The Rays are unsure about the place they’ll play in 2025 after Hurricane Milton broken the Tropicana Area roof. One possibility that won’t be into consideration: Montreal. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Occasions stories that town’s Olympic Stadium — the previous dwelling of the Expos and a speculated chance for the Rays — is present process an $870MM renovation to interchange its personal roof. The stadium won’t be obtainable for 3 years.
“Till 2028, the sector of play might be inside a building web site and due to this fact not open to the general public,” the stadium’s communications officer instructed Topkin by way of electronic mail. Montreal is the second metropolis to again away from serving as a possible short-term dwelling for the franchise. The Durham Bulls, dwelling of the group’s Triple-A affiliate, launched a press release earlier this week saying they “don’t anticipate internet hosting (the Rays) for a full season attributable to schedules overlapping and different logistical challenges.”
The Rays nonetheless haven’t confirmed they received’t be capable of play all of subsequent season on the Trop. Topkin reported earlier within the week that the ability 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 crew is leaving the Trop after three years anyhow.
Montreal was talked about as a chance largely as a result of the Rays flirted with the concept of taking part in there a number of years in the past. Whereas the Rays had been making an attempt to safe public funding for his or her new stadium, proprietor Stuart Sternberg floated a plan to divide the crew’s dwelling video games between Tampa Bay and Montreal. MLB’s government council killed the concept in January 2022. The Rays turned again to securing the funding for the brand new facility in St. Petersburg, which was accepted this previous July. Topkin’s column lists a number of different cities the Rays may take into account if the Trop is unavailable.
