The Tampa Bay Rays will play their 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field, the team announced Thursday. Steinbrenner Field is the spring training home of the New York Yankees, as well as the host of the Yankees’ A-ball affiliate Tampa Tarpons. It’s also, notably, located in Tampa, Florida — Tropicana Field, damaged by Hurricane Milton, is located in St. Petersburg.
“We deeply appreciate that the Yankees have graciously allowed us to play at Steinbrenner Field for the 2025 season,” Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement. “The hurricane damage to Tropicana Field has forced us to take some extraordinary steps, just as Hurricanes Helene and Milton have forced thousands of families and businesses in our community to adapt to new circumstances as we all recover and rebuild.”
CBS Sports recently highlighted Steinbrenner Field as an option for the Rays, writing the following:
This one actually seats over 11,000 people and it’s on the Tampa side of the bay, which we’ve heard for years would help attendance. If you’ve ever flown over Raymond James Stadium — home of the NFL’s Buccaneers — you’ve seen this ballpark just across the street.
This in not in Pinellas County, so perhaps the people footing the bill for the Rays’ ballpark repairs and new construction won’t care for the location, but otherwise it would be a great fit.
A recent St. Petersburg City Council report established that Tropicana Field’s dome roof, shredded by high winds during Hurricane Milton, can be repaired in time to reopen for the 2026 season. Such repairs will cost more than $55 million, however, for what would amount to two years of play before the Rays relocate to their new stadium for the 2028 season. As such, it’s an open question as to whether or not it makes sense to repair the Trop at all.
Steinbrenner Field, complete with the same lefty-friendly dimensions as Yankee Stadium, holds a capacity of 11,000 fans. The Rays, for comparison, averaged just over 16,500 paid tickets per home game during the 2024 season.
