{"id":183478,"date":"2026-03-08T21:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/183478\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T21:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:13:09","slug":"tampa-bay-rays-launch-fan-vote-to-help-choose-new-devil-rays-style-road-uniform-sportslogos-net-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/183478\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay Rays Launch Fan Vote to Help Choose New, Devil Rays-Style Road Uniform \u2013 SportsLogos.Net News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Rays<\/a> are bringing \u201cTampa Bay\u201d back to their uniforms.<\/p>\n

Twenty seasons after they dropped the region\u2019s name from their road uniforms (and just a couple of years after they floated playing half their games in another country), the Rays have announced they are \u201cthinking about\u201d putting \u201cTampa Bay\u201d back on their regular season road jerseys.<\/p>\n

YOUR Tampa Bay Rays \ud83e\udef5<\/p>\n

Playing as the visitors in Tampa tonight got us thinking about putting Tampa Bay back on our regular season road jerseys, and you get to help choose how. Which version of the away grays would you want to see take the field in the future?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) March 6, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Alongside the announcement, the Rays shared four proposals for this new uniform, all of which were grey with \u201cTAMPA BAY\u201d across the chest in the style of their original 1998-2000 road jersey lettering<\/a>. Let\u2019s take a look at each of these\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cOption 1\u201d<\/p>\n

Option 1 is essentially a road grey version of their current throwback-inspired home alternate uniforms. This is also the closest overall to the original Devil Rays set from their inaugural 1998 season. \u201cTAMPA BAY\u201d is across the chest in a rainbow purple-blue-green-yellow gradient with a navy blue devil ray underneath, and this is placed upon navy blue piping. The jersey is paired with the club\u2019s current throwback-inspired alternate blue Devil Rays cap.<\/p>\n

This would make the most sense as a direction if the club is planning a full-time return to the Devil Rays throwback set. The use of a navy blue cap shows the club wouldn\u2019t go to a direct throwback to that original look, as the Rays wore a black cap back then<\/a>, but instead a mixture of that original 1998-2000 set and their current 2008-2026 design.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cOption 2\u201d<\/p>\n

Option 2 gives us the original Devil Rays jersey in the team\u2019s current colours. The wordmark across the chest is again that gradient-heavy inaugural season design, but now made up entirely in their 2008-26 colour scheme of navy blue, light blue, and yellow \u2014 no green, no purple. The jersey is paired with a similarly recoloured version of their popular City Connect cap<\/a>, which features Tampa Bay (the body of water) in the shape of a ray with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across the top. This design would work as a compromise between eras, with the club being able to maintain the colour scheme they wore for what has, by far, been the most successful stretch in team history, but also give a nod to the design styles of the 1990s from which the club was born.<\/p>\n

\"\"Options 3 and 4<\/p>\n

Options 3 and 4 are essentially the same overall idea and design, with a simple flip of the primary colour on the lettering. Both strip the original \u201cTAMPA BAY\u201d wordmark of its gradient, presenting a solid light blue and navy blue version of it instead, allowing it to flow much more easily into the team\u2019s current designs. Both jerseys are shown with a navy blue cap, which includes their original 1998 \u201cTB\u201d cap logo<\/a> in light blue with a navy blue ray on it.<\/p>\n

Of the four, what\u2019s my choice? It\u2019s extremely tough. My ideal option isn\u2019t up there, which is #3 with a bit of yellow trim and the Sunshine Sky-Ray logo<\/a> as a sleeve patch. But in terms of these 4 presented as they are, I\u2019ll pull for #2, though honestly, I\u2019d be fine with any of the four. Every single option here is a vast improvement over the team\u2019s current road set.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay has had three visually distinct eras since entering Major League Baseball for the 1998 season. Their first set, as mentioned a few times in there, made use of colourful gradients and large, bold logos. Perhaps a little too bold for most, the then-Devil Rays only used it for three seasons before taking a step back from 2001-07. The Rays dropped the \u201cDevil\u201d from their logo and uniforms (though, not yet from their name) and simplified the colour scheme to black, green, and blue<\/a> \u2013 a criminally underrated look, the Rays saw no success in these years. A total refresh came for 2008, along with the new \u201cTampa Bay Rays\u201d name, the Rays dropped black and green from their colour scheme, brought back yellow, and instead placed emphasis on the rays of sunshine. After a little rhubarb from the locals, the Rays added a sting ray patch to their sleeves. The road greys, which now read \u201cRAYS\u201d<\/a> instead of \u201cTAMPA BAY,\u201d were dropped entirely for 2023 in favour of a navy blue version of the same design.<\/p>\n

\"\"The different logos the Tampa Bay Rays have worn on the front of their jerseys from 1998 to 2026<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Rays have worn \u201cTAMPA BAY\u201d on two regular uniforms since it was dropped from their road jerseys in 2008. First, their \u201cfauxback\u201d alternate uniforms <\/a>(remember those?) worn from 2012-18 included the full name of the team across the chest. Six years later, \u201cTampa Bay\u201d was added to the front of their black City Connect uniforms<\/a>, which were introduced for the 2024 season and are still part of the team\u2019s rotation for 2026.<\/p>\n

I am quite positive that it is not a coincidence that the Rays announced the return of \u201cTampa Bay\u201d to their uniform just as they are trying to secure funding for a new stadium. The American League club is currently in the early stages of negotiations with Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa, as well as hosting a series of community-engagement sessions, all regarding the construction of a new 31,000-seat ballpark. The Rays hope to have the ballpark ready in time for the 2029 season, just as their lease with Tropicana Field expires.<\/p>\n

Fans can share their choice with the team until sometime around noon ET on Monday, March 9, 2026, by choosing their favourite on the team\u2019s Twitter Poll<\/a>. As of the time I wrote this post, Option 1 was dominating with over 60% of the vote.<\/p>\n