The Tampa Bay Rays have been homeless for two years.
Hurricane Milton shredded the roof off Tropicana Field in 2024, old ownership walked away from a billion-dollar St. Petersburg deal, and the team spent an entire season playing at a Yankees spring training facility like a minor league club waiting for a callup.
But Ron DeSantis just moved to keep the Rays in Tampa and it has Orlando fuming.
Florida's Governor Puts 22 Acres on the Table
Today the Florida Cabinet meets to consider conveying 22 acres of state land at Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus toward a new Tampa ballpark.
DeSantis showed up at Hillsborough College earlier this month alongside MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and said exactly what he thinks.
"Baseball belongs in Tampa Bay," he told reporters.
That's not a slogan – that's a commitment from a governor who could have sat on his hands and let this franchise drift toward Orlando or relocation entirely.
New ownership, led by Patrick Zalupski, has promised to cover at least half the construction cost – roughly $1.15 billion – plus any overruns.
That's a deal Tampa Bay never got from former principal owner Stuart Sternberg, who spent nearly two decades stringing the region along while privately exploring a move to Montreal.
Why Tampa Is the Right Call
The Hillsborough College site sits on Dale Mabry Boulevard, flanked by Raymond James Stadium and Steinbrenner Field – where the Rays actually played last season.
The new ownership envisions a district like The Battery in Atlanta – restaurants, hotels, retail, residences – wrapped around an enclosed 31,000-seat ballpark.
An independent economic study projects the full development would pump $34 billion into the regional economy over 30 years, support nearly 12,000 permanent jobs, and draw 10 million visitors a year.
The state Senate has proposed $50 million to help relocate college facilities on the site.
DeSantis has made clear the state won't write a check for the stadium itself – he vetoed a $35 million spring training earmark for the Rays back in 2022 on those exact grounds – but he's offering land, infrastructure help, and the full weight of the governor's office.
That's smart governance.
The Rays Have Been Through This Before
What the sports media won't tell you is how extraordinary this moment actually is.
This franchise watched stadium deals collapse in 2008, in 2018, and then spectacularly in 2025 when the $1.3 billion Gas Plant District plan in St. Petersburg fell apart – costs exploded after Milton wrecked the Trop and new ownership walked away from a deal that no longer made sense.
Every failure traced back to the same rot: an ownership group unwilling to commit real money, politicians protecting turf over regional interest, and bureaucratic paralysis that turned a solvable problem into a generational embarrassment.
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Zalupski's group changed the math the moment they walked in and offered to cover half with no taxpayer exposure on overruns.
DeSantis recognized a good deal – and moved.
The Clock Is Running
The Rays' lease at the Trop runs through 2028, and they want to be in Tampa for Opening Day 2029.
That's three years to finalize a Cabinet vote, negotiate city and county funding, and break ground – with zero margin for the paralysis that killed every previous attempt.
DeSantis knows exactly what's at stake.
"I know there are other parts of Florida that want it," he said. "Orlando wants this."
For the first time in thirty years of Rays stadium talks, there's real pressure on Tampa Bay to act – because the alternative is watching someone else get the team.
DeSantis put the state's credibility behind the deal today.
Tampa Bay's move.
Sources:
- Nina Moske, "Florida Cabinet to consider giving 22 acres to college for Rays stadium in Tampa," Tampa Bay Times, February 18, 2026.
- "DeSantis, Cabinet to consider land for new Rays stadium," WUSF Public Media, February 18, 2026.
- "DeSantis, Manfred throw their support for a Rays stadium in Tampa," WUSF Public Media, February 3, 2026.
- "Tampa Bay Rays unveil renderings for proposed $2.3B stadium at Hillsborough College," Fox 13 Tampa Bay, February 5, 2026.
- "Gas Plant Stadium," Wikipedia, updated February 2026.
- "Florida's DeSantis and MLB commissioner support new Rays stadium in Tampa," ABC News, February 3, 2026.
