{"id":827829,"date":"2026-07-27T22:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/827829\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T22:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:39:14","slug":"rays-promote-stadium-versatility-in-new-renderings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/827829\/","title":{"rendered":"Rays promote stadium versatility in new renderings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tampa Bay Rays’ latest artist renderings of their proposed Tampa ballpark<\/a> depict the 30,000-seat stadium configured for a variety of events, underscoring the team’s argument that the project would provide more to the community than just a baseball venue.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s release comes four days after votes by Tampa City Council<\/a> may have set back a timeline to open the facility by March 2029. Nevertheless, Rays CEO Ken Babby says negotiations are continuing on a $976 million public financing package for the $2.3 billion stadium.<\/p>\n

The four illustrations, created by stadium designer Populous, show the translucent-domed stadium hosting a nighttime concert and professional wrestling, as well as a large-scale volleyball tournament and Hillsborough College graduation.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Rays’ latest renderings focus on mixed-use district surrounding planned stadium<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have said from the beginning that our new ballpark is about more than baseball,\u201d Babby said. \u201cA Forever Home ballpark for the Rays is about creating an economic engine for our region through a steady and vast array of special events that will drive hotel occupancy, restaurant traffic, parking revenue, airport activity and transit usage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stadium has been envisioned as an anchor for a privately funded $8 billion multiuse development, with space for residences, businesses, a hotel and state-of-the-art buildings for Hillsborough College\u2019s Dale Mabry campus.<\/p>\n

The Rays have touted analyses projecting the stadium and development could generate at least $55 billion in economic output over 30 years.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Rays open dialogue with city council after stadium votes spark mayor\u2019s backlash<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Rays, that would be \u201csignificant new economic and intangible benefits\u201d for the city, including more than 11,000 jobs in hospitality, entertainment, security, operations and support services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel it can be one of the busiest venues in sports, entertainment and events,\u201d Babby said. \u201cThat’s not just good for the Tampa Bay Rays \u2014 it\u2019s transformational for hotels, restaurants, parking operators, transit agencies, security companies, and many other businesses and workers throughout Tampa Bay.”<\/p>\n

The new renderings build on last week\u2019s release of illustrations showing details in a planned office tower within the mixed-use district. The Rays say they are in discussions with Fortune 500 companies interested in relocating to the district.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Babby pledged<\/a> to meet with council members individually to keep them informed on the negotiations and include their suggestions to address their longstanding complaints about being left out of talks. The mayor\u2019s staff has been representing the city in discussions.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Two city council decisions cloud Tampa’s role in Rays’ ballpark proposal<\/a><\/p>\n

That, as well as constituents\u2019 concerns over investing tax dollars in the stadium, triggered votes on Thursday that cast doubt on the city\u2019s role in the project.<\/p>\n

One decision came with council members in their role as the city\u2019s redevelopment agency. They removed an agenda item from an Aug. 20 meeting to consider using $100 million in future Drew Park property tax increases for stadium bonds.<\/p>\n

The other vote denied state officials a chance to review land-use changes for the college property, where the stadium district would be built in Tampa\u2019s Drew Park neighborhood. Votes on such land-use actions are considered routine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Rays’ latest artist renderings of their proposed Tampa ballpark depict the 30,000-seat stadium configured for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-827829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}