{"id":209000,"date":"2026-03-27T23:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T23:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/209000\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T23:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T23:16:23","slug":"tampa-bay-rays-proposed-stadium-plan-sparks-debate-over-2-3b-price-tag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/209000\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay Rays proposed stadium plan sparks debate over $2.3B price tag"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"More <\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla – A high-stakes pitch over a brand-new Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> stadium is heating up in Hillsborough County<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hillsborough County Commissioner Joshua Wostal is pushing for the release of records related to ongoing stadium negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

The proposed ballpark at Hillsborough Community College\u2019s Dale Mabry campu<\/a>s carries a $2.3 billion price tag. The Rays’ new ownership group, led by Patrick Zalupski, has proposed to pay 50% of the total cost.<\/p>\n

Wostal says this could become the single largest taxpayer-burdened project in Hillsborough County history.<\/p>\n

“This would only delay or cancel infrastructure projects,” Wostal said. “Making them more expensive and out of reach for us, increasing the affordability crisis.”<\/p>\n

Wostal also argues that taxpayers deserve to understand how their money could be spent before any agreement is finalized.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s the people\u2019s money,” Wostal said. “They deserve to see how politicians are considering spending it, and they deserve the opportunity to voice their opinions on this matter.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Some local leaders warn releasing sensitive details could affect ongoing negotiations. Tampa City Council Chair and Tampa Sports Authority Member Alan Clendenin says timing is critical.<\/p>\n

“This is not about scoring political points,” Clendenin said. “This is about good faith negotiation and making sure that we reach an agreement that is good for both sides.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the numbers:<\/p>\n

Clendenin points to the potential economic impact of this massive project, including tourism tax revenue and job creation. Officials estimate that the stadium development <\/a>could bring nearly 14,000 jobs to the area.<\/p>\n

“All of that is going to bring money into this community,” Clendenin said. “That money does not materialize without the construction of the stadium.”<\/p>\n

During a community engagement event for fans on Wednesday at The Press Box, Rays CEO Ken Babby expressed confidence in this deal moving forward.<\/p>\n

“There have been many starts, many stops and many prior attempts,” Babby said. “We\u2019re going to make this happen, this is Tampa\u2019s deal, and we\u2019re excited to bring it home.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

Hillsborough County commissioners could vote on the stadium proposal as early as April 15. Tampa <\/a>City Council is expected to vote the next day.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Wostal has proposed a deadline of 5 p.m. on April 1 for the Rays to release internal documents related to this deal.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this story came from statements from the Tampa Bay Rays, an interview with a Hillsborough County Commissioner, an interview with a Tampa City Councilmember and previous reporting on FOX 13, and from reporting by FOX 13’s Blake Devine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>Rays Stadium Plans<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla – A high-stakes pitch over a brand-new Tampa Bay Rays stadium is heating up in Hillsborough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47,629,3817,115,6164,29208,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-209000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-mlb","tag-news","tag-rays-baseball","tag-rays-stadium","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209000","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=209000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}