Tampa Bay Rays' New Stadium Could Cost Public Nearly $1 Billion

The Tampa Bay Rays have been on a quest for a new stadium for nearly two decades. Their quest is finally over. The Pinellas County Commission voted 5-2 to approve a minimum of $300 million in public funding on Tuesday. This means construction of the projected $1.3 billion stadium can get under way.

The plan calls to break ground in January of 2025, with hopes to be ready for Opening Day in 2028. While the Rays are set to pick up $700 million of the tab for the stadium, the remainder of the cost is expected to far exceed the initial $300 million in approved funding for the city of St. Petersburg and the state of Florida.

The Rays didn't waste anytime celebrating this monumental vote on social media, with a little help from longtime Rays' all-star, Evan Longoria:

"This is quite a momentous day for our franchise, our fans and the entire Tampa Bay region - the Rays are here to stay in St. Petersburg," team owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement. "We look forward to building the best neighborhood ballpark in Major League Baseball, which will blend in beautifully with a world-class, mixed-use real estate project that honors the past and looks toward the future."

This is certainly an exciting time for Rays' ownership and fans alike, however, the Rays have ranked in the bottom-five of attendance every year since 2011. Only time will tell if the public, who are about to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for this stadium, are going to show up to fill the new 30,000 seat stadium.