After significant damage to Tropicana Field during October hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Rays are playing their 2025 home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the spring training facility for the team’s AL East rival New York Yankees.

The Rays officially began the campaign at the temporary home on Friday, hosting the Colorado Rockies in the ballpark named after the Yankees’ former owner with a capacity of 11,026 located in Tampa proper – rather than neighboring St. Petersburg.

Despite sustained success and two trips to the World Series since 2008, the Rays have been unable to consistently get people to come to Tropicana Field and ranked 28th of 30 teams with an average attendance of 16,515.

Prior to Thursday’s opener, Rays fans eagerly awaited to check out their team’s new ballpark for themselves. Rays branding went up throughout the stadium, but there’s still plenty of Yankees iconography.

The Rays are expected to return to Tropicana Field in 2026, but the club’s future in the region is in doubt after recently pulling out of a new stadium deal in St. Petersburg.

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