Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet will consider conveying 22 acres of nonconservation land to Hillsborough College for a Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium, according to an agenda item released this week for a meeting on Tuesday.

DeSantis has previously said he supports the Rays’ quest to build a ballpark at the 113-acre Dale Mabry campus of Hillsborough College. A decision next week would solidify his commitment to the project.

“Baseball belongs in Tampa Bay,” he said at a news conference in Tampa this month. “Baseball can succeed in Tampa Bay.”

“Components” of the ballpark — or construction on the stadium and the surrounding development — must exist within five years of the transfer, the document says. Otherwise, the state could take back the land.

The Rays say they hope to have a stadium ready by April 2029.

“As proposed, the conveyance will increase economic development opportunities in the region through the construction of a professional sporting complex and a mixed-use development project,” the document says.

The item needs three votes to pass. The Cabinet is made up of Attorney General James Uthmeier, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.

The team’s owners have moved quickly since picking their preferred stadium site last month.

At a meeting in January, Hillsborough College’s board of trustees unanimously approved a nonbinding memorandum of understanding outlining the team’s plans to build a stadium, campus buildings and a mixed-use development with restaurants, residences and retail. They envision a district similar to The Battery, home to the Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park.

Now the Rays are marketing their project to city and county leaders as they seek funding and begin to negotiate a financing plan.

The team’s owners have said they plan to pay for 50% of the stadium cost — which could reportedly rise to $2.3 billion — as well as future repairs and renovations and any construction cost overruns.

For the rest, they’re looking to various city and county public funding sources. That could include money from a property tax assessed on the area around the stadium site; Hillsborough County’s half-percent sales tax that pays for roads, schools and other public projects; and a tourist tax on short-term rentals and hotel stays.

DeSantis said earlier this month that the state will “be conveying the land to the college and they’ll be able to negotiate use.” He also said the state is “looking to help” fund new buildings for the college on the site.

But, he cautioned, a stadium in the region is not guaranteed.

“I know there are other parts of Florida that want it,” DeSantis said. “Orlando wants this.”