Hillsborough County clears $796 million for a new Rays ballpark

Hillsborough County commissioners voted 5-2 on Friday, 28 August, to put $796 million toward a new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark. Tampa's city council had voted 4-3 on Thursday to add $80 million. Those two tallies were the last large public-finance gates. The club can now start bond validation and aim at a groundbreaking this autumn.

The park is planned for Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus, across from Raymond James Stadium, home of the Buccaneers, and close to Tampa International Airport. Capacity is listed at about 31,000 in some briefings and 28,000 in others. Opening Day 2029 is the target. The Rays' lease at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg runs through 2028.

Cost figures move by outlet. Associated Press put the project at $2.3 billion. Front Office Sports used $2.36 billion. The Athletic wrote "just under $2.4 billion." The split is clearer than the headline total. The city puts in $80 million. The county puts in $796 million. Federal disaster recovery funds add about $30 million. The Rays have committed at least $1.3 billion and every cost overrun. Earlier the club had asked Tampa for $180 million. It absorbed the $100 million gap.

Who pays the rent, and for how long

The county will own the stadium. The Rays will pay $4 million a year in rent on a 35-year lease, with options to extend. CEO Ken Babby said the votes "secure the long-term future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay." Managing partner Patrick Zalupski thanked both governments "for their willingness to say yes to what for so long had been considered impossible."

The search had lasted more than twenty years. Stuart Sternberg, the previous controlling owner, walked away from a $1.3 billion plan next to Tropicana Field after Hurricane Milton tore the dome's roof in October 2024. The team played 2025 at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, then returned to a repaired Trop. A new ownership group led by Zalupski bought the franchise and tied its plan to a Tampa site from the start. An agreement with Hillsborough College covers the campus plot and some building renovations for the school.

The public-money argument

Commissioners Joshua Wostal and Donna Cameron Cepeda voted no. The objection is familiar: a county writing a large cheque for a privately owned team. The club's share, about 63 percent of construction plus overruns, is higher than the public-private splits at Globe Life Field in Texas and Truist Park in Atlanta, the two newest major-league parks. That comparison is the strongest defence the deal has. It does not answer residents who wanted the $796 million spent on roads or schools instead.

Tampa mayor Jane Castor, after the city vote, said the project was "about much more than a ballpark." The mixed-use district around the park is supposed to throw off revenue that helps the city repay its loan. Those revenues do not exist yet. Bond validation comes next. Shovels are supposed to go in this fall if the 2029 date is to hold. Tropicana Field, the only home the franchise has ever had, has four seasons left on the lease.