The Oakland Rays?
Oakland Coliseum needs a tenant, and the Tampa Bay Rays need a home, but a cross-country move seems unlikely.
The Rays' current home, Tropicana Field, suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Milton last week, with the storm destroying the roof of the domed stadium.
The team has not yet publicly addressed future plans, saying it will take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done to Tropicana Field.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
The Rays are scheduled to play at the stadium in their 2025 regular-season opener on March 27 against the Colorado Rockies. The Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin reported Tuesday that it seems certain the Rays will not be able to open the season at home as planned.
Tropicana Field will not be ready for the Opening Day on March 27 due to damage sustained during Hurricane Milton, per @TBTimes_Rays.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 15, 2024
Where the Rays will play in 2025 is TBD. pic.twitter.com/MoHjYP83z4
With the team set to move into a new $1.3 billion stadium for the 2028 season, the costs to repair Tropicana Field might be too exorbitant for a stadium that is soon to be demolished. And the venue is not equipped with a drainage system to play without a roof.
So, whether Tropicana Field is closed for a few games, or for a few years, or for good, where might the relocated Rays play?
Where will the Rays play their home games?
Here are five potential locations for the Rays to play their home games if Tropicana Field is not ready for the 2025 season — and perhaps beyond. The logistics and feasibility of each are still to be determined.
GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER FIELD
The team would still be in Tampa, but they'd be paying rent to a division rival.
George M. Steinbrenner Field, of course, is the spring home of the New York Yankees. The stadium is roughly 20 miles away from Tropicana Field and offers a seating capacity of over 11,000. The Rays drew an average of 16,515 fans per home game in 2024, third-lowest in MLB.
The venue is open year-round for special events and is also home to the Yankees' low-A affiliate, the Tampa Tarpons.
Would the Yankees open their doors to a division rival in need? If not, there are many other spring training facilities in Florida to consider, including...
CHARLOTTE SPORTS PARK
The spring training home of the Tampa Bay Rays could also become their summer and fall home.
Charlotte Sports Park — a roughly 7,000-seat stadium in Port Charlotte, Florida — is 80 miles south of Tropicana Field. Locals fans could still attend games. But like other spring training venues, the stadium does not have a roof, which could pose a problem with Florida's unpredictable and sweltering summer weather.
DISNEY WORLD
The Rays' home could be the happiest place on Earth.
The team has called ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex home before, having played a regular-season series at the complex in both 2007 and 2008. They also spent the first two weeks of 2023 spring training at the facility, which was the Atlanta Braves' spring home from 1998 to 2019, when the Port Charlotte area was impacted by Hurricane Ian.
The 9,500-seat stadium and other venues at the complex, however, host year-round youth events for a variety of sports.
LOANDEPOT PARK
The Rays and Marlins could be roomies.
loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, is on the opposite coast of Florida, but it provides major league accommodations.
Only problem is that it houses another Major League Baseball team for 81 regular-season games. The Rays and Marlins currently have 49 conflicting home dates during the 2025 season, starting with Opening Day on March 27.
That would require some schedule changes and potential day-night doubleheaders.
MONTREAL
Remember back in 2022 when the Rays considered splitting their home schedule between Tampa Bay and Montreal?
That "sister city" proposal was rejected by Major League Baseball, and the Rays went on to secure a deal for a new stadium in Tampa.
Now the Rays could be in need of a temporary home. Olympic Stadium, the former home of the Montreal Expos before they became the Washington Nationals, is still standing. But the nearly 50-year-old venue currently has its own roofing issues.
Will the Rays play in Oakland?
Oh, and there currently is that vacant Major League Baseball stadium in the United States. But it's on the other side of the country.
The Oakland A's played their final game at the Oakland Coliseum in September, ending their 50-plus-year stay at the venue. They'll spend the next three seasons at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, the current home of the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, the River Cats, before moving into their new Las Vegas ballpark in 2028.
That leaves a stadium, locker room and empty seats that need filling.
Even if only temporary, it probably wouldn't be ideal to have an AL East divisional opponent that's 3,000 miles away and a three-hour time difference for televised games in Tampa.
But local fans seem ready to welcome home the Oakland Rays.
