The Tampa Bay Rays appear interested in a deal that could place a new indoor baseball stadium on Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus.
The college's board of trustees will meet to discuss the subject Tuesday aftenoon.
Ashley Kritzer of the Tampa Bay Business Journal told "Florida Matters Live & Local": "It's said to be a potentially a land-swap deal, a conveyance agreement, but it really is just the first step because we still don't know what the county funding is going to look like.
"We don't know what, if anything, will be involved at a state level. There may be some infrastructure funding associated because the state does control Hillsborough College."
Kritzer said one possible scenario could have the state paying to relocate the college campus to another location.
She noted Gov. Ron DeSantis has opposed any subsides for sports arenas. But the new ownership group of the Rays, including principal owner Patrick Zalupski, have long-standing ties to governor.
"I think the workaround here is that if there is state funding in this deal, it may be used for infrastructure. It may be tied to the relocation of the school," she said. "It wouldn't necessarily be given directly to the Rays."
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The Rays' new ownership team has said it is looking for a public-private partnership to build a new stadium. The team is contracted to play through the 2028 season at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
The Rays envision a fixed-roof stadium as the anchor for a mixed-use development that would include hotels, retail, restaurants and bars. And perhaps, even a college.
They want a minimum of 100 acres, which would include retail shops, bars and restaurants alongside a new ballpark. They said the revenue stream from the surrounding development is needed to pay for the stadium, which would cost more than $1 billion.
Zalupski also envisions stadium revenue beyond baseball, with another 150 to 180 events per year, including concerts, festivals, and other major gatherings.
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There are few details of Tuesday's board of trustees meeting, other than a recommendation by the college president to approve entering into a discussion with the Rays.
The agenda reads: "This agenda item is a Non-Binding Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) that outlines the key terms and conditions that the Rays and the College would like any final Project agreements to contain. The MOU does not require the College to do the Project, and it can be terminated by the Board at any time. If the MOU is approved, the Rays and the College will begin negotiating and drafting Project agreements for the Board’s review approval at a future meeting. The Rays have included a proposal to reimburse the College for the costs of preparing the final Project agreements."
The discussion comes after the Rays canceled a deal to build a new stadium on the Historic Gas Plant site, where Tropicana Field is located. The deal died after Hurricane Milton ripped off the dome's fabric roof and the team had to play the 2025 season at Tampa's Steinbrenner Field.
Tropicana Field is expected to be ready for the start of the 2026 season.
