Tampa Bay Rays set for Tropicana Field return Monday in front of sold-out crowd

Monday “figures to be a festive and emotional day” as the Rays return to Tropicana Field for their first game since the damage caused by Hurricane Milton in October 2024. GETTY IMAGES

Monday “figures to be a festive and emotional day” as the Rays return to Tropicana Field for their first game since the damage caused by Hurricane Milton in October 2024. And there “will be a full house of some 25,000 fans there to see it,” as the team announced on Saturday that the game is officially sold out. This is the 20th straight season, not counting the 2020 COVID season when fans were not allowed, that the Rays have sold out their home opener (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 4/4). Country music artist Eric Church will “perform the national anthem,” and “in a nod to the Rays’ current and hopeful future home,” they will have first pitches by both St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. Members of the crew that “repaired the Trop and team staff will be acknowledged with their participation in the flag unfurling ceremony” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 4/5).

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