New Stadium for the Rays?

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New Stadium for the Rays?

Tampa Bay Rays Stadium

The Tampa Bay Rays have created a proposal for a $450 million dollar open-air downtown stadium that would give fans protection from rain and views of the waterfront in St. Petersburg.

Much like the Giants’ home ball park, the Tampa proposed stadium would allow hitters to hit home runs into the bay. The proposal hinges on the Rays current home, Tropicana Field, being sold.

The new stadium would be open to the elements but could be covered with sail-like material on a cabling system when necessary. Fans or other devices would provide cooling, and some seating areas would have air-conditioning.

The stadium would be built on the site of the longtime spring training facility the team is leaving next year. But the new field would be shifted so that balls hit over the rightfield fence would splash into the water.

The design is expected to beretro-style, popular among recent ballparks. The smaller capacity (approximately 35,000)also reflects the recent trend in ballpark design. The proposed site of Al Lang stadium is only about 10 acres, which would mean no more free parking to which Tampa fans have grown accustomed.

If all goes to plan, the Rays could move there by 2012. A new stadium could become more of a destination and boost the team’s attendance, which has consistently ranked among the league’s worst.

Callum Hughson
Written By

has written for Mopupduty.com since 2006. Follow Callum on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram

  • Good luck getting funding for that stadium. A new park is nice, surely, but it’s not going to change attendance from 9,000 to 30,000 all by itself. Check out PNC. After a year or two, the novelty wore off and the Pirates attendance is back near the bottom of the league. Couple that with the financial troubles going on in the Florida area and this makes no sense.

  • Was their any news about financing for the stadium?

  • Financing is still being worked out, but a primary source would be proceeds of the sale of the Tropicana Field site to a developer who would build a large retail/residential complex there. The Rays also would make a contribution, perhaps as much as $150-million, covering one-third of the cost.

    The team also would seek legislative approval for $60-million of state money in future sales tax revenue from food, beer and merchandise sales in the new park.

  • I think “Sell Tropicana Field” is the very underrated rub here. The park is almost 20yrs old, contemporary with SkyDome but has had so many renovations it is a real white elephant.

  • Mike

    The plans for the new stadium are all wrong. All around the field should use Augusta Block brick and home run balls should go into the water in left field. In right field there should be a 40 ft. high wall called the “Red Monster” with the only marker in the majors in the 290’s. The fans would be right on to of the wall and therefore be right on top of the action. The fans in back of home plate then would be looking directly at the Tampa sky line. Boat slips for parking could be put on the far right and far left. Then a retractable roof could be built and games would be played at 8:00 to avoid heat and rain. It would be the most awesome park in the MLB.

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  • John

    This is the wrong picture for the Rays new stadium anyway, this is a picture of Al Lang field, where the Rays played spring training last year

  • Did you even read the article?

  • Ha!

    You would think that they world have OK’d it at the beginning instead of allowing it to go so long without saying a thing and then bringing it back up when it was too late. I don’t understand it at all. ProExtender

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