Rays to announce St. Petersburg stadium deal this week

According to Marc Topkin at the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays are set to announce a new stadium deal with the city of St. Petersburg at the eleventh hour.

Here’s what we know:

• After 16 years of speculation, dating back to the change from Devil Rays to Rays, the team is staying in St. Petersburg, FL.
• The stadium plan remains what was reported earlier: a fixed roof stadium seating 30,000 and anchoring a larger overall development in the Historic Gas Plant District, which is where the current stadium is located today.
• The new stadium would open for the 2028 season, but the overall development may not be complete until a decade later. You can view the Rays stadium redevelopment proposal here.
• Last week, Topkin also reported the Rays would be willing to take on around $600 million to fund a new stadium, with rumors floating that Stu Sternberg was interested in selling a stake in the team for the influx of cash.
• The announcement could come as soon as tomorrow, with WDAE’s Zac Blobner reporting that a change in ownership is potentially falling into place as well.

We will update this article if any more news drops today.

Read More from DRaysBay:

• Rays plan selected by St. Petersburg to redevelop Tropicana Field location
• Pinellas County and St. Petersburg commissioned an economic impact study of a new Rays stadium. Here’s what it said.
• Flewellen: We owe it to former Gas Plant District residents to get this right