really want the Rays or As to make the World Series.
Better still, Athletics/Rays ALCS.
Rays and A’s would be the ALCS that no fan gets to go to
Tickets would be worth as much as their payrolls since barely any would be available
Well that’s $90M this year.
The logistics alone would be worth seeing Manfred scrambling to accommodate the fanbases that can’t go because of limited capacity lol
Only realistic solution would be to say that any series they play in the playoffs has all games played at a neutral site, that way neither team has a home field advantage.
True, but then we don’t get to see Manfred have to apologize to the fanbases that can’t go. The circus this would be is fun enough on its own.
the site would only be in Arlington, tx AGAIN. end of discussions.
Please. All this over a piece of metal?
-Manfred
Piece of metal is the quote, yes.
Hunk of metal would have been more fun.
Rays will be getting the dead ball treatment after the All-Star break. Problem solved….
Wait, I thought only the Padres had dead balls. Ok who is playing with the balls in this league?
Padres doing roids again?
Reese McGuire to the Padres. That’s the catching solution for SD.
Sounds like home playoffs games for TB will be HR Derby 2.0
Hopefully they do not make the playoffs. MLB continues to be stupid led by moron criminal liar Manfred.
Typical usual Coorporite American corruption
Nothing against the Rays but this makes me really hope they don’t make the playoffs. It’s embarrassing enough that two teams are playing in horrible little dinky doo minor league stadiums for the entire regular season but it would be at a whole other level if there were also playoff games there.
it’s not ideal…but what would you have them do? nature is a bit more powerful than any of us, and that is why the Rays are playing in that “dinky” stadium.
so many folks on here love to complain, few actually provide alternatives or solutions.
What about repair their park by October? It doesn’t make sense that the building is taking this long to repair.
Its a full size field. The number of seats is irrelevant to the play of the game. Save your money. The TV view is better, anyway.
I love those stadiums. It’s like having another Coors Field and Great American Ballpark. The more offense, the better.
Kind of an irrelevant announcement, but OK..
Anyone else annoyed that the league takes 7500 tix off the top for sponsors etc? We have a 17 game plan for the Phils. CBP holds about 43k. So 17% of WS tix if they make it goes to non-local fans while partial season ticket holders who supported them all year play the lottery game. Eff me. That number’s worse if your team has smaller stadium capacity. And in this case if Tampa makes it the league should do the right thing and
gotta get there first…I felt confident a few weeks ago, but which Rays team is the real Rays team? The one that pitches and hits at will…or the one that has a leaky bullpen and doesn’t have the timely hitting? throw in a manager who can’t wait to take a starting pitcher out who is dealing and has a low pitch count, and it may be tricky. those trades from last year don’t look very good right now.
Colorado and the white sox don’t have to worry about an attendance or seating problem this post season.
Or next season.
I hope they win the whole thing. Would be a great story.
Do they have highway construction workers fixing Tropicana Field? lol I don’t understand why they can’t get their stadium in good enough shape to hold fans by October. Did they knock it down or something?
The roof was torn to shreds leaving the interior, which has no drainage system, completely exposed to torrential hurricane winds and flooding. The damage was totally catastrophic.
It’s a horrible ugly stadium anyway. Good riddance.
Thats presumptuous..don’t they play like 70% of thier remaining games on the road?..
Steinbrenner Field has sections in the outfield that have table seating. Those sections could be removed and replaced with temporary bleachers if they want to increase capacity a bit. Only so much can be done. Not like they can build a second deck.
Rays play World Series home games at the Trop, 7,700 fans in attendance and “Cowbell Max” is ejected for disturbing batter’s concentration. They play instead at Steinbrenner and the place looks full in the dugout shots. It’s a win!!
Posters have complained all year about weather and stadium conditions in Sacramento. There have been numerous games in the last few weeks in cities all over Midwest and East Coast where game temps are in 80’s and 90’s with 75% humidity and posters only talk about Sacramento summer heat. I went to a game in late June where it was 101 in Sacramento at 5:30pm, at game time at 7pm it was 89 with 20% humidity and by 830pm it was in the low 80’s. Very comfortable. No one posts about East Coast or Midwest weather. Only Sacramento. Just like no one complains about the Rays playing in a minor league ballpark. They only complain about the A’s in Sacramento or West Sacramento and their minor league field and 100 degree weather.
The A’s owner decided out of spite to have them play at a minor-league park in addition to the said heat concerns. While the Rays were forced out due to their ballpark situation and the hurricane earlier this year.
Ok, Rob Manfred, we get it, you did a good thing by forcing one out of five of the worst owners in the league and you want to remind us that you’re a rules-abiding commissioner by having the Rays play their playoff games at Steinbrenner Field, with 65 games left in the season.
If the Rays get to the series we’ll get real TV only series.
Someone correct me, I believe Steinbrenner field has the same on field dimension as Yankee Stadium.
I think the Marlins suddenly becoming better made them think twice. Miami was likely their first choice but now the Marlins seem competitive so it’s no longer a given they will miss the playoffs which would create a logistical nightmare for everyone involved. Just easier to stick to Steinbrenner at this point.
Rays vs Dodgers world series would be epic on so many levels. Plenty of storylines.
Looking forward to the Rays new ballpark in Tampa. And the new ownership. Dodgers are in many ways the Rays with investment and willingness to spend. Rays won’t be able to generate Dodgers level of revenue of course. But they can do significantly better than they have previously.
Two smart and well-run organizations
I’m guessing this has to do with the sale and getting on the good side of local authorities.
It’s the only way they get home field advantage. As it stands now, the visiting team will probably get their fans in about 4,000 seats. Anywhere else, the visiting team will get 30,000.
We have two major league teams playing in minor league ballparks. That’s a problem
Give those 7500 tix back to the fans. Tired of camera shots of so-called elite stars and execs at these games who think a triple play is the same as a 3some at Diddy’s house.
“Triple play!”
Pete Alonso
Lmao pathetic MLB