The cost to turn George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., into a major league facility will exceed $50 million, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said.
The Tampa Bay Rays will play their 2025 regular-season schedule at the complex — the training and spring facility of the New York Yankees — after being left without a home stadium. Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Oct. 9, leaving about $56 million in repairs that are expected to take at least the entire 2025 season to complete.
The price for improvements at Steinbrenner Field for the Rays don’t include the undisclosed millions of dollars the Yankees paid to upgrade their spring and training facilities.
At the conclusion of spring training, the Yankees will turn over the facility to the Rays, who will benefit from the changes that were in progress before the hurricane hit. Those include added square footage for weight rooms, training areas and dining, as well as areas for player use.
The hurricane kicked off uncertainty about where the Rays will play in the future. A planned stadium in St. Petersburg’s historic Gas Plant District now appears to be up in the air, and there is no guarantee that city-owned Tropicana Field will be ready for play in 2026.
In the meantime, Manfred said Tuesday that MLB is grateful the Yankees have come through to assist the Rays, their American League East rival.
“The industry owes (Yankees principal owner) Hal Steinbrenner a real debt of gratitude, a ton of credit for the approach he took,” Manfred said. “He put literally tens of millions of dollars into improving Steinbrenner Field. The first people who are going to get to use it for any period of time is the Rays. That support for the industry, that collegiality is really an important thing.”
The Yankees will make two trips this season to Tampa to play the Rays in the 11,000-seat ballpark, both times occupying the upgraded clubhouse of the visitors (April 17-20 and Aug. 19-20).
The Athletics, meantime, also will be playing in a minor league ballpark this season. They are awaiting construction of a stadium on the Las Vegas Strip, expected in 2028, and will play at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif., after leaving their longtime home in Oakland.
Manfred said Tuesday the bills aren’t done coming in yet for major league renovations in Sacramento.
–Field Level Media
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