Gov. Ron DeSantis says the future of the Tampa Bay Rays’ proposed stadium deal is for Tampa and Hillsborough County to decide, but warns that other cities would be ready to compete for the franchise if the local deal falls apart.
DeSantis said he continues to support the Tampa site and believes Major League Baseball wants the Rays to stay in Florida. But he stopped short of saying the state should help pay for the ballpark itself, maintaining a distinction between direct stadium funding and state support for transportation improvements or the college campus.
“I’ve been agnostic to whether local government should or shouldn’t. Under these circumstances it’s up to them to decide,” DeSantis said. “But the one thing I will just say in terms of baseball stadiums around the country … I think the only one that hasn’t been a public-private partnership is Oracle in San Francisco. I think every other stadium just has been, and so that’s just kind of the playing field that you’re on.”
DeSantis also said the Tampa Bay area is not the only market in Florida, or beyond, that could be interested if the Rays fail to land a deal in Hillsborough County.
“I know Orlando wants it,” DeSantis said. “They would plow a lot of money into this. There’s no question Orange County would, and Charlotte would too, Nashville would. I mean, there’s a lot of places around the country who would like to have an MLB franchise.”
The Governor’s comments come a day after Senate Appropriations Chair Ed Hooper said the Legislature should be cautious about putting state money into Hillsborough College and other infrastructure for the project while Tampa, Hillsborough County and the Rays negotiate.
Hooper said there appeared to be “heartburn” at the local level and suggested the state should wait until those issues are resolved before getting involved. However, sources who also have knowledge of the situation told Florida Politics the funding is still in play through the Public Education Capital Outlay process.
The Senate backed the $50 million request made by Hillsborough College earlier this year, but the House did not include the money in its budget plan — leaving the matter as one of many efforts under consideration during ongoing budget talks during Special Session. Media reports citing team communications have noted the ask could reach as high as $150 million.
DeSantis said the state has traditionally supported transportation work around major projects and would have a clear interest in helping reimagine the Hillsborough College Dale Mabry campus, but believes the state should focus on infrastructure and forms of support that have other public use rather than direct ballpark funding.
“We’re not doing, at the state level, money for a stadium,” DeSantis said. “We’ve not done that since I’ve been Governor, I know they’ve tried to do it in the past. We’ve not.”
He did say the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has already prepared plans for traffic management if the project comes to fruition.
“We have a whole FDOT plan for how you would do the ingress and egress. We’ll put resources into that, but that’s people where even if you have no interest in baseball you don’t have to sit in traffic. You have to make that work if you’re going to be accommodating tens of thousands of people for the game.”
He said the state is also interested in supporting Hillsborough College renovations that would be a part of the grander vision for the development.
“For us, the question is, do we want to sink money into rehabbing old buildings and do all this deferred maintenance, or do we just want to reimagine the campus and do something that can be really special?” DeSantis said. “That’s something that obviously supports the state’s interests.”
Still, DeSantis said he would rather not get involved in direct Rays ballpark funding.
“The reason why, from the state level, I’ve not wanted to get involved and say oh yeah, we’ll pick this up for the stadium, is because I’ve got a big state. If I do something for this and that, it would never work. So we haven’t done that, that’s more of a local question,” DeSantis said.
Rays CEO Ken Babby recently told Tampa city officials that the clock is ticking to meet the team’s June timeline. He explained that expedience is necessary if the team is to open a new ballpark by the 2029 MLB season, after the team’s lease at Tropicana Field is set to expire.
During a recent Tampa City Council workshop, Babby framed the proposal as a “generational opportunity” to build out a new stadium with a mixed-use entertainment district while renovating the college campus.
Still, the proposal has given rise to questions among local officials about public cost and taxpayer exposure.
The Rays have said their ownership group is prepared to contribute more than $1.1 billion toward the ballpark, cover cost overruns and take on the development cost and risk tied to the broader district. Still, the project could require more than $1 billion in public funding, with Tampa and Hillsborough County exploring bonds backed by future community investment tax revenue and other options such as tourist development tax revenue, other financing mechanisms and existing reserves.
That uncertainty and pressure for funding is feeding skepticism among some local officials. Tampa City Council Member Charlie Miranda recently questioned whether the city should take on major stadium-related obligations while it still faces road, infrastructure and debt concerns. He also questioned the team’s financial transparency and whether the surrounding entertainment district would be fully built out.
Miranda is among several City Council members and County Commissioners who have expressed similar concerns.
Still, DeSantis said Major League Baseball wants the team to stay in Florida and believes the Tampa site is the best option. He said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred previously told him the franchise was a “distressed asset” under prior ownership, but that it would be “bad for baseball” if the Rays left Florida.
“They believe this Tampa site is the best to be able to do that,” DeSantis said.
