Several weeks have passed since the passage of Hurricane Milton devastated much of southern Florida and other entities, with Tampa as one of the cities most affected by the phenomenon. Among the damages is the complete destruction caused to the roof of the Tropicana Fieldhome of the Tampa Bay Rayswho must look for a new home by 2025.
According to information from ESPN, The property suffered a severe roof collapseso it is planned to carry out a series of repairs with an estimated cost of 56 million dollarsa situation that calls into question the use of the stadium for the next season.
Rob Manfredcommissioner of MLBreported that The Rays will not be able to play at Tropicana Field for the entire 2025 seasonsince the required repairs to the building’s dome will not be ready in time after observing the damage assessment report delivered to the members of the St. Petersburg city council.
The consequences of destruction
The estimated cost to rebuild the Tropicana Field roof includes 39 million dollars in direct damages caused by Hurricane Milton and another 16 million destined for the complete repair of the structure.
According to the damage report, The roof has a replacement cost of 23.6 million dollarswhich are added to other repair costs, a situation that maintains uncertainty among the St. Petersburg authorities, since its viability was put into discussion when considering that A new building is planned to be built by 2028 and it would be unprofitable to repair a stadium for only two years of use.
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With the above in consideration, commissioner Rob Manfred assured during the last World Series that A final decision on the Rays’ headquarters is expected by December 25, 2024.
If you do not use Tropicana Field, There are several alternative optionssuch as using other organizations’ training facilities in the Tampa area or the Disney World stadium in Orlando, the former training headquarters of the Atlanta Braves. Recently, other reports talk about the possibility of occupying the Spring Training facilities of New York Yankees y Philadelphia Phillies.
Manfred also suggested that Adjustments could be made to MLB schedules and the Minor Leagues to facilitate the temporary relocation of the Rays. “I think by Christmas they should have a pretty good plan in place, and that means a lot,” the commissioner said.
