The Tampa Bay Rays will play the 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa due to hurricane damage to Tropicana Field
The Tampa Bay Rays will be playing the 2025 MLB season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, the team announced today. This is due to their home park, Tropicana Field, suffering severe damage when Hurricane Milton hit the area. The necessary repairs to Tropicana Field are projected to cost $55.7 million, and will not be able to be finished prior to the end of the 2025 season.
Steinbrenner Field is the spring training facility for the New York Yankees, as well as the home ballpark for their Florida State League team, the Tampa Tarpons. The stadium seats just over 11,000 people, and is open air, which means that Rays games will take place in what could be some uncomfortably hot and humid conditions in the summer, as well as subject to potential rain delays or rain outs.
This is an unfortunate situation for the Rays, though one that is pretty much out of their control, I believe. The same cannot be said, of course, for the other MLB team that will be playing in the minor league park in 2025, the team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics.