In October of 2024, a tragic event in Florida occurred. Hurricane Milton occurred and wrecked everything in its way. Not only that, but Tropicana Field in Tampa was wrecked, leaving the ruins behind. The damage it’s done impacted sports and people all around.
Hurricane Milton, which hit Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays on October 9th left ruins in Florida. The roof was torn apart and the entire interior of the stadium was flooded, leaving the field in horrible condition.
Just recently good news has come: The Rays have agreed to fully renovate this iconic stadium and please fans for years to come. They have agreed with the team and the city of St. Petersburg which the city is obliged to repair, but this is no simple task as the costs will be over 56 million dollars. That cost will be partly covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
To have the stadium ready by opening day in 2026 the workers are inspired to work hard to get this team back on track in their home. Despite the opposition to the rebuild by Mayor Ken Welch, the citizens of Tampa Bay are determined to rebuild this stadium for years to come in their competition for the American League East.
Due to this event of the Tampa Bay Rays Stadium collapsing on itself due to Hurricane Milton, the Rays had no other choice but to find a new stadium to play at. They landed in a particular area near the most famous baseball team out there: The New York Yankees’ spring training stadium.
This was very surprising because it was such a sudden event and they needed to make a split decision on their home stadium for the remainder of 2025. Unlike them having one of the most expensive stadiums in all of baseball and a giant reversible dome, it’s a bit of a stretch. They went from that to just a standard, much smaller, outdoor stadium in months.
The New York Yankees allowed this because they found out the benefits. They would receive tons more fan base, tons more followers and acknowledgment, and go from an all-time low ending last season to a huge increase in popularity for good reasons as it makes them look like a fellow team helping another team in need. Like a father and son, almost. Not really.
Anyway, on top of all this, they would receive millions of more dollars which they can use to get more key players, fund their stadium and food, as well as their current players; all in all, funding their cooperation as a whole.
Ray’s fans would attend the games held at the spring training stadium to watch their favorite team play home games. The Rays will have everything they had before that made their team who they were but translated to the spring training stadium of the Yankees, just without their pools filled with stingrays and the giant dome that stood as a symbol of their team.
Although tragedy struck the people in Tampa, they believe that with the right care Tropicana Field can be rebuilt to the full extent and be the home it was to the Rays before Hurricane Milton struck.
