One problem with playing without a roof at the Trop is that there’s no drainage system on the field, so when it rains it could flood the field. So you either have to put a new roof on it or put in a drainage system
It would be cheaper to fix the roof than to install drainage. Handling storm water would require lots of permits and planning with regards to the water and sewer system.
@@vamoscruceros Yep, agree. It seems like the only option is to play at a spring training facility. I don't see the money being spent to fix the roof, nor it even being done in time by spring.
@@brianf121 doubt that will happen. It’s a travel nightmare with the schedule already made up and Oakland being on the other side of the country. It probably needs to on the east coast at the very least
From a Yankee fan. Im so proud of the rays and you guys deserve a nice ballpark. The improvement over the years has been awesome and the rays always put a great team together
I doubt the field is designed to handle the Florida rain. So to play outdoors for 3 years would require some renovation to the field to add in a drainage system. Steinbrenner Field might be the best option given Rays attendance.
The summer weather patterns in Miami are different than in Central FL. Here we have almost daily afternoon/evening thunderstorms that roll through the area. Out of every 7 days, at least 3-4 are likely to have afternoon/evening thunderstorms. It's why they went with a domed stadium in the first place.
@@Starfire099 Miami has a lot of afternoon storms in the summer as well, but they got around it by playing mostly night games, which also helped with the heat (a little bit, lol). But, as someone noted above, there were still many rain delays.
There is a reason that the hockey team is called the Lightning. Tampa/St Pete is the lighting capital of the United States. The weather in Miami is actually more tropical and warmer and it doesn't storm every day.
Yeah but the stadium is useless as it has no drainage systems. Meaning each time it rains, water just sits. So it’s probably molded by now. In addition to all of the wiring in the roof.
The mess looks like how the Pontiac Silverdome was left when it was abandoned before being demolished. They could play at Raymond James, despite it being open-aired.
They shouldn't invest another cent into that stadium unless it's for demolition. They should just go ahead and start the demolition process now to hopefully speed up the timeline for when the new stadium will be open. In the meantime they could always just play at the Oakland Coliseum. No team is playing there now anyway so there would be no scheduling conflicts. That would also be a good way to potentially call the Oakland fans' bluff since they claim Jon Fisher was the only reason they didn't show up to games. If they don't show up MLB could permanently cross Oakland off the list of MLB cities. If they do show up then maybe they can go through with the Howard Terminal development and the Rays or another team like the White Sox, Royals or Angels can relocate to Oakland and play there. In all honesty the Rays staying in the St. Petersburg area never made much sense to me in the first place since they have never been able to get fans to go to that area for games anyway. If they do end up repairing the Trop they could always just adjust the schedules to make it work out. They could adjust the Triple-A Durham Bulls (the Rays top minor league affiliate) schedule so that they don't play at home the same days the Rays play at home. That way the Rays and the Bulls could just share that stadium until the Trop is repaired. In fact they could do that for the next few seasons even if the Trop doesn't get repaired. If repairing is the only option though they could always just adjust the Rays (and other MLB team's) schedules to make all of the Rays road games are played during the first half of the season. Every MLB team plays at least 81 rows games every single season. So if all of the Rays 81 road games came in the first half of the season that would buy them 3 additional months to complete the repairs. That way they could just save all of their home games for the 2nd half of the season. I really hope they don't spend the time and all of that money to repair a terrible stadium that they will only use for a few more seasons anyway. The only thing worse than spending $100+M on a roof for the Trop is what Canada is doing by spending *another* $870+M to repair the roof of Olympic Stadium in Montreal. That stadium is awful and needs to be demolished too. It's hard to believe that between the Trop and Olympic Stadium anyone would consider spending roughly a billion dollars just to repair the roofs on 2 of the worst stadiums in the world. With that kind of money they could just build a brand new stadium that is actually nice rather than continue pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into money pits. In all honesty though I would like to see the Rays just spend the next few seasons playing at the Oakland Coliseum and see if the Oakland fans actually put their money where their mouth is. I had always considered the Oakland Coliseum to be the worst stadium in MLB but obviously with the hurricane damage I think the Trop has now dropped from 2nd worst to dead worst. Oakland continued hosting MLB games this whole season and the A's actually wanted to continue playing there for the next few seasons. There's nothing wrong with having the Rays do that instead. Like I said, that would also allow the Rays to immediately begin the demolition process for the Trop which in theory would speed up the timeline for construction of the new stadium development. Getting that early start could potentially mean that the new stadium would be ready in only 2 years instead of 3.
If Steinbrenner Field doesn't have a roof, don't we now have the exact same issues in removing the roof of the Trop? My personal guess is that the insurance companies (this is Florida we're talking about) are not going to cover the big costs of repairing or replacing the roof, not on that old stadium with just three years left.
Trop ain’t terrible, baseball in the Ac is fantastic. It is a small stadium comparatively but I mean at one point they had a whole fish tank in left field years ago for what it was in its prime was nice
Use JetBlue or Hammond in Fort Myers. JetBlue is almost 11k seats and the only minor league tenant is the FCL Red Sox (the FCL doesn’t even charge admission). They are probably reluctant to go 2 hours south, though, especially when it involves driving past their own spring training facility (also nice, but smaller)
The most practical option: 1. Take the insurance money and use it to pay the Yankees rent; move into Steinbrenner Field 2. Start on the stadium project early, maybe it gets done faster if they don’t have to work around an active ballpark & parking lot
I posted this earlier also. They probably can't pocket the insurance money. When the Metrodome tore from a snowstorm, they were forced to replace it instead of keeping the money. It was already being demolished soon to make room for the new stadium, but they did it anyway.
I get why Durham is being discussed as a potential back-up plan for the Rays, but another option should be the Orlando area or even somewhere down the Gulf (Sarasota, Fort Myers, etc.). Either way, if I'm the Rays, I wouldn't want to return to the Trop since there's going to be a new stadium being built within 3-4 years.
The Braves had their spring home at Disney World. Still do, I think. They could sell tickets with a discount at D World factored in. Perhaps they could rent the Marlins stadium for a few years. They could share use like the Mets and Yankees did for a few years.
MLB on Fox. Said Tropicana Field will not be used for opening day in 2025. If they say for opening games you wonder for the rest of the season though. So yeah?
Another option might be to use Raymond James. It's not like they haven't played baseball in football stadiums before, and you'd certainly be able to get greater attendance than you'd get at Steinbrenner. (And for those out there not familiar with Tampa, Raymond James is essentially across the street from Steinbrenner Field.)
They not only will get insurance money for the roof, but don’t forget that there is a lease with the team to play in St. Petersburg. That will be a huge determining factor into where the Rays will play, should they need to leave the Trop for a few months. They’re not moving for 3 years.
@@robertlittlefield1855 Perhaps, but the Rays are not going to torch the city they JUST got to agree to build them a new stadium. They will work with the city, and while a temporary relocation would make sense, I highly doubt they’d be gone for three years. The city would lose way too much revenue, which is needed now more than ever.
Practically every lease requires that the facilities/premises be usable (or habitable, in the case of residential) in order for the tenancy requirement to be binding.
@@cbonilla10027 Which would be the responsibility of the city of St. Pete… you don’t think they’re going to fix it, LOL? This isn’t an apartment lease with a slumlord. Too much of the city’s economy rides on having the stadium there (which is one reason why the stadium fight has dragged on so much).
Longer shot. The Ballpark at Walt Disney World in Orlando doesn't have a permanent tenant. Much easier to line up scheduling than working around MiLB schedules. 9,500 seats with tons of room for temporary seating. If I'm on the team trying to convince ownership to move to Orlando, this is my last ditch effort to show what we have and what Orlando can offer.
This is a great option. I saw many games there in the early aughts and always thought it could be a major league park with just a few alterations. They may draw better there too because they would draw from Orlando and Tampa. What nobody talks about regarding Tropicana is that it's a bad location, not easy to get to from Tampa proper.
@@jolenetwomey8280 Honestly, at this point, it may be easier for people from Tampa proper to navigate I-4 traffic and get to Orlando easier than it is for them to make the jump across the bay to St. Pete. 😅😂
City of Orlando should immediately offer to make Camping World Stadium baseball ready for the next 3 seasons. They want an MLB team anyway. Call this an audition.
I definitely agree temporarily ballpark until a new one is built in Downtown Orlando next to KIA Center. Tampa Bay Rays 1998 - 2024 Orlando Rays 2025 - Future
As long as the metallic supports aren't damaged, it's not a big issue to repair the tarped roof. They might need some time to repair, which they can do by flipping out all their home games in the beginning of the season with the away games that they'd play at another time of the year. The Braves played three weeks straight on the road in 96 during the Olympics. The Rays could do it for a month. They'll end up with less travel later also.
The roof isn't necessary for the summer heat in FL the roof is to be able to play every game at home in the summer without cancelling games due to it being the rainy season.
DG, making it an outdoor facility is NOT an option. The stadium has no drainage system, therefore, it will flood every single time it rains and will do so even until the roof is fixed. It would be insanely expensive to add a drainage system and the required work to install one would delay the Rays playing at the facility much longer than the time a roof fix would require. The Trop being an outdoor facility will never happen!
The third option isn't a good option because the Tropicana Field playing field isn't made to be played outside. The field doesn't have a drainage system. Installing a drainage for the field would cost millions of dollars. The best option is to play at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg or at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa until the new stadium is built in 2028 in St. Petersburg. There will be enough budget from the Rays, the city of St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County to build the new stadium.
Whatever they do, you can bet Sternberg will take the absolute cheapest option. The guy wouldn’t even replace the turf until years after he was forced to. Small field would give fans a more intimate experience like the A’s are going to have. Rainouts are rainouts. Part of the game. This guy is just rambling and thinking out loud in circles for this entire video.
Another question is how much damage did the water do to all the electrical devices inside? Im also pretty sure that the drainage is woefully inadequate to handle the weather down here.
The rent would be so high, I remember the A’s talked to someone and they had asked if they could still play in Oakland after their lease expired and just rent the stadium on a yearly basis and they got back in touch and told Oakland that they could but rent would be higher than usual (I think it was 1 or 2 million a year) So if Tampa can afford 1-2 million a year for three years then do it
@@rjmb9272 Nope. Closed until the end of 2025. Also, the Montreal push was highly dependent on the Mayor being onside with it. That mayor has long been voted out, and the current government has no interest in spending any public money on pro sports.
The climate in Tampa is pretty much the same as in Houston. From 1962 to 1964 the Colt .45s (that was the team name pre-Astrodome )played in an outdoor stadium. It wouldn’t kill the Rays to do the same until they get a new stadium.
Florida has something Texas doesn't: Thunderstorms every day around 8 PM in July, August, and September. Roofless baseball does not work in Florida for anything other than spring training.
@@PatrickVerst Houston gets its share of hurricanes and violent storms too. I remember back in 1975 we were supposed to go to a game between the Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates. My dad said, no way I'm getting out in this weather. It turned out to be the only game ever rained out at the Astrodome. But I will admit, at least it doesn't storm every evening.
@@Coog61 That's true. I remember the Rangers and Athletics had a very good relief pitcher named Paul Lindblad in the early '70s who sold Christmas trees during the off season. I can't imagine any of today's players with their multimillion dollar contracts having to sell Christmas trees during the holiday season.
Well I'm sorry to say this but I'm not sad about what happened to that ballpark. I love baseball but I hate going to that park. It's just so ugly and depressing. I wish they would just build a new park sooner rather than later. It really makes no sense spending so much money fixing that ugly park if a new one is going to be built in a couple of years anyway. Just start building the new one now!
@@Matt92Machine I've been there many many times. I wouldn't say what I said if I had never been there. I went to several games this year too and it doesn't get any better. It's terrible. The Ray's deserve a nice stadium!
@@Matt92Machine and that's fine if you like it but I personally don't think it's a nice stadium at all. We are allowed to have different opinions and tastes after all.
The rays ownerships owns the Tampa bay rowdies who play close to the rays. Seating capacity there is 7500. Its close to the water. I could see them use the insurance money to upgrade al lang stadium and add more seats for 3 years and use the park for the rays until the new stadium is done.
Hopefully, the insurance company doesn't require them to put the new roof on instead of pocketing the money. The Metrodome tore in that snowstorm and insurance required them to put a new roof on, only for it to be demolished shortly after for the new stadium.
I still love those shots of the Orlando proposal. Cool stadium, cool design once you look at the side view and realize they're basically intending to build a parking garage and put a stadium on top of it, but sticking it between the BeachLine and Aquatica, right off of an interchange that I've had nightmares about since well before I started driving? (I'm barely kidding by the way.)
The problem with trying the Rays trying to use Steinbrenner Field is that the Yankees Florida State League affilliate plays their games there during the season.
Theres no field drainage system inside The Trop so without heavy construction work, simply leaving the roof off isn’t an option. That said, drains and pumps will probably be a lot cheaper than a new roof. My guess is that they will retrofit the Trop for open-air operation in ‘25 and set residencies at multiple spring training stadiums while the work is being done.
There are 8 Spring Training fields in the "Tampa Bay Area" Lakeland (Tigers), Tampa (Yankees), Clearwater (Phillies), Dunedin (Blue Jays), Bradenton (Pirates), Sarasota (Orioles), Port Charlotte (Rays), Nort Port (Braves). If you also include Disney which has the former Braves Spring Training facility, that is 9 potential stadiums. How about they pick the best four and split the season among those ballparks and start building the new ballpark ASAP. It might help grow the fan base and expedite the new stadium construction. Just an idea.
I live in Florida. All the rain that we get here in Florida, I guarantee it will be a lot of rain delays or even cancelled games due to the whether come late June - October
I would think they would try to repair the roof . If that's not possible in time for most of the season , I would expect them to play somewhere out of the area. Just my opinion. And since they haven't broken ground yet . Even with approvals , the new stadium could be in jeopardy.
DG, Tropicana Field was being used as a Emergency Management Deployment Center. It had 1000's of beds on the field. They had several hundred ambulances in the parking lot. 100's of transports dropped full loads of non perishable foods and water. Line workers and over 1000+ shower/bathroom combo mobile units. Have no idea if anyone was sleeping in the beds when the canvas disappeared. JLR Investigates on YT was walking around the facility a couple days in advance. Looked like they were preparing for a war like event.
My 6th option is to bring them to Miami cuz the have a Roof that is a dome so it would work plus the Marlins aren’t good anymore so they will except it
@@robertkeefer1552 Way back in the '70s, Athletics owner Charlie Finley wanted to change the name of the team from the Athletics to just A's. Oakland RAYS does sound good.....LOL.
I am curious what the corporate naming rights john's thoughts are on this problem. When does their deal run out? Do they get any money back? Would that mean we would be spared reading their name in stories? Playing in the Steinbrenner joint means no publicity for their name since all the reporters would write 'Steinbrenner Field" in the stories.
A temporary ballpark within Daytona International Speedway is another (at least theoretical) possibility, although I don't think a baseball field could fit within the tri-oval grass/pit road area at DIS. A 20,000-25,000-seat temporary ballpark could probably fit within the turn three/four portion of the infield, a la Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
They can’t simply just rip the roof off and play without a roof - even if the terrible Florida climate wasn’t factored in, The Trop has no drainage system for rain.
Playing outdoors in Florida’s summer heat would be absolutely miserable for the players and fans. Maybe they’ll play games in Miami, Arlington or Houston so they can remain indoors. I remember the Yankees and Rays played each other in a three game series at Citi Field in Queens in September 2017 because of Hurricane Irma.
Don’t travel ball teams, minor league teams and almost every high school and youth football/ baseball league in the whole state plus two NFL teams play outside already in the Florida heat I thought that was just a sacrifice of living in Florida you just have to deal with the miserable heat sometime.
Ok so. The Trop is not the worst stadium in the MLB. Other than the roof being completely destroyed it’s a fine ballpark. Another thing when it comes to the Rays and A’s. The A’s had a choice and their owner ship just wanted to pull the team out and not renew their lease on their stadium the Rays are in a completely different situation. They have another 3 years at The Trop and just need a place to play until it’s fixed. The Rays attendance can go up to 20k not 10k. At this point from what I’ve read it’s going to cost $40 million to repair The Trop. They break ground on the new stadium in January.
Bulldoze it now and start building the new one, they won't be gone three seasons. Have St. Pete extend the lease by the two seasons they don't play there. Al Lang being retrofitted back to baseball would be cool. Durham would be awesome too, because the Triangle has been discussing getting an MLB team, having the Rays there for two years would give the region a chance to prove they deserve an expansion team.
They should work out a deal with the Miami Marlins and MLB where they play their "home" games at Loan Depot stadium in Miami on the Marlin's away days.
Another oprion is Olympic Stadium in Monteral PQ. Could be an Option until the new stadium is built, Olympic is a dome and is in the division and would get more people from Canada to see baseball for the next couple of years and see if MLB wants to return to the largest city in Canada with an expansion team.
@@vamoscruceros They can strike a deal with both the Canaidan and Provinical goverments, espically if the Consertatives win goverment in the next election. The economic inpact in the region would offset the connessions
@@marksteelejr True, CF Montreal plays at Saputo, but the still use the O for games where there will be big crowds. I think it’s also used for international games as well.
I think there should play in Monteal, Omaha, or Mobile, AL. Each of their stadiums lack a baseball tenant and has minimal activities, if any. Steinbrenner Field ticks a lot of boxes. But, it might throw a wrench with the Tampa Tarpons schedule.
Too bad Olympic Stadium in Montreal is abandoning baseball for soccer and CFL (for who??) football. Maybe the Rays could play at the Alamodome in San Antonio except from previous videos, the outfield dimensions will be very short. Maybe the Rays could play at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico (just like the Expos did before moving to Washington).
I think MLB will use this as an excuse to move the Rays to a new market. Had the Rays done the smart thing and moved to the Tampa metro area instead of building a new stadium in St. Pete in the same bad location, things may be different. By making the stadium in the same bad location, you MIGHT get an attendance bump for a season or two, but the underlying problems with the team haven't been addressed. A stadium in a hard to get to location for most people in the Bay area, and cheap ownership who won't invest the needed capital into the team. The stadium is the perfect example of the main problem with the team. Cheap ownership. They chose the cheaper option for the stadium rather than the more expensive Tampa option, even though the Tampa option would provide a much better long-term future for the Rays. The Bucs have no problems selling out and the Lightning have the longest sellout streak in the NHL. Why can they draw but the Rays can't? It's because nobody wants to fight through both Tampa's AND St. Pete's rush hours to get to games during the week. So that suppresses season ticket sales. Not to mention it's hard to get excited about a team when you know that any good player the Rays produce will only be there 3-4 seasons before they are traded for futures, and then the cycle repeats. I can only think of two people who have lasted more than 5 seasons with the Rays. Evan Longoria and Kevin Kiermaier.
I believe the Rays lease the dome (notoriously one of the worst lease agreements in pro sports) so I'm not sure how much money, if any, the Rays would need to spend. The question that wasn't asked was what's the plan for the stadium in 2028 without the Rays? I don't see it sticking around for long as nobody else would want it.
according to the lease, the rays are reponsible for all repairs not covered by insurance and some other fund the rays pay into, in no way the city will be paying to repair it
I think they'll be sharing loanDepot Park in Miami with the Marlins. Remaining at Tropicana Field without a roof isn't possible. Putting the 90+ degree days for four months out of the baseball season aside, it rains 9-12 days a month from May to September. That's a lot of double headers. Not going to happen if it doesn't get fixed.
Why steinbrennar field over Dunedin stadium(or whatever it called now) the Blue Jay's spring training site that has hosted regular season games already?
One problem with playing without a roof at the Trop is that there’s no drainage system on the field, so when it rains it could flood the field. So you either have to put a new roof on it or put in a drainage system
The scoreboards and such aren't waterproofed either.
It would be cheaper to fix the roof than to install drainage. Handling storm water would require lots of permits and planning with regards to the water and sewer system.
@@vamoscruceros Yep, agree. It seems like the only option is to play at a spring training facility. I don't see the money being spent to fix the roof, nor it even being done in time by spring.
they might as well knock down the ballpark they are moving anyway
@@angel-ij4xv Yeah, find a place to play temporarily for a few years
Oakland has the opportunity to do the funniest thing imaginable
@@brianf121 doubt that will happen. It’s a travel nightmare with the schedule already made up and Oakland being on the other side of the country. It probably needs to on the east coast at the very least
From a Yankee fan. Im so proud of the rays and you guys deserve a nice ballpark. The improvement over the years has been awesome and the rays always put a great team together
I doubt the field is designed to handle the Florida rain. So to play outdoors for 3 years would require some renovation to the field to add in a drainage system. Steinbrenner Field might be the best option given Rays attendance.
They would set a record for rainouts if they played over the summer at GSF
@@pdg61met As they would at Tropicana sans roof...
@@racingphotographer8251 yes why they should not play in Florida until it’s fixed 🤡
I really that playing open air isn’t an option because the field doesn’t have a drainage system.
@@racingphotographer8251 Can't play the game in florida without a roof. Have to move out of state temporarily.
I mean, the marlins managed to play outside for almost 2 decades
Great point! Did they have many rainouts? The heat had to be unbearable.
@@bigkahunaburger5185 They had numerous rain delays.
The summer weather patterns in Miami are different than in Central FL. Here we have almost daily afternoon/evening thunderstorms that roll through the area. Out of every 7 days, at least 3-4 are likely to have afternoon/evening thunderstorms. It's why they went with a domed stadium in the first place.
@@Starfire099 Miami has a lot of afternoon storms in the summer as well, but they got around it by playing mostly night games, which also helped with the heat (a little bit, lol). But, as someone noted above, there were still many rain delays.
There is a reason that the hockey team is called the Lightning. Tampa/St Pete is the lighting capital of the United States. The weather in Miami is actually more tropical and warmer and it doesn't storm every day.
Milton completed a long overdue job!
Sadly
But it's not complicated. It's still standing.
Yeah but the stadium is useless as it has no drainage systems. Meaning each time it rains, water just sits. So it’s probably molded by now. In addition to all of the wiring in the roof.
I got hit by Milton in Tampa badly
The mess looks like how the Pontiac Silverdome was left when it was abandoned before being demolished.
They could play at Raymond James, despite it being open-aired.
Hoping they come to Orlando ❤️
They shouldn't invest another cent into that stadium unless it's for demolition. They should just go ahead and start the demolition process now to hopefully speed up the timeline for when the new stadium will be open. In the meantime they could always just play at the Oakland Coliseum. No team is playing there now anyway so there would be no scheduling conflicts. That would also be a good way to potentially call the Oakland fans' bluff since they claim Jon Fisher was the only reason they didn't show up to games. If they don't show up MLB could permanently cross Oakland off the list of MLB cities. If they do show up then maybe they can go through with the Howard Terminal development and the Rays or another team like the White Sox, Royals or Angels can relocate to Oakland and play there. In all honesty the Rays staying in the St. Petersburg area never made much sense to me in the first place since they have never been able to get fans to go to that area for games anyway.
If they do end up repairing the Trop they could always just adjust the schedules to make it work out. They could adjust the Triple-A Durham Bulls (the Rays top minor league affiliate) schedule so that they don't play at home the same days the Rays play at home. That way the Rays and the Bulls could just share that stadium until the Trop is repaired. In fact they could do that for the next few seasons even if the Trop doesn't get repaired. If repairing is the only option though they could always just adjust the Rays (and other MLB team's) schedules to make all of the Rays road games are played during the first half of the season. Every MLB team plays at least 81 rows games every single season. So if all of the Rays 81 road games came in the first half of the season that would buy them 3 additional months to complete the repairs. That way they could just save all of their home games for the 2nd half of the season.
I really hope they don't spend the time and all of that money to repair a terrible stadium that they will only use for a few more seasons anyway. The only thing worse than spending $100+M on a roof for the Trop is what Canada is doing by spending *another* $870+M to repair the roof of Olympic Stadium in Montreal. That stadium is awful and needs to be demolished too. It's hard to believe that between the Trop and Olympic Stadium anyone would consider spending roughly a billion dollars just to repair the roofs on 2 of the worst stadiums in the world. With that kind of money they could just build a brand new stadium that is actually nice rather than continue pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into money pits.
In all honesty though I would like to see the Rays just spend the next few seasons playing at the Oakland Coliseum and see if the Oakland fans actually put their money where their mouth is. I had always considered the Oakland Coliseum to be the worst stadium in MLB but obviously with the hurricane damage I think the Trop has now dropped from 2nd worst to dead worst. Oakland continued hosting MLB games this whole season and the A's actually wanted to continue playing there for the next few seasons. There's nothing wrong with having the Rays do that instead. Like I said, that would also allow the Rays to immediately begin the demolition process for the Trop which in theory would speed up the timeline for construction of the new stadium development. Getting that early start could potentially mean that the new stadium would be ready in only 2 years instead of 3.
If Steinbrenner Field doesn't have a roof, don't we now have the exact same issues in removing the roof of the Trop? My personal guess is that the insurance companies (this is Florida we're talking about) are not going to cover the big costs of repairing or replacing the roof, not on that old stadium with just three years left.
Steinbrenner Field at least has a drainage system. The Trop does not.
Trop ain’t terrible, baseball in the Ac is fantastic. It is a small stadium comparatively but I mean at one point they had a whole fish tank in left field years ago for what it was in its prime was nice
And it looks much better in person than on TV
Thank god nobody got hurt inside the dome good luck tampa
Play in Puerto Rico like the Expos did for a bunch of games!
Finally someone else says it😂
Use JetBlue or Hammond in Fort Myers. JetBlue is almost 11k seats and the only minor league tenant is the FCL Red Sox (the FCL doesn’t even charge admission).
They are probably reluctant to go 2 hours south, though, especially when it involves driving past their own spring training facility (also nice, but smaller)
What about the philys spring training in Clearwater?
Too small, smaller than the stadium, where the now called Sacramento A's play next year for 4 years
I prefer the Ybor City Stadium proposal but go for the Translucent Dome instead of the dumb glass dome
The most practical option:
1. Take the insurance money and use it to pay the Yankees rent; move into Steinbrenner Field
2. Start on the stadium project early, maybe it gets done faster if they don’t have to work around an active ballpark & parking lot
It's the most practical option, but why would the Yankees accommodate the Rays?
@@bscalaauthor To quote the great Ryan George: “money.” 💰
Plus it makes them look super altruistic without having to impact any of their games
I posted this earlier also. They probably can't pocket the insurance money. When the Metrodome tore from a snowstorm, they were forced to replace it instead of keeping the money. It was already being demolished soon to make room for the new stadium, but they did it anyway.
I get why Durham is being discussed as a potential back-up plan for the Rays, but another option should be the Orlando area or even somewhere down the Gulf (Sarasota, Fort Myers, etc.). Either way, if I'm the Rays, I wouldn't want to return to the Trop since there's going to be a new stadium being built within 3-4 years.
The Braves had their spring home at Disney World. Still do, I think. They could sell tickets with a discount at D World factored in.
Perhaps they could rent the Marlins stadium for a few years. They could share use like the Mets and Yankees did for a few years.
@@orangehoof The Braves moved to another location a few years ago.
@@orangehoof They can't share the Marlins field for 2025, the schedule is already out and there are dates that overlap.
I would think they can start the season at Steinbrenner Field and be back at the Trop by June
MLB on Fox. Said Tropicana Field will not be used for opening day in 2025. If they say for opening games you wonder for the rest of the season though. So yeah?
Another option might be to use Raymond James. It's not like they haven't played baseball in football stadiums before, and you'd certainly be able to get greater attendance than you'd get at Steinbrenner. (And for those out there not familiar with Tampa, Raymond James is essentially across the street from Steinbrenner Field.)
They not only will get insurance money for the roof, but don’t forget that there is a lease with the team to play in St. Petersburg. That will be a huge determining factor into where the Rays will play, should they need to leave the Trop for a few months. They’re not moving for 3 years.
But we don't know the terms of that lease, nor its "escape" clauses, which very often include "Acts of God" such as hurricanes.
@@robertlittlefield1855 Perhaps, but the Rays are not going to torch the city they JUST got to agree to build them a new stadium. They will work with the city, and while a temporary relocation would make sense, I highly doubt they’d be gone for three years. The city would lose way too much revenue, which is needed now more than ever.
Practically every lease requires that the facilities/premises be usable (or habitable, in the case of residential) in order for the tenancy requirement to be binding.
@@cbonilla10027 Which would be the responsibility of the city of St. Pete… you don’t think they’re going to fix it, LOL? This isn’t an apartment lease with a slumlord. Too much of the city’s economy rides on having the stadium there (which is one reason why the stadium fight has dragged on so much).
@@mahall85 you make so much sense. Thanks for that comment
Longer shot. The Ballpark at Walt Disney World in Orlando doesn't have a permanent tenant. Much easier to line up scheduling than working around MiLB schedules. 9,500 seats with tons of room for temporary seating. If I'm on the team trying to convince ownership to move to Orlando, this is my last ditch effort to show what we have and what Orlando can offer.
This is a great option. I saw many games there in the early aughts and always thought it could be a major league park with just a few alterations. They may draw better there too because they would draw from Orlando and Tampa. What nobody talks about regarding Tropicana is that it's a bad location, not easy to get to from Tampa proper.
@@jolenetwomey8280 Honestly, at this point, it may be easier for people from Tampa proper to navigate I-4 traffic and get to Orlando easier than it is for them to make the jump across the bay to St. Pete. 😅😂
City of Orlando should immediately offer to make Camping World Stadium baseball ready for the next 3 seasons. They want an MLB team anyway. Call this an audition.
I definitely agree temporarily ballpark until a new one is built in Downtown Orlando next to KIA Center.
Tampa Bay Rays 1998 - 2024
Orlando Rays 2025 - Future
As long as the metallic supports aren't damaged, it's not a big issue to repair the tarped roof. They might need some time to repair, which they can do by flipping out all their home games in the beginning of the season with the away games that they'd play at another time of the year. The Braves played three weeks straight on the road in 96 during the Olympics. The Rays could do it for a month. They'll end up with less travel later also.
Marlins Park is the most logical choice.
No the Marlins owner doesn't want to share plus the "Loan Depot Park" are has problems of its own
The roof isn't necessary for the summer heat in FL the roof is to be able to play every game at home in the summer without cancelling games due to it being the rainy season.
I imagine they're jsut gonna rip the stadium down now and play in one of the many spring training stadums that are around.
I was already wondering if they can make it work without roof without installing a drainage system. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.
Play in standing water. It would make games much more interesting.
DG, making it an outdoor facility is NOT an option. The stadium has no drainage system, therefore, it will flood every single time it rains and will do so even until the roof is fixed. It would be insanely expensive to add a drainage system and the required work to install one would delay the Rays playing at the facility much longer than the time a roof fix would require. The Trop being an outdoor facility will never happen!
They will play at the Phillies, Blue Jays or Al Lang stadium in Pinellas before playing in Tampa
Al Lang is being used by the Rowdies, and it would be difficult to reconfigure back into a baseball field. Plus, it only seats around 7,000.
Move them to the Field Of Dreams. Kevin Costner would know.
Wow! An actual stadium. I haven't seen this in over a month
The Orioles spring park in Sarasota is also vacant in the summer
I just read they can't play without a roof, because the field has no drainage installed.
The third option isn't a good option because the Tropicana Field playing field isn't made to be played outside. The field doesn't have a drainage system. Installing a drainage for the field would cost millions of dollars. The best option is to play at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg or at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa until the new stadium is built in 2028 in St. Petersburg. There will be enough budget from the Rays, the city of St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County to build the new stadium.
Whatever they do, you can bet Sternberg will take the absolute cheapest option.
The guy wouldn’t even replace the turf until years after he was forced to. Small field would give fans a more intimate experience like the A’s are going to have. Rainouts are rainouts. Part of the game. This guy is just rambling and thinking out loud in circles for this entire video.
Going to Steinbrenner Field would be sold out or close to sold out every game because they'd be right in Tampa and easily more accessible.
Another question is how much damage did the water do to all the electrical devices inside? Im also pretty sure that the drainage is woefully inadequate to handle the weather down here.
Come play in Oakland! We’ve got the best grass and outdoor weather in all of baseball
The rent would be so high, I remember the A’s talked to someone and they had asked if they could still play in Oakland after their lease expired and just rent the stadium on a yearly basis and they got back in touch and told Oakland that they could but rent would be higher than usual (I think it was 1 or 2 million a year)
So if Tampa can afford 1-2 million a year for three years then do it
There gonna go play in montreal while the new stadium is built, remember years ago when the owner wanted to spilt a season with Montreal
Olympic Stadium is under renovations. Its not going to Montreal.
@@thedrunkenwobblies1331 under renovations to be the new home for the Rays!
@@rjmb9272 Nope. Closed until the end of 2025. Also, the Montreal push was highly dependent on the Mayor being onside with it. That mayor has long been voted out, and the current government has no interest in spending any public money on pro sports.
The climate in Tampa is pretty much the same as in Houston. From 1962 to 1964 the Colt .45s (that was the team name pre-Astrodome )played in an outdoor stadium. It wouldn’t kill the Rays to do the same until they get a new stadium.
Florida has something Texas doesn't: Thunderstorms every day around 8 PM in July, August, and September. Roofless baseball does not work in Florida for anything other than spring training.
Those players also had second jobs to pay the bills.
@@PatrickVerst Houston gets its share of hurricanes and violent storms too. I remember back in 1975 we were supposed to go to a game between the Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates. My dad said, no way I'm getting out in this weather. It turned out to be the only game ever rained out at the Astrodome. But I will admit, at least it doesn't storm every evening.
@@Coog61 That's true. I remember the Rangers and Athletics had a very good relief pitcher named Paul Lindblad in the early '70s who sold Christmas trees during the off season. I can't imagine any of today's players with their multimillion dollar contracts having to sell Christmas trees during the holiday season.
Outdoors it's 120degrees with the humidity not me brother
Well I'm sorry to say this but I'm not sad about what happened to that ballpark. I love baseball but I hate going to that park. It's just so ugly and depressing. I wish they would just build a new park sooner rather than later. It really makes no sense spending so much money fixing that ugly park if a new one is going to be built in a couple of years anyway. Just start building the new one now!
Yeah I have always hated the Slop. With Oakland moving it has become the worst stadium in baseball.
You ever even been there? It's not that bad.
@@Matt92Machine I've been there many many times. I wouldn't say what I said if I had never been there. I went to several games this year too and it doesn't get any better. It's terrible. The Ray's deserve a nice stadium!
@@yoursweetesttaboo8712 I've been there several times too. I'm not even a Rays fan and I think the park is fine.
@@Matt92Machine and that's fine if you like it but I personally don't think it's a nice stadium at all. We are allowed to have different opinions and tastes after all.
They have to play in a dome in Florida, it's way too hot and rainy 🌧 for outdoor baseball.
Miami might be a good option for them so they don’t have to go so far from home and they can remain indoors in the Florida heat.
an allegiant stadium type roof?
How about playing at Disney like they did 2007-2008. They can play there until the roof is fixed, like June.
That stadium only seats 7,500 and there's little room to add seats.
@@vamoscrucerosyou can add outfield seating
It actually has permanent seating for 9500
@@vamoscruceros You keep forgetting the Rays don't get much more at the Trop during the season.
There's is also talk of relocating them to Sahlen Field in Buffalo, NY a 30,000 seat stadium
The rays ownerships owns the Tampa bay rowdies who play close to the rays. Seating capacity there is 7500. Its close to the water. I could see them use the insurance money to upgrade al lang stadium and add more seats for 3 years and use the park for the rays until the new stadium is done.
Go play in Montreal. Huge stadium and they’d be so happy the attendance would probably be 30-40k per game.
Unfortunately Montreal just started a (checks notes) $850m roof replacement project at Olympic Stadium, so it won’t be available for several years.
Hopefully, the insurance company doesn't require them to put the new roof on instead of pocketing the money. The Metrodome tore in that snowstorm and insurance required them to put a new roof on, only for it to be demolished shortly after for the new stadium.
Amazing that this place was finished in 1988, and it's still in use. It's a cookie cutter that was designed before the new type ballparks
I still love those shots of the Orlando proposal. Cool stadium, cool design once you look at the side view and realize they're basically intending to build a parking garage and put a stadium on top of it, but sticking it between the BeachLine and Aquatica, right off of an interchange that I've had nightmares about since well before I started driving? (I'm barely kidding by the way.)
Jacksonville has an 11000 seat minor league ballpark right in downtown. It should definitely be considered.
The problem with trying the Rays trying to use Steinbrenner Field is that the Yankees Florida State League affilliate plays their games there during the season.
Theres no field drainage system inside The Trop so without heavy construction work, simply leaving the roof off isn’t an option. That said, drains and pumps will probably be a lot cheaper than a new roof. My guess is that they will retrofit the Trop for open-air operation in ‘25 and set residencies at multiple spring training stadiums while the work is being done.
There are 8 Spring Training fields in the "Tampa Bay Area" Lakeland (Tigers), Tampa (Yankees), Clearwater (Phillies), Dunedin (Blue Jays), Bradenton (Pirates), Sarasota (Orioles), Port Charlotte (Rays), Nort Port (Braves). If you also include Disney which has the former Braves Spring Training facility, that is 9 potential stadiums. How about they pick the best four and split the season among those ballparks and start building the new ballpark ASAP. It might help grow the fan base and expedite the new stadium construction. Just an idea.
I live in Florida. All the rain that we get here in Florida, I guarantee it will be a lot of rain delays or even cancelled games due to the whether come late June - October
They should play at the bucks stadium for now
The Marlins played outside for 20 years. It’s not ideal but can be done.
@@mattf.1233 that is true
I would think they would try to repair the roof . If that's not possible in time for most of the season , I would expect them to play somewhere out of the area. Just my opinion. And since they haven't broken ground yet . Even with approvals , the new stadium could be in jeopardy.
DG, Tropicana Field was being used as a Emergency Management Deployment Center. It had 1000's of beds on the field. They had several hundred ambulances in the parking lot. 100's of transports dropped full loads of non perishable foods and water. Line workers and over 1000+ shower/bathroom combo mobile units. Have no idea if anyone was sleeping in the beds when the canvas disappeared. JLR Investigates on YT was walking around the facility a couple days in advance. Looked like they were preparing for a war like event.
The state moved all the emergency personnel out prior to Milton's landfall, but you're right, it was being used as a staging ground
$80-$100 million for A CLOTH ROOF???? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE LMAO
its held up by steel that may need to be torn down and replaced
Rains almost every day somewhere between 3-8 p.m. Expect a lot of rainouts and delays.
What’s the reason for them to have a closed roof stadium in Florida ??
Humidity and constant thunderstorms
My 6th option is to bring them to Miami cuz the have a Roof that is a dome so it would work plus the Marlins aren’t good anymore so they will except it
Is the bar, Fergs, still across the street from there?
yes
I never saw a bar around there. It is the deadest area around a ballpark this side of the Oakland Coliseum.
If the government doesn’t want to replace Tropicana Field, God will.
They could go to the west coast and play at Oakland Alameda County Stadium. The Athletics don’t use it anymore.
The Oakland Rays, I like that idea!!
@@robertkeefer1552 Way back in the '70s, Athletics owner Charlie Finley wanted to change the name of the team from the Athletics to just A's. Oakland RAYS does sound good.....LOL.
It's also possible they do get insurance money and they decide to renovate Tropicana to make it like new instead of fully building a new stadium.
I am curious what the corporate naming rights john's thoughts are on this problem. When does their deal run out? Do they get any money back? Would that mean we would be spared reading their name in stories? Playing in the Steinbrenner joint means no publicity for their name since all the reporters would write 'Steinbrenner Field" in the stories.
They can't play open air in FL past March as the daily rainy season starts and that would be a huge headache.
A temporary ballpark within Daytona International Speedway is another (at least theoretical) possibility, although I don't think a baseball field could fit within the tri-oval grass/pit road area at DIS. A 20,000-25,000-seat temporary ballpark could probably fit within the turn three/four portion of the infield, a la Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
They can’t simply just rip the roof off and play without a roof - even if the terrible Florida climate wasn’t factored in, The Trop has no drainage system for rain.
Playing outdoors in Florida’s summer heat would be absolutely miserable for the players and fans. Maybe they’ll play games in Miami, Arlington or Houston so they can remain indoors. I remember the Yankees and Rays played each other in a three game series at Citi Field in Queens in September 2017 because of Hurricane Irma.
Don’t travel ball teams, minor league teams and almost every high school and youth football/ baseball league in the whole state plus two NFL teams play outside already in the Florida heat I thought that was just a sacrifice of living in Florida you just have to deal with the miserable heat sometime.
Ok so. The Trop is not the worst stadium in the MLB. Other than the roof being completely destroyed it’s a fine ballpark. Another thing when it comes to the Rays and A’s. The A’s had a choice and their owner ship just wanted to pull the team out and not renew their lease on their stadium the Rays are in a completely different situation. They have another 3 years at The Trop and just need a place to play until it’s fixed. The Rays attendance can go up to 20k not 10k. At this point from what I’ve read it’s going to cost $40 million to repair The Trop. They break ground on the new stadium in January.
Best option for the Rays get out of Florida.
Congratulations Tropicana Field. With the A’s now out of Oakland, you’re now officially the worst stadium in the MLB.
Also I have heard that with all the rain coming in that the floodedge that might take a hole lot of time not just rebuilding the dome
Bulldoze it now and start building the new one, they won't be gone three seasons. Have St. Pete extend the lease by the two seasons they don't play there. Al Lang being retrofitted back to baseball would be cool. Durham would be awesome too, because the Triangle has been discussing getting an MLB team, having the Rays there for two years would give the region a chance to prove they deserve an expansion team.
They should work out a deal with the Miami Marlins and MLB where they play their "home" games at Loan Depot stadium in Miami on the Marlin's away days.
Move them to Charlotte and call them the Charlotte Rae’s .
Another oprion is Olympic Stadium in Monteral PQ. Could be an Option until the new stadium is built, Olympic is a dome and is in the division and would get more people from Canada to see baseball for the next couple of years and see if MLB wants to return to the largest city in Canada with an expansion team.
They are reconfiguring the Big Owe for permanent football and soccer configuration.
Canadian taxes would be a sore spot with the players union.
@@iplayfhorn Actually Monteral FC plays in olympic park Outdoors at a seperate facility
@@vamoscruceros They can strike a deal with both the Canaidan and Provinical goverments, espically if the Consertatives win goverment in the next election. The economic inpact in the region would offset the connessions
@@marksteelejr True, CF Montreal plays at Saputo, but the still use the O for games where there will be big crowds. I think it’s also used for international games as well.
They already said they’re not starting the season there. They can’t open up the roof because there’s no drainage system in the field
Looks better, i say play the season exactly as it is
I think there should play in Monteal, Omaha, or Mobile, AL. Each of their stadiums lack a baseball tenant and has minimal activities, if any.
Steinbrenner Field ticks a lot of boxes. But, it might throw a wrench with the Tampa Tarpons schedule.
Mobile was averaging less than 1,500 per game in the final season of the BayBears.
@@vamoscruceros I threw Mobile out there because there's no tenant and as a stopgap of sorts.
A metrodome style roof would be cool. I think it's more likely they play somewhere else though.
Too bad Olympic Stadium in Montreal is abandoning baseball for soccer and CFL (for who??) football. Maybe the Rays could play at the Alamodome in San Antonio except from previous videos, the outfield dimensions will be very short. Maybe the Rays could play at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico (just like the Expos did before moving to Washington).
Jarry Field
@@robertyoung3992 Jarry Park (or Parc Jarry as it is known by locals) is a tennis stadium with the worst naming rights - Stade IGA.
I think MLB will use this as an excuse to move the Rays to a new market. Had the Rays done the smart thing and moved to the Tampa metro area instead of building a new stadium in St. Pete in the same bad location, things may be different. By making the stadium in the same bad location, you MIGHT get an attendance bump for a season or two, but the underlying problems with the team haven't been addressed. A stadium in a hard to get to location for most people in the Bay area, and cheap ownership who won't invest the needed capital into the team.
The stadium is the perfect example of the main problem with the team. Cheap ownership. They chose the cheaper option for the stadium rather than the more expensive Tampa option, even though the Tampa option would provide a much better long-term future for the Rays. The Bucs have no problems selling out and the Lightning have the longest sellout streak in the NHL. Why can they draw but the Rays can't? It's because nobody wants to fight through both Tampa's AND St. Pete's rush hours to get to games during the week. So that suppresses season ticket sales. Not to mention it's hard to get excited about a team when you know that any good player the Rays produce will only be there 3-4 seasons before they are traded for futures, and then the cycle repeats. I can only think of two people who have lasted more than 5 seasons with the Rays. Evan Longoria and Kevin Kiermaier.
Play at Disney’s wide world of sports
Maybe the Texas Rangers old ballpark, Globe Life Park? The ballpark is still open and functional.
time to send the rays to either Oakland, Nashville, if not Montreal for a temp season
ESPN Wide World of Sports is the best temporary option
It was built to have a roof so has no drainage inside. There’s likely water damage inside the whole facility besides the roof just being blown off.
Milton finally gave the rays an outdoor stadium
Why’d the Rays redesign the roof if they’re moving in 3 years? And they can’t play without the roof with no drainage
I believe the Rays lease the dome (notoriously one of the worst lease agreements in pro sports) so I'm not sure how much money, if any, the Rays would need to spend.
The question that wasn't asked was what's the plan for the stadium in 2028 without the Rays? I don't see it sticking around for long as nobody else would want it.
according to the lease, the rays are reponsible for all repairs not covered by insurance and some other fund the rays pay into, in no way the city will be paying to repair it
They have their own beautiful spring training facility down south in Port Charlotte !
Basic research on this video would have revealed that the lack of field drainage would prevent an open air Trop.
I think they'll be sharing loanDepot Park in Miami with the Marlins. Remaining at Tropicana Field without a roof isn't possible. Putting the 90+ degree days for four months out of the baseball season aside, it rains 9-12 days a month from May to September. That's a lot of double headers. Not going to happen if it doesn't get fixed.
Cheapest fix. Tensile membrane over Port Charlotte stadium they own, maybe add a few temporary seats. Also play some games in Orlando at WWoS.
Finally Milton did something good
😂😂😂😂 that's messed up 😂😂😂
@@pst702it’s good because the rays can finally play outside
I say they play in their own spring training home in Port Charlotte for three years.
Why steinbrennar field over Dunedin stadium(or whatever it called now) the Blue Jay's spring training site that has hosted regular season games already?
Why not play in Oakland
Then to a new stadium in St. Petersburg
An AL EAST team in Oakland? Lol…….Then again Cal and Stanford are in The ACC so why not?
That Montreal plan might come back to the table