Tampa Bay Rays say new St. Pete stadium is unlikely to be ready for 2028 season, if at all

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A combination of severe hurricane damage to Tropicana Field and political delays on financing means it is highly unlikely the Tampa Bay Rays' planned new stadium will be ready for the 2028 season, if at all, the team said Tuesday.

Rays top executives said in a letter to the Pinellas County Commission that the team has already spent $50 million for early work on the new $1.3 billion ballpark and cannot proceed further because of delays in approval of bonds for the public share of the costs.

“The Rays organization is saddened and stunned by this unfortunate turn of events” said the letter, signed by co-presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman, who noted that the overall project was previously approved by the County Commission and the City of St. Petersburg.

“As we have made clear at every step of this process, a 2029 ballpark delivery would result in significantly higher costs that we are not able to absorb alone,” the letter added.