The City of St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bays will announce today that have reached a deal to build a new 30.000 seat domed stadium that will keep the team in the Bay Area for decades. The deal which the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic ends years of battling between Tampa in failed attempts to find a deal that benefitted both the team along with area.
The Tampa Bay Times was first to report that the Rays, the city of St. Petersburg and Major Baseball had come to a deal after many opportunities in the past to come to an agreement. The stadium would be built near the current Tropicana Field site as part of the redevelopment of the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District and open for the 2028 season.
Major League Baseball is very excited to get the Rays deal done and perhaps the move of the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas which will allow them to pursue expansion. Salt Lake City. Portland, Nashville, and Charlotte are the most often mentioned expansion sites, and the leagues expect to bring in about $5 billion in new fees.
