The Tampa Bay Rays have secured the city and county approvals needed to move forward with a $2.3-billion stadium project in Tampa. The Hillsborough County Commission voted 5–2 on Friday to approve its portion of the financing plan, one day after the Tampa City Council approved the city’s share, according to The Associated Press.
The county contribution is $796 million and the city approved $80 million. The Rays have committed at least $1.3 billion and responsibility for cost overruns, while another $30 million is expected from federal disaster-recovery funds. The proposed 31,000-seat stadium is scheduled to open in 2029 near Raymond James Stadium.
The votes give the franchise a clearer long-term direction after years of uncertainty, hurricane damage to Tropicana Field and the collapse of an earlier St. Petersburg proposal. Additional project agreements and construction work still lie ahead, but the central public financing decisions are now in place. For the Rays, the stadium is more than a new building: it is the framework intended to keep Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay.
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