Tampa Bay Rays Unveil New Stadium—Price Tag: $892M
Team officials said the ballpark is projected to cost $809 million with additional infrastructure costs of $83 million. The new ballpark they said could be complete in time for the first pitch on Opening Day 2023.
TAMPA, FL—Chief officials of the Tampa Bay Rays and architectural firm Populous unveiled plans on Tuesday for a new ‘next generation” ballpark in Ybor City that if built would be the smallest in baseball and would have a development cost of nearly $900 million.
Tampa Bay Bays principal owner Stuart Sternberg, team president Brian Auld, team president Matt Silverman and chief development officer Melanie Lenz introduced renderings of the proposed new ballpark to local officials and the media at the Italian Club of Tampa.
Team officials said the ballpark is projected to cost $809 million with additional infrastructure costs of $83 million. The new ballpark they said could be complete in time for the first pitch on Opening Day 2023.
The Rays, which currently play at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, would build a new fully-enclosed ballpark that would feature a translucent roof to ensure comfortable temperatures and game certainty. The roof, however, would not be retractable. The stadium would feature what the team describes as “dramatic sliding glass exterior walls” located beyond center field and behind home plate that would offer views of Tampa, Channelside and Ybor City.
The ballpark would be the smallest in Major League Baseball, with 28,216 fixed seats and a total capacity of 30,842. Tropicana Field is also the smallest ballpark in the major leagues with a seating capacity of approximately 31,000. The project site would be more accessible to the region than Tropicana Field, with the Ybor location within a 30-minute drive of more than 1.6 million people Tampa Bay area residents.
The Tampa Bay Rays drew the smallest crowds in the major leagues in 2017 with an average attendance of just 15,670 fans. According to espn.com, the Rays are second lowest in attendance so far this year, drawing an average game day crowd of 14,744 fans for the team’s 41 home games played thus far at Tropicana Field. The Miami Marlins rank dead last with an average crowd so far this year of 9,671 patrons for its 46 home games so far in 2018.
“I’m proud and incredibly excited to present our vision of a ballpark and one that is of, by and for the people of Tampa Bay,” said Sternberg. “I speak for the whole Rays organization and the 20 years we’ve had here today that we expect to be here for generations to come. We believe that baseball can not only survive but thrive in Tampa, in Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay region.”
The new ballpark’s design would feature a small upper level that would create the closest vantage point of any modern ballpark, with a maximum distance of 204 feet from the field. Fans would choose from 17 comfortable, unique seating areas, or 21 distinct viewing platforms and social gathering spaces. These areas would be connected by a 360-degree concourse featuring complete views of the playing field, Rays officials stated.
Team officials also noted that the stadium’s design would be conducive to have the ballpark serve as a year-round community asset, with the potential for programming, events and creative partnerships.
Missing from the presentation was a financing plan for the venture and how much the team intends to contribute to the project.
Tropicana Field was originally named the Florida Suncoast Dome and opened to the public on March 3, 1990, at a cost of $138 million. It became the ThunderDome in 1993 with the arrival of the area’s National Hockey League expansion franchise—the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was renamed Tropicana Field on Oct 4, 1996, in accordance with a naming rights agreement between the Rays and Bradenton’s Tropicana Dole Beverages North America.
Tropicana Field closed its doors in October 1996 for a 17-month, $85-million capital improvement that added 319,000 square feet of space.
Since 2005, the Rays have invested an estimated $37 million into capital improvements at Tropicana Field. New for 2018, the Rays partnered with Levy to dramatically overhaul the food, beverage and retail experience. The Rays invested $7 million to renovate certain amenities, including modernized food halls in the first and third base concourses and major updates to the porch in center field, the cigar bar and the Rays Brewhouse. Levy’s retail division, Rank + Rally, moved into a renovated Tropicana Field Team Store.