{"id":141995,"date":"2026-02-03T15:02:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/141995\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T15:02:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:02:24","slug":"desantis-mlb-commissioner-holds-news-conference-at-hc-site-of-potential-rays-stadium-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/141995\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis, MLB commissioner holds news conference at HC \u2014 site of potential Rays stadium plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TAMPA, Fla. – Governor Ron DeSantis is joining MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in Tampa for a news conference at Hillsborough College, the site the Tampa Bay Rays’ new ownership team is eyeing for potential stadium developments<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

DeSantis, who has a reported close relationship with the Rays\u2019 new ownership group led by Patrick Zalupski, has expressed public support for a new ballpark and redesign of the Hillsborough College site on Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.\u00a0Because the state owns the land, the governor\u2019s backing is a critical hurdle cleared for the “work-live-learn-play” vision the team has proposed.<\/p>\n

READ: Rays stadium negotiations: Incorporating Hillsborough College could be key to preventing economic headwinds<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The proposed “College District” would relocate existing HC facilities to a dedicated corner of the property, while the rest of the 113 acres would be leased to the team for at least 99 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

“There’s still great work ahead of us to be able to bring this to reality, but what I can say with certainty is that we believe with conviction… That we’re going to be able to create a world-class work-live-learn-play development here in Tampa Bay,”\u00a0said Ken Babby, the Rays CEO.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The other side:<\/p>\n

While the state and team are aligned, local funding remains in question. The Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners has explicitly ruled out using general revenue funds, which is taxpayer money used for basic services, to pay for the stadium.<\/p>\n

MORE: Rays stadium needs Tampa City Council, Hillsborough County support \u2014 What city, county leaders are saying<\/a><\/p>\n

To bridge the 50% funding gap, the team has suggested several “visitor-heavy” options:<\/p>\n

Tourist Development Taxes\u00a0(Hotel\/Bed taxes).Car rental fees\u00a0and ticket surcharges.Community Redevelopment Funds\u00a0(CRA property tax revenue generated by the project itself).Special Taxing Districts\u00a0(Special assessments on the new businesses within the development). \"\" <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

The immediate focus is the 180-day exclusive negotiation window established by a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)<\/a>. Officials must determine the exact relocation costs for the college and establish a “feasible framework” for the public half of the financing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ: St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch on Rays potentially moving to Tampa, focuses for reelection bid<\/a><\/p>\n

In the meantime, the Rays are set to return to a repaired Tropicana Field for the 2026 season while they wait for their future home to take shape.<\/p>\n

Tuesday’s news conference with DeSantis is slated for 10 a.m.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this report was compiled from transcripts of news briefings involving Rays CEO Ken Babby, public statements from Governor Ron DeSantis, and the agenda for the Hillsborough College Board of Trustees\u00a0special meeting. Details on funding mechanisms were sourced from conceptual frameworks presented to the Hillsborough County Commission.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Ron DeSantis<\/a>Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>Rays Stadium Plans<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – Governor Ron DeSantis is joining MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in Tampa for a news conference…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47,629,3817,115,992,6164,29208,412,135,137,136,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-141995","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-fl","9":"tag-hillsborough","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-people","13":"tag-rays-baseball","14":"tag-rays-stadium","15":"tag-ron-desantis","16":"tag-tampa","17":"tag-tampa-headlines","18":"tag-tampa-news","19":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}