The Rays are unsure about the place they’ll play in 2025 after Hurricane Milton broken the Tropicana Area roof. One choice that won’t be into account: Montreal. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Instances reviews that town’s Olympic Stadium — the previous dwelling of the Expos and a speculated risk for the Rays — is present process an $870MM renovation to switch its personal roof. The stadium is not going to be obtainable for 3 years.
“Till 2028, the sphere of play will probably be inside a development web site and due to this fact not open to the general public,” the stadium’s communications officer advised Topkin through e mail. Montreal is the second metropolis to again away from serving as a possible non permanent dwelling for the franchise. The Durham Bulls, dwelling of the group’s Triple-A affiliate, launched an announcement earlier this week saying they “don’t anticipate internet hosting (the Rays) for a full season resulting from schedules overlapping and different logistical challenges.”
The Rays nonetheless haven’t confirmed they received’t have the ability to play all of subsequent season on the Trop. Topkin reported earlier within the week that the power was unlikely to be repaired by Opening Day, nonetheless. The Rays are scheduled to open a brand new stadium in St. Petersburg in 2028. Assuming that timeline isn’t delayed, it’s not clear if the group and metropolis will discover it worthwhile to restore Tropicana Area if the workforce is leaving the Trop after three years anyhow.
Montreal was talked about as a risk largely as a result of the Rays flirted with the thought of taking part in there just a few years in the past. Whereas the Rays had been attempting to safe public funding for his or her new stadium, proprietor Stuart Sternberg floated a plan to divide the workforce’s dwelling video games between Tampa Bay and Montreal. MLB’s govt council killed the thought in January 2022. The Rays turned again to securing the funding for the brand new facility in St. Petersburg, which was authorised this previous July. Topkin’s column lists just a few different cities the Rays would possibly think about if the Trop is unavailable.
