The Tampa Bay Rays announced plans to build a new stadium.

MLB.com, the official major league media, said on the 19th (hereinafter Korean time), “Tampa Bay is expected to announce a contract to build a new stadium in downtown St. Petersburg. “With this agreement, Tampa Bay, which has been looking for a new stadium for a long time, will end its worries and achieve the club’s goal of securing a long-term home stadium in the Tampa Bay area.”바카라 

Tampa Bay currently uses Tropicana Field, located in St. Petersburg, Florida, as its home stadium. Tropicana Field, which opened in 1986, has consistently been criticized for its outdated facilities. It is also the only closed dome stadium currently remaining in the Major League. In addition, the lack of accessibility from Tampa, the largest city in the Tampa Bay area, was pointed out as a factor hindering Tampa Bay’s ability to mobilize spectators. 

For this reason, Tampa Bay has been steadily trying to build a new stadium. As negotiations with St. Petersburg were sluggish, new regions such as Tampa, Montreal, and Las Vegas were considered as candidate locations. However, in the end, none of them resulted in an actual contract, and it was eventually decided to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg. 

MLB.com said, “Tampa Bay did not mention or acknowledge the new stadium contract. However, this evening, the club, the city of St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County announced that they would make a joint announcement at Tropicana Field on the morning of the 20th,” he said, predicting the announcement of the construction of a new stadium. 

The new stadium will be built while redeveloping the area where Tropicana Field is currently located. MLB.com said, “The new stadium will be built on the 86-acre area where Tropicana Field is located, or an area called the Historic Gas Plant Area. When Tampa Bay was founded in 1998, it signed a 30-year contract with Tropicana Field, and the contract expires in 2027. “The new stadium will be used as Tampa Bay’s new home stadium starting in 2028.” 

According to Tampa Bay’s plan, the new stadium is expected to be built with a closed dome and a capacity of 30,000 seats. It also features artificial turf, open walls, and exhibition hall design. The construction cost is expected to be at least $1.2 billion (about 1.5864 trillion won) and will be financed through a public-private partnership, including the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. Tampa Bay owner Stuart Sternberg said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times that he expects Tampa Bay to cover “more than half” of the new stadium project. 

MLB.com said, “The new stadium is part of a plan to redevelop the area where Tropicana Field is located. “This redevelopment project will include multi-family housing, offices, retail stores, a hotel, senior housing, and entertainment facilities.” He continued, “Tampa Bay has been looking for a new stadium for almost 16 years. However, plans to build a stadium in a new area in 2007 and 2022 ultimately failed to reach agreement, and the plan for a joint stadium with Montreal announced in 2022 did not receive approval from the Major League Secretariat. “Tampa Bay will now remain at Tropicana Field in downtown St. Petersburg, where it has played since 1998,” he added.