The Tampa Bay Rays said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done to Tropicana Field, which saw its roof ripped to shreds by the force of Hurricane Milton as the deadly storm barreled across much of Florida.
The team said no one was injured when the St. Petersburg ballpark was struck by the storm on Wednesday night. A handful of “essential personnel” were inside Tropicana Field as the roof panels were blown apart, much of the debris falling on the field and seats below.
“Over the coming days and weeks, we expect to be able to assess the true condition of Tropicana Field,” the Rays said Thursday. “In the meantime, we are working with law enforcement to secure the building. We ask for your patience at this time, and we encourage those who can to donate to organizations in our community that are assisting those directly impacted by these storms.”
Milton was the second hurricane to hit Florida's Gulf Coast in the span of two weeks, preceded by Hurricane Helene, which flooded streets and homes on that same side of the state and left at least 230 people dead across the South.
The Rays aren't scheduled to play in the ballpark again until March 27, when they are supposed to play host to the Colorado Rockies to open the 2025 season.
For as bad as the damage was, the situation at Tropicana Field could have been worse. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had said earlier in the week that there were plans for the ballpark to serve as a “temporary base camp” to support debris cleanup operations and temporarily house some first responders. But those plans were changed as the storm neared, amid concerns that the roof simply would not survive Milton's wrath.
“They were relocated,” DeSantis said at a Thursday morning news conference. “Tropicana Field is a routine staging area for these things. The roof on that ... I think it's rated for 110 mph and so the forecast changes, but as it became clear that there was going to be something of that magnitude that was going to be within the distance, they redeployed them out of Tropicana. There were no state assets that were inside Tropicana Field.”
The team previously said that Tropicana Field features the world’s largest cable-supported domed roof, with the panels made of “translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass” supported by 180 miles of cables connected by struts.
The roof was designed to withstand wind of up to 115 mph, according to the Rays. The stadium opened in 1990 at an initial cost $138 million and is due to be replaced in time for the 2028 season with a $1.3 billion ballpark.
Lightning home opener postponed
The Tampa Bay Lightning will not play their home opener Saturday as planned.
The NHL said Thursday that Saturday's Lightning game against the Carolina Hurricanes was postponed “amid recovery efforts in the Tampa Bay area from the impact of Hurricane Milton.”
No makeup date was immediately announced. The Lightning will open the season at Carolina on Friday, and traveled there earlier this week to get out ahead of the storm.
The change means that Tampa Bay's home opener is now set for Tuesday against Vancouver.
“There's a lot of concern for everybody there,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after practice Thursday. “That's our home. It's going to be drastically different than when we left.”
The Lightning also had their preseason finale, which was to have been played this past Monday against Nashville, called off because of Milton's looming arrival. That game was originally set to be played last month and was postponed then because of Hurricane Helene.
There even was a moment of silence in Ottawa before the Senators' game against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, paying tribute to those affected by Milton.
Magic return delayed
The Orlando Magic spent Thursday in San Antonio and were planning to return home on Friday, a day behind their original schedule for the week.
The Magic played a preseason game in San Antonio on Wednesday night. They intended to fly home Thursday, arriving in Orlando in the early afternoon — those plans being scrapped because of Milton.
Instead, the Magic scheduled a practice in San Antonio on Thursday and have tentative plans to fly back to Orlando on Friday. A preseason game that was to be played Friday in Orlando between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans was canceled and will not be rescheduled.
“There's always things bigger than the game of basketball and that's what we have to keep our perspective on,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Knowing that there's families and homes and situations that are going through a tough time right now, we need to be mindful of that and conscious of it.”
The Magic-Pelicans game is the second NBA preseason matchup to be affected by Milton. A game scheduled for Thursday in Miami between the Heat and Atlanta Hawks was postponed until Oct. 16 because of storm concerns.
USF game still on, but moved
USF's game with Memphis has been moved again — this time, to Orlando.
The teams were scheduled to play Friday night in Tampa, then rescheduled to play there Saturday afternoon because of storm concerns. And on Thursday night, the game was changed again with the site now set to be Orlando's Camping World Stadium, about 90 miles northeast of Tampa.
The American Athletic Conference said that decision was made “in the interest of public safety and with respect for the response and recovery efforts” in the Tampa area after Milton.
The game is a 3:30 p.m. start.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
