Tropicana Field lost most of its roof Wednesday night as Hurricane Milton arrived and brought winds of up to 120 mph to parts of Florida.
The stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida is the home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Its domed roof, made of large triangular fiberglass and Teflon-coated panels, was largely shredded with some sections missing entirely, exposing the interior of the only Major League Baseball stadium with a roof which is not retractable.
It was not immediately clear whether there had been significant damage inside the building.
The Rays said only essential personnel were inside the stadium and they were all safe.
Earlier this week, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said the stadium would be used as “a 10,000-person Tropicana Area base camp to support ongoing debris operations and post-landing responders.” Rows of cots had been set up inside the ballpark, but all workers and equipment were removed after learning that the roof might not remain intact under Milton’s winds.
“As it became clear that there was going to be something of that magnitude nearby, they redeployed them out of Tropicana,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Thursday. “There were no state assets located at Tropicana Field.”
According to the Rays 2024 media release, the stadium roof was designed to withstand winds of up to 185 mph.
The Rays finished the 2024 season last month with an 80-82 record. The team announced plans last year to build a new $1.3 billion stadium adjoining the 34-year-old Tropicana Area, with hopes of moving there by the 2028 season. .
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