Rays, Tampa, Hillsborough closer to a stadium deal
Aerial drone View of sprawling Tampa Bay Skyline, Florida. (Photo by: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Earlier today, Florida Politics broke the news that the Rays, Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa have drawn up an MOU sketching out a public-private partnership to build a stadium to be built on the current Hillsborough College campus. According to Florida Politics sources, the city and county contributions to the stadium have been reduced just a tad, from an earlier $1.
1 billion to a “mere” $976 million. The Rays confirmed the news with their own press release: A MOU on a new ballpark proposal has been reached between the Tampa Bay Rays and representatives from Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa. Below is a statement from Rays CEO @kenbabby : “The Tampa Bay Rays are delighted to announce that we have reached a Memorandum of… pic.
twitter. com/VPhenwPZiL — Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) May 14, 2026 An MOU is a positive step for those rooting for this deal to go through. It will outline a basic understanding of the responsibilities of those involved and most likely a timeline for getting the project underway.
We will update this story as we get more detailed information. But an MOU is just a first step. First, this has been most likely negotiated between the Rays and city/county staff.
Florida sunshine laws make it very difficult for members of the County Commission and City Council to engage in negotiations outside the public eye. No doubt staff have ways of communicating with individual elected officials to be assured that they are pursuing an agreement likely to be supported, but at least in theory the next Commission and Council meetings where this MOU is an agenda item will be the first time the members of these bodies will have debated the details. Also, and MOU is ALWAYS just a first step.