The Tampa Bay Rays will host World Series games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg after the stadium was repaired for $58 million following Hurricane Milton. Two years after the storm tore the roof off the building, the venue is back in use and ready for baseball on the sport’s biggest stage.
For Pete Boland, that return already feels bigger than a ballpark reopening. He said the comeback has brought a frenetic energy downtown and added that he bought tickets for all three World Series home games. Boland said there is “tons of excitement” around the stadium and that “World Series fever is starting to pick up around here.”
The final repair bill came in below the $59.7 million the City Council approved in 2024, with FEMA, insurance and state grants covering more than half of the cost. Crews installed 24 new roof panels and restored the building in time for the World Series, even though the stadium had been left exposed after the storm. Beth Herendeen said the roof was gone but the seats, concourses and clubs were intact, and said that gave her confidence the work could be finished. “So, I thought, ‘We can get this done,’” she said.
Herendeen also described just how complicated the fix became. She said the roof materials were fabricated in Germany, assembled in China and then had to be airlifted, and that the first panels were delayed after a Russian volcano eruption closed the airspace over the North Pole. “Took a lot of people a lot of time, energy, blood, sweat and tears to get it done,” she said, adding later, “But I was optimistic the whole time.”
The repair decision came after a push from the Rays’ former ownership for the city to buy out the team’s stadium agreement, with that side arguing the Trop could not be repaired in time for the 2026 season. City officials kept moving, and the result is now clear: the stadium is ready for World Series games, and St. Pete gets the showcase it was promised. Lisset Hanewicz praised the city staff and contractors who made that happen, while Boland said, “I feel like we deserve this in St. Pete.”
What remains is the baseball itself, and the scale of the moment. Herendeen said she is “incredibly proud” of the work, but that the players earned the World Series spot on the field. The city’s part was getting Tropicana Field back on its feet in time, and it did. Now the only unanswered piece is how the games will feel once the first pitch arrives under a roof rebuilt after a storm that was supposed to keep this place quiet far longer.
