By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-14 19:21:54 | Updated at 2024-11-22 03:09:52
1 week ago
The Tampa Bay Rays will play their 81 homes games in 2025 at George M. Steinbrenner Field after Hurricane Milton caused extensive damage to their permanent home, Tropicana Field.
Hurricane Milton ripped through Florida last month, and on October 9, caused $55.7million in damages to Tropicana Field.
The aim is to have it ready for the start of the 2026 season in a little less than 17 months.
Steinbrenner Field is the New York Yankees' nearby spring training ballpark that seats around 11,000 at capacity.
It is 21 miles from Tropicana Field, which is in the suburb of St. Petersburg. Steinbrenner Field is in the proper city of Tampa, marking the first time the Rays will play regular-season games inside city limits for the town in their name.
Some have argued that the repairs to Tropicana Field are unnecessary, as the work would have to be approved by the city council, which earlier this year voted for a new $1.3billion, 30,000-seat stadium to replace the Rays' permanent home beginning in 2028.
The extensive damage to Tropicana Field has caused the Rays to find a new home for 2025
Tampa Bay will play its home games at Steinbrenner Field, the spring home of the Yankees
The Rays were left with limited options for finding a ballpark capable of hosting a Major League Baseball team in four months.
Steinbrenner Field was built as a home away from the Bronx for the Yankees, with parts of it mimicking Yankee Stadium.
The Rays first home game is set for March 27 against the Colorado Rockies, three days after Spring Training ends for New York.
Tampa Bay playing in a smaller ballpark will mark the second MLB team to severely downgrade their crowd-size for next season.
The franchise formerly known as the Oakland Athletics have temporarily moved to Sacramento's Sutter Health Park, which can hold around 14,000 fans.
The A's will permanently move to Las Vegas for the 2028 season after three years in northern California.
