Rays' Tropicana Field in Line for $23 Million Roof Repairs After City Council Vote

With the roof of Tropicana Field in tatters, the Tampa Bay Rays have turned to the city of St. Petersburg to help them get a new one.

St. Petersburg's city council voted 4–3 in a meeting Thursday to loan the Rays $23 million toward a new roof. The construction will be overseen by Hennessy Construction Services, a St. Petersburg-based contractor.

The vote follows the near-complete destruction of Tropicana Field's previous roof by Hurricane Milton, a storm that made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida on Oct. 9.

Because of the damage, Tampa Bay will play its 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.

St. Petersburg City Council approves $23.7 million loaned from city departments to pay for a new roof at Tropicana Field in a 4-3 vote.

This follows the same voting lines as the Trop deal. Floyd, Hanewicz, Muhammad voting no
— Colleen Wright (@Colleen_Wright) November 21, 2024

Tropicana Field opened in 1990—eight years before the Rays moved in—and has long been a punching bag among MLB fans, both for its byzantine design and its attendance-discouraging location.

Despite this, it's currently the only home Tampa Bay has, and it will need some help before the Rays can think about a new stadium.