TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Tampa Bay Rays will not be getting a new stadium in St. Petersburg under the existing deal, the team announced Thursday.
Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg released a statement on X stating the organization “cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment.”
“A series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision,” Sternberg wrote.
Sternberg said the city of St. Petersburg is moving forward with plans to restore the existing stadium, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton, for the 2026 season. The team’s lease at Tropicana Field ends in 2027.
Mayor Ken Welch released a statement on the matter, saying it a major disappointment:
I’d like to thank the St. Petersburg City Council, our dedicated city staff, Pinellas County Commission and staff, and our business and community partners from St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay region, for their extraordinary collaboration, commitment, and countless hours spent on the stadium and Historic Gas Plant District (HGPD) Development agreements.
While the decision of Tampa Bay Rays ownership to terminate the agreements for a new stadium and new development is a major disappointment, it is not unexpected. Nor is it the end of the Historic Gas Plant District story.
The city will continue to pursue all avenues that will help us deliver on our ultimate goal: utilizing the HGPD property to benefit the community and fulfilling the 40-year-old promises of economic development and opportunity made to the African-American community in St. Petersburg, as well as the community priorities identified through the current development process, which began in 2022.
The city intends to honor our current commitment to repair Tropicana Field in accordance with the current use agreement. As for the future of baseball in our city – if in the coming months a new owner, who demonstrates a commitment to honoring their agreements and our community priorities, emerges – we will consider a partnership to keep baseball in St. Pete. But we will not put our city’s progress on hold as we await a collaborative and community-focused baseball partner.
We will move forward on the equitable economic development of the HGPD, honoring the 40-year-old promise of inclusive economic development on this historic land. We will consider a phased approach, accounting for the city’s obligations under the current use agreement. After decades of waiting, this sacred land will again bear the fruit of housing, jobs and beneficial community development. We look forward to working with our City Council and the community on the next phase of this important journey.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch
In the meantime, the Rays will play their 2025 home games across the bay in Tampa at George Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.
“As we all recover from impacts of the hurricanes, we are incredibly grateful for the support from our fans and the wider Tampa Bay community,” Sternberg wrote.
