Rays to play 2025 season at Yankees' spring training field in Tampa

The Tampa Bay Rays will play at Steinbrenner Field, the Tampa-based spring training home of their division rival New York Yankees, for the 2025 season after Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field.

Steinbrenner Field, located in northwest Tampa and down the street from the Buccaneers' Raymond James Stadium, seats 11,000 and serves as the home for the Yankees' Class A affiliate Tampa Tarpons.

The Rays had considered other facilities in the surrounding metropolitan area, but Steinbrenner Field was the most major-league-ready option, and the Yankees and Rays struck a deal that will pay New York for use of the facility, sources told ESPN.

"It is singularly the best opportunity for our fans to experience 81 games of major league Rays baseball," Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said. "As difficult as it is to get any of these stadiums up to major league standards, it was the least difficult. You're going to see Major League Baseball in a small environment."

The Rays will remain in Port Charlotte, Florida, for spring training before moving into Steinbrenner Field just days before Opening Day on March 27.

Tampa Bay will use the stadium full time; the Tarpons are expected to use other fields in the area for the 2025 season. Coming off an 80-82 season and fourth-place finish in the AL East, Tampa Bay is expected to compete for a playoff spot in 2025 with the return of ace Shane McClanahan from Tommy John surgery.

"Given the significant challenges caused by Hurricane Milton, I appreciate the hard work and collaboration between the two teams that allowed the Rays to make the best decision for next season," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "This outcome meets Major League Baseball's goals that Rays' fans will see their team play next season in their home market and that their players can remain home without disruption to their families."

Following the damage from the Oct. 9 hurricane -- which tore much of the fiberglass roof off the domed stadium and would cost $55.7 million to repair for it to be ready by the 2026 season, according to a report this week from the city of St. Petersburg -- the Rays scrambled to find a new home for 2025.

The franchise has a deal to build a new stadium near Tropicana Field that is set to open in 2028. While other facilities in the area were considered for this year, Steinbrenner Field -- currently undergoing a significant upgrade to its home clubhouse -- needed the fewest modifications to reach major league standards.

Sutter Health Park, the Sacramento, California, stadium where the Athletics will play for at least three years before their planned move from Oakland to Las Vegas, has needed substantial renovations to prepare it for the 2025 season.

The last team to play in a minor league facility was the Toronto Blue Jays, who moved their regular-season games in 2020 to their spring home in Dunedin, Florida, and later to Buffalo, N.Y., because of COVID-related restrictions in Canada.

Once known as Legends Field, Steinbrenner Field opened in 1996. It is named for longtime Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who ran a shipbuilding company in Tampa and died at his home there in 2010. One of his sons, Hal Steinbrenner, is the team's managing general partner.

"This is a heavy lift for the Yankees. This is a huge ask by us and baseball of the Yankees," Sternberg said. "[Hal Steinbrenner] did not waver for one second. I couldn't have been more grateful."

Steinbrenner said in a statement that the Yankees are "happy to extend our hand to the Rays" and noted that the team and his family have "deep roots" in the Tampa Bay area.

"In times like these, rivalry and competition take a back seat to doing what's right for our community," Steinbrenner said, "which is continuing to help families and businesses rebound from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.