Hillsborough County approves $876M public funding for Rays' new Tampa ballpark

The Hillsborough County Commission voted 5-2 on Friday to approve $876 million in public funding toward the Tampa Bay Rays' $2.36 billion new ballpark, according to Front Office Sports. The City of Tampa approved its portion of the funding on Thursday with a narrow vote. The approval ends decades of stadium-site uncertainty and clears the path for a ballpark move from St. Petersburg to Tampa.

The Rays will pay 63 percent of the $2.36 billion construction cost, per Front Office Sports. Groundbreaking is targeted for late 2026 at a site on Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry Campus, with a 2029 opening planned. The new ballpark will replace Tropicana Field and will be situated near Tampa International Airport and Raymond James Stadium.

Rays CEO Ken Babby said in a statement, per Front Office Sports, "Today our entire region can celebrate the coming of a private finance and mixed-use neighborhood, a reinvested Hillsborough College campus, and a new ballpark that secures the long-term future of Major League Baseball here in Tampa." County Commissioner Ken Hagan posed the choice to voters in framing the decision: "Do we want Tampa to be a world-class community? What side of history do you want to be on?"

The mixed-use development surrounding the ballpark will take design inspiration from The Battery in Atlanta, Front Office Sports reports. The public funding percentage in Tampa exceeds what the Texas Rangers contributed toward Globe Life Field and what the Atlanta Braves contributed toward Truist Park, MLB's two newest stadiums, according to Front Office Sports.

The approval comes as the Oakland Athletics advance construction on their new Las Vegas ballpark, targeted for a 2028 opening. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated earlier this year he would like to select two new expansion markets before his tenure ends in early 2029, per Front Office Sports. MLB last expanded in 1998 with the arrival of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Rays. Expansion candidates include Nashville, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Raleigh, Vancouver, Montreal, and Mexico City, per Front Office Sports. Manfred said: "There's a lot of markets in the United States and North America, quite frankly, Canada and Mexico, that would like to add Major League Baseball. When people want your product, I think it's kind of incumbent on you to try to figure out a way if you can deliver that product to them."

No formal expansion process exists yet, and Front Office Sports reports one will likely wait until after the league resolves labor negotiations with the MLB Players Association.