For four decades, Tampa Bay has chased, built, proposed and debated baseball stadiums, with the Rays' latest plan bringing the soap opera to another turning point. Here's a look at the lore:
1984 – Frank Morsani’s Tampa Bay Baseball Group buys 42% of the Minnesota Twins with plans to move them to a proposed stadium next to Tampa Stadium. MLB pressures Morsani to sell to Minneapolis interests with the promise of getting an expansion team.
1986 – Despite a warning from Major League Baseball, St. Petersburg City Council votes to build a stadium to lure a team. The $85 million project is planned for a historically Black neighborhood known as the Gas Plant District. Residents and businesses are displaced.
1988 – St. Petersburg aggressively courts the White Sox, but an eleventh-hour Illinois assembly vote keeps the team in Chicago. The city also makes a bid for the Texas Rangers, who are ultimately bought by a group led by George W. Bush.
1990 – The Florida Suncoast Dome opens without a baseball team at a cost of $138 million. Morsani's group competes with a rival local bid for an upcoming expansion franchise.
1991 – The Tampa Bay Storm become the first pro tenant at the dome. A week later, MLB chooses Miami and Denver for expansion sites over St. Petersburg.
August 1992 – Vince Naimoli agrees to buy the Giants for $115 million and move them to St. Petersburg, but National League owners block the sale.
November 1992 – Morsani sues MLB, saying MLB reneged on promises. The parties settle 11 years later.
1993 – Renamed the Thunderdome, the dome begins hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning for two NHL seasons.
1995 – Naimoli’s group is awarded an expansion franchise and names them the “Devil Rays.” The city’s 30-year lease includes terms that prevent the team from looking outside Pinellas County for another venue.
1997 – The Tampa Bay Storm move to Tampa's Ice Palace after winning four Arena Football titles over six seasons.
1998 – The Devils Rays begin play in the renamed Tropicana Field.
2005 – Minority owner Stuart Sternberg take control from Naimoli, beginning an era of on-field success and takes over a 19-year quest to replace the Trop, which draws minimal crowds and does not produce sufficient revenue to remain competitive. “Devil” is erased from the nickname.
2007 – The Rays propose building a new ballpark with a sail-roof design on the city’s waterfront, replacing Al Lang Stadium, then abandon the plan two years later.
2010 – The Rays begin a push to expand their stadium search beyond St. Petersburg, including the ABC Coalition's regional site search.
2016 – St. Petersburg finally gives the team permission to explore sites elsewhere in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
2018 – The Rays unveil plans for a $900 million stadium in Tampa's Ybor City neighborhood. The deal collapses amid the team’s concerns over financing.
2019 – Saying the region is "simply not well-suited" to host a full schedule, Sternberg proposes splitting home games between Tampa Bay and Montreal, with a new outdoor Bay area ballpark. Three years later, MLB rejects the “Sister City” concept.
2022 – The Rays and Hines propose a new $1.3 billion ballpark surrounded by a $6.5 billion private-public redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District.
2024 – Hurricane Milton tears the roof off Tropicana Field in October. City council votes Dec. 5 to invest $287.5 million on stadium construction. Pinellas twice delays a vote on spending $312.5 million. When finally approved Dec. 17, the planned opening from 2028 to 2029 adds significantly to the cost.
March 2025 – The Rays walk away from the Gas Plant deal. MLB begins pushing Sternberg to sell the franchise and assists in finding possible buyers.
April 2025 – The Rays play their home schedule at 10,046-seat Steinbrenner Field in Tampa because of hurricane damage at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay beats Pittsburgh 7-0 in the first of 61 sellouts.
October 2025 – Patrick Zalupski's group buys the Rays with the first order of business being a new “forever home.” Ownership, fronted by CEO Ken Babby, settle on Hillsborough College property across from Raymond James Stadium.
January 2026 – Rays announce a plan for a $2.3 billion stadium and a surrounding privately financed mixed-use development that will include a “reimagined” Hillsborough College campus.
August 2027 – Tampa City Council votes 4-3 to approve the financing and development contract on the Rays' proposed Tampa stadium. The Hillsborough County Commission must still sign off.
