While a sold-out Tropicana Field takes center stage during the Tampa Bay Rays’ playoff run, there has been noteworthy movement regarding the team’s future home across the bay.
On Wednesday, the Rays announced plans to open a Ballpark Experience Center in Tampa’s Westshore District, not far from the proposed stadium site on what is now Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry campus.
Meanwhile, representatives from hundreds of construction firms attended a two-day outreach event this week with the stadium’s construction manager to learn more about prequalification, scopes of work, project schedules and opportunities for tradespeople.
The $2.36 billion stadium is scheduled to open in March 2029.
The Ballpark Experience Center, covering nearly 15,000 square feet in the Westshore City Center, will offer current and prospective fans, sponsors and premium partners the opportunity to visualize the ballpark and surrounding mixed-use district, the team said.
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About 5,000 square feet will be open to the public and include family-friendly experiences, team memorabilia, exhibits highlighting the stadium district and retail, the Rays said.
It will include a digital preview of the ballpark and future Hillsborough College campus, a stop to create a personalized baseball card, and other “experiences celebrating the past, present and future.”
“Rays fans, sitting anywhere from general to premium seating, will no longer have to imagine their experience in our new ballpark,” Rays CEO Ken Babby said in a news release.
The remaining space will be appointment-only for prospective season ticket members, premium clients and partners.
“Our sponsors and marketing partners will see how their investment in the ballpark will deliver an entirely new level of energy and connection with Rays fans and their target audiences, which are often the same,” Babby said.
Plans include “advanced technology” providing sightline views, hospitality and premium offerings, group areas, and hotel, office and retail elements of the 120-acre development.
The center will illustrate “signage, activation, client engagement and opportunities that may have been difficult to imagine not long ago,” Babby said.
The Ballpark Experience Center, at 1111 N. Westshore Blvd., is slated to open early next year.
Attracting fans, sponsors and business tenants is only half of the work. Building the stadium and surrounding district is another tall task for the Rays.
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A big step in that occurred Monday and Tuesday, when more than 400 people from the construction industry attended information sessions with the stadium’s construction manager, according to the trade industry organization ABC Florida Gulf Coast.
ABC has been an active supporter of the stadium proposal, citing employment opportunities for the region's tradespeople. The group teamed with construction manager AECOM Hunt, Turner Construction and Tampa-based Horus Construction Services to host the outreach sessions at Hillsborough College.
The Tampa City Council and Hillsborough County Commission in August approved financing agreements that will provide up to $876 million combined toward the stadium. The Rays have committed more than $1.3 billion to cover all cost overruns.
“A major project like this means more than a new stadium. It means opportunities for local contractors, good construction careers, apprenticeships and millions of dollars of economic activity throughout Tampa Bay,” ABC Florida Gulf Coast said in a Facebook post.
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Steve Cona, president and CEO of the local ABC chapter, spoke to Tampa City Council before its Aug. 27 vote on stadium financing and framed the development as both a construction project and workforce-development opportunity.
He told the council his group’s longstanding apprenticeship partnership with Hillsborough College has helped train thousands of construction workers and that major projects such as the Rays’ stadium create opportunities that inspire young people to enter the trades.
“We get two to 20 calls a day with high school students coming, wanting to get into the construction trades, and that’s because of interest in projects like this,” Cona said.
