City Council Approves $22.5 Million Plan To Repair Tampa Bay Rays Stadium

Positive steps were taken in the right direction to have the Tampa Bay Rays return to Tropicana Field for the 2026 season.

The roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays MLB team, was torn off by Hurricane Milton's powerful winds. Satellite imagery from Maxar shows the destruction on Oct. 10, 2024 | Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's going to be a weird year for the Tampa Bay Rays.

After Hurricane Milton shredded their home stadium -- Tropicana Field -- and rendered it unplayable since the roof was damaged that badly, they had to get help from their division rivals to have a place to play their games.

The New York Yankees offered up their spring training stadium -- Steinbrenner Field -- that is located across the bay in Tampa, and the Rays took that offer.

Thankfully, it seems like this set up is only going to be for one season.

Curt Anderson of the Associated Press reports that the St. Petersburg City Council voted 7-1 to approve the $22.5 million plan that will repair the damaged roof at Tropicana Field with the goal of having things ready for the start of the 2026 campaign.

This comes on the heels of the Rays pulling out of the $1.3 billion ballpark plan in mid-March, creating questions about the future of this franchise in the Tampa Bay area.

However, the city and the Rays are in an agreement that keeps them in the area through the 2028 season. And because of that, the city is required to make repairs to the stadium.

"We are legally bound by an agreement. The agreement requires us to fix the stadium. We need to go forward with the roof repair so we can do the other repairs," council member Lissett Hanewicz said according to Anderson.

Whether or not this creates a pathway for Tampa Bay to remain the home of the Rays at the conclusion of 2028 will be seen, but this approval for roof repairs at Tropicana Field is the first step in the right direction to having them return to their home stadium for next season.