TAMPA, Fla. -- The Rays have taken another step toward securing their long-term ballpark in the Tampa Bay area, announcing a preliminary agreement on Thursday with Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa on a new ballpark proposal.
The club reached a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the county and city that details the costs and plans for building a $2.3 billion stadium as part of a mixed-use district on the site of Hillsborough College’s campus in Tampa, across Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium and next to the Yankees’ George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Hillsborough County commissioners and members of the Tampa City Council are expected to vote on the MOU next week.
With their use agreement at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg set to expire after the 2028 season, the Rays are aiming to move into their “Forever Home” in time for Opening Day in 2029.
“The Tampa Bay Rays are delighted to announce that we have reached a Memorandum of Understanding on a new ballpark proposal, working alongside staff at Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa,” Rays CEO Ken Babby said in a statement. “We are extremely grateful for the commitment and spirit of partnership demonstrated by all parties throughout this important process and occasion for our community.
“The Rays respectfully but resolutely encourage Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa to approve the MOU and make possible a Forever Home for our community’s Tampa Bay Rays, breathe new life into the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough College, and create a new privately financed neighborhood that will be an inviting and inclusive destination to work, live, learn, and play.”
In a previous draft of an MOU, the Rays offered to pay $1.235 billion -- more than half of the ballpark cost -- plus all design and construction overruns. They asked then for a $1.065 billion public contribution, with $750 million coming from the county and $251 million from the city.
The terms were different in Thursday’s agreement, with the public contribution capped at $976 million: approximately $796 million from the county and $180 million from the city. The county’s share would include $360 million from the community investment tax (CIT), $263 million from tourist development tax (TDT) revenue bonds plus $40 million from the TDT reserves and $103 million from unspecified “additional County resources from various sources determined by the County,” according to the MOU.
The newly proposed funding structure would have the Rays covering $1.27 billion plus all overruns, approximately 55% of the total cost and what the team called “the largest private investment by a sports team in state history.”
If the deal is approved, the county would own the ballpark while the Rays would lease and operate it. The MOU calls for a 35-year term, and the Rays would have the option to extend the term for five additional three-year periods.
“Paramount for the Tampa Bay Rays in this process was to arrive at an MOU that protects all public funding currently allocated for police, fire, emergency management or response functions, or other previously committed public safety or service priorities,” Babby said in a statement. “We have accomplished that important and unconditional goal.
“This is a rare and perhaps unprecedented moment for Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay Rays are all in on this opportunity and look forward to working with officials in the days ahead to bring this project to life.”
Aside from the 2025 campaign spent at Steinbrenner Field following Hurricane Milton, the Rays have called Tropicana Field home since their inaugural season in 1998. They moved back into the repaired and renovated Trop this season.
They have been searching for a long-term ballpark in the area for two decades, however, a search that spanned Stuart Sternberg’s entire time as principal owner of the club and led him to sell the team to a group led by managing partner Patrick Zalupski, co-chair Bill Cosgrove and Babby late last year.
The new ownership group moved quickly to reach a non-binding agreement to pursue a ballpark as part of a “work-live-learn-play” development on the site of Hillsborough College’s campus. The plan received support from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shortly afterward, and the Rays began sharing renderings of a fixed-roof ballpark with roughly 31,000 fixed seats.