Tampa Bay Rays stay in St. Pete after striking deal for new stadium

WFTS-Tampa
1 年前
The Rays have played in St. Petersburg since their inaugural 1998 season. The Trop, as the Rays current home is called, is criticized for being outdated and having roof support beams that are sometimes hit by fly balls. It cost $138 million when it was built in 1990 to draw a major league team to the region. Over the years since Sternberg bought the franchise, there have been several stadium plans and much discussion of even moving the team out of the area if a stadium deal wasn't constructed by 2027 when the lease on Tropicana Park expires. One of the most controversial plans even involved having the Rays split time between Montreal and Tampa, but Major League Baseball refused to let that plan get out of the dugout.