[bowden] Hurricane Milton damage to the roof at Tropicana Field is a bigger deal than most understand. It would cost 9 figures to replace and moving into new park in a few years doesn’t make sense. #Rays can’t play there with no draining system for rain. Where will they play in 2025?
October 15, 2024
[bowden] Hurricane Milton damage to the roof at Tropicana Field is a bigger deal than most understand. It would cost 9 figures to replace and moving into new park in a few years doesn’t make sense. #Rays can’t play there with no draining system for rain. Where will they play in 2025?
27 comments
Fuck it. The Tampa Bay Rays of Buffalo
George M. Steinbrenner Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
$100m for a roof? That’s like 1/3rd of the original construction cost (in 2024 dollars)
Just make every game an away game.
I know the knee jerk will just be “well then tell the billionaires to pay the 9 figure bill” and while I agree to that to a certain extent, 9 figure building projects don’t get completed over night. Even if the Rays cut that check today I’d still doubt they could get the field in playing shape in time for Opening Day.
And that doesn’t even factor in that between Milton and Helene there will be significant demand for the services of the kind of high end contracting companies that can do this kind of work
Me and my cousin could do it for 5 thousand and a case of Busch
The Tampa Bay Rays of Oakland
There’s a park in Oakland that just opened up
I PRESENT TO YOU, YOUR OAKLAND (R)AYS
Montreal: “So we hear you’re looking for a crappy field, but with a semi-functional roof, eh?”
Well now that split season proposal with Montreal doesn’t look so bad
I think Al Lang Stadium is the easiest “home” for the short-term, but I would love to see the Rays barnstorm a little. College stadiums, Disney World, all different stadiums across Florida.
So we’re down to either playing at the Yankees spring training stadium, working with a deal with the Bucs to use their stadium or just going to Disney and play at their complex.
The stadium at Disney World is really nice and holds 7500. So unless the Red Sox or Yankees are in town, there should be plenty of space for 4000 fans to comfortably stretch out.
In all seriousness, Miami
The mariners went on a looooooooong road trip when the Kingdome ceiling tiles fell. I do t see why we’d do anything else for the rays.
No insurance for this kind of thing??
Who is the source for this 9 figure estimate? That’s insane.
Rays will be moving to Sacramento for the 2025 season
Maybe we will see the Montreal Rays, after all? At least while the new Tampa Bay stadium is being built.
It would be an interesting test for the Montreal market. I’d love to see Montreal get a team in the future. It is a great city. Awesome food, lots to do, it’s clean, safe, and bilingual (once you’re outside the city, not so much). I’d definitely make the road trip from NJ to see a Yankee game up there.
They’ll end up playing at a spring training field for two years
The city of Oakland could do the funniest thing rn
As a Braves (and a baseball fan), I humbly invite our Florida brethren to play at Truist for a year (with the Braves taking 30% of the gate and benefiting from the 100% increase in Battery business).
NOW GO BUY ME SOME FREE AGENTS, ALEX.
I’m sorry, over 100 mil for what amounts to a heavy industrial fabric roof? Even taking into consideration some possible structural damage, that’s ridiculous. And there should be insurance on the building, it’s not like someone is going to have to come up with all that cash out of pocket.
Lots of jokes in the comments naturally. But there are plenty of feasible options in central/south Florida. They can play at Port Charlotte, Tampa Yankees stadium, Dunedin (blue jays played there in 2020), Disney is also an option. Really interested to see what route they go. I know a place with a roof would be ideal, but probably not feasible.
They’ve already sent out emails telling season ticket holders that they are postponing withdrawing funds for next season’s tickets. I’m sure part of this is because the community as a whole just got hit by a hurricane and it would be incredibly insensitive to withdraw hundreds of dollars from people’s accounts that probably need that money for other things right now, but part of it is most likely because they aren’t even sure those people will be sitting in those seats next season.
![[bowden] Hurricane Milton damage to the roof at Tropicana Field is a bigger deal than most understand. It would cost 9 figures to replace and moving into new park in a few years doesn't make sense. #Rays can't play there with no draining system for rain. Where will they play in 2025?](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/XeV3M7ckAvQz-24QhWrGx4_eV4AW9sTxuTFUNEKMDEg.jpg)
27 comments
Fuck it. The Tampa Bay Rays of Buffalo
George M. Steinbrenner Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
$100m for a roof? That’s like 1/3rd of the original construction cost (in 2024 dollars)
Just make every game an away game.
I know the knee jerk will just be “well then tell the billionaires to pay the 9 figure bill” and while I agree to that to a certain extent, 9 figure building projects don’t get completed over night. Even if the Rays cut that check today I’d still doubt they could get the field in playing shape in time for Opening Day.
And that doesn’t even factor in that between Milton and Helene there will be significant demand for the services of the kind of high end contracting companies that can do this kind of work
Me and my cousin could do it for 5 thousand and a case of Busch
The Tampa Bay Rays of Oakland
There’s a park in Oakland that just opened up
I PRESENT TO YOU, YOUR OAKLAND (R)AYS
Montreal: “So we hear you’re looking for a crappy field, but with a semi-functional roof, eh?”
Well now that split season proposal with Montreal doesn’t look so bad
I think Al Lang Stadium is the easiest “home” for the short-term, but I would love to see the Rays barnstorm a little. College stadiums, Disney World, all different stadiums across Florida.
So we’re down to either playing at the Yankees spring training stadium, working with a deal with the Bucs to use their stadium or just going to Disney and play at their complex.
The stadium at Disney World is really nice and holds 7500. So unless the Red Sox or Yankees are in town, there should be plenty of space for 4000 fans to comfortably stretch out.
In all seriousness, Miami
The mariners went on a looooooooong road trip when the Kingdome ceiling tiles fell. I do t see why we’d do anything else for the rays.
No insurance for this kind of thing??
Who is the source for this 9 figure estimate? That’s insane.
Rays will be moving to Sacramento for the 2025 season
Maybe we will see the Montreal Rays, after all? At least while the new Tampa Bay stadium is being built.
It would be an interesting test for the Montreal market. I’d love to see Montreal get a team in the future. It is a great city. Awesome food, lots to do, it’s clean, safe, and bilingual (once you’re outside the city, not so much). I’d definitely make the road trip from NJ to see a Yankee game up there.
They’ll end up playing at a spring training field for two years
The city of Oakland could do the funniest thing rn
As a Braves (and a baseball fan), I humbly invite our Florida brethren to play at Truist for a year (with the Braves taking 30% of the gate and benefiting from the 100% increase in Battery business).
NOW GO BUY ME SOME FREE AGENTS, ALEX.
I’m sorry, over 100 mil for what amounts to a heavy industrial fabric roof? Even taking into consideration some possible structural damage, that’s ridiculous. And there should be insurance on the building, it’s not like someone is going to have to come up with all that cash out of pocket.
Lots of jokes in the comments naturally. But there are plenty of feasible options in central/south Florida. They can play at Port Charlotte, Tampa Yankees stadium, Dunedin (blue jays played there in 2020), Disney is also an option. Really interested to see what route they go. I know a place with a roof would be ideal, but probably not feasible.
They’ve already sent out emails telling season ticket holders that they are postponing withdrawing funds for next season’s tickets. I’m sure part of this is because the community as a whole just got hit by a hurricane and it would be incredibly insensitive to withdraw hundreds of dollars from people’s accounts that probably need that money for other things right now, but part of it is most likely because they aren’t even sure those people will be sitting in those seats next season.
God wants the AL Expos.