Could the Rays play next year in....Omaha?

After damage from Hurricane Milton, the Rays may not be able to play in St. Petersburg.

Hurricane Milton caused devastating damage to the Tampa area earlier this month, shredding the roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Rays. The full destruction of the storm is not yet known, but Rays beat writer Marc Topkin reports that the stadium will be unusable for the start of the 2025 MLB season.

The team still has yet to full assess the “true condition” of the stadium, but what has been learned so far indicates the stadium will not be playable in time for the season opener.

Access to the building has been extremely limited due to safety concerns, including the integrity of the struts that held the Teflon-coated fiberglass roof.

There are indications of extensive damage elsewhere at the stadium. For example, some team offices on the fourth floor, which had drop ceilings under the overall roof, are now open to the elements.

The city of St. Petersburg is responsible for repairing the stadium, but with construction to begin on a new stadium next year, many are questioning whether it is worth the financial cost to rebuild Tropicana Field.

At the very least the Rays will need to find a temporary home to begin next year, but it could turn into a multi-year relocation until the new stadium opens in 2028. Al Lang Stadium has been in St. Petersburg since 1947 and has served as a spring training home before, but it has been converted to a soccer stadium. Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the Yankees, is also in the area and seats more fans with a capacity of 11,026. But moving to any outdoor spring training ballpark (which were spared damage from Milton) would subject the team to frequent summer rainouts, plus there would be scheduling conflicts with the minor league teams that play there in the summer.

There is a ballpark nearby that doesn’t house a team - the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, about one hour from the Tampa area. The ballpark was once the spring training home of the Braves, and it hosted MLB games for the Rays in 2007-08. But the ballpark only seats 9,500 fans, would need upgrades to make it MLB ready, and already hosts numerous youth sporting events throughout the year.

In South Florida, Miami has an open ballpark in Hard Rock Stadium, which was once home to the Marlins and is currently home to the NFL’s Dolphins. It seats over 67,000 for baseball, which may seem too cavernous for a team that already had problems drawing fans and would be playing far from their fanbase. Plus the stadium already has a tenant and numerous other events to schedule around, would be subject to the elements, and the Marlins would have to approve sharing their market.

So the Rays may have to look outside the southeast to find a home for the next few years. Many fans have suggested that Oakland will have a vacant stadium next year after the A’s relocate to Sacramento. But that would require Rays fans to watch home games in the Pacific time zone, likely killing interest and TV ratings.

Ideally the team would stay in the Eastern time zone, which could make Durham, North Carolina an option, although their 10,000-seat ballpark already hosts a Triple-A team and Duke University baseball. The Rays once suggested splitting games with Montreal, making Olympic Stadium a possibility as well. Once the home of the Expos, the indoor venue seats 56,000, and the opportunity could give Montreal fans a chance to show they deserve another team.

If the Rays are comfortable moving to the Central time zone, it could give cities vying for expansion teams an opportunity to show they are worthy. In Nashville, First Horizon Ballpark seats 10,000 for the Triple-A Sounds. Oklahoma City’s Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark seats 9,000 as the home of the Dodgers' top affiliate. Those options would require scheduling around a minor league team, but the old Rangers ballpark would not - Choctaw Stadium (formerly known as The Ballpark at Arlington) still stands and seats 48,000. However it is the home of a football and soccer team, and the Rangers would need to approve sharing the market.

The largest stadium in the country without an MLB team is in Omaha, Nebraska. Charles Schwab Stadium seats 24,000 and is the home of the College World Series each June. So there would be no minor league team to schedule around - the Storm Chasers play in nearby Werner Park. The stadium has hosted an MLB game before - the Royals played the Tigers there in 2019.

Any relocation will have a major impact on the team. Employees and players will have to relocate, and many stadium workers will lose their jobs. The move will likely hurt revenues for the team, which was already one of the lowest-revenue teams in baseball. In the wake of such devastation, the fortunes of a baseball team may seem small, but for those affected it will have a huge impact.