“Baseball can succeed in the Tampa Bay area,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a conference Tuesday at Pinellas Park’s St. Pete College campus. “I have no doubt. You have a reservoir, there’s millions of people, and a high affinity for baseball.” He qualified the statement by adding, “but you do need a modern stadium and other things to draw people to go.”
In July 2025, the highly anticipated $1.3 billion deal to build a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium in St. Petersburg was officially terminated by the City Council. Although the deal is dead and repairs to Tropicana Field continue after Hurricane Milton damaged the dome, the Rays are still scheduled to play at the stadium through 2028.
The future of Major League Baseball in St. Pete – and in Florida more broadly – remains uncertain.
As of this week, the Rays have identified their preferred location, and it is not in St. Petersburg.
The Hillsborough Community College District Board of Trustees is moving forward with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the team that would, as per the understanding, redevelop the Dale Mabry campus alongside mixed-use development and additional facilities.
“We are supportive of [Hillsborough College] pursuing that partnership,” DeSantis said. “As governor, first and foremost, I don’t want to lose the team from Florida.” He noted that when he was growing up, he was a Braves fan because there wasn’t a major league team in Florida yet.
The MOU, however, is non-binding and far from finalized, meaning either side can still walk away. Following the vote, Rays CEO Ken Babby said, “There’s still great work ahead of us to be able to bring this to reality.”
DeSantis was St. Pete College’s North Pinellas campus Tuesday to announce a new program that will boost nursing education, and address Florida’s nursing shortage.
He reiterated that the state has avoided direct involvement in stadium financing. “On the state level, we don’t, from our coffers, finance the stadium,” he said. “That’s always been our policy.”
He added that the state, in lieu of direct financial aid, could still assist with infrastructure and other supplemental needs tied to a Hillsborough College project, should the deal continue moving forward.