Hurricane Milton severely damages Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field Stadium

2024-10-10T17:48:00-04:00

The roof at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, sustained major damage because of high winds associated with Hurricane Milton, which made landfall Wednesday along Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. According to the Rays, the Trop was built to withstand winds of up to 115 mph. The roof is supported by 180 miles of cables connected by struts in what the team calls the "world's largest cable-supported domed roof."

The Populous design in St. Petersburg (formerly called the 'ThunderDome') has existed mostly without sustaining significant storm damage since 1990. The roof system was made from 370,000 square feet of PTFE (fiberglass) Tensile Membrane manufactured by a New York company called Birdair, Inc.

The incident, which was captured on social media, sadly recalls damage sustained to the Louisiana Superdome during Hurricane Katrina for many Americans.

INSIDE LOOK ▶️ The MLB released footage from inside Tropicana Field as Hurricane Milton ripped its roof off.
Wind gusts over 100 mph were recorded in the area: https://t.co/q2ktAMiTik pic.twitter.com/llKNG9XTKg
— 10 Tampa Bay (@10TampaBay) October 10, 2024

Video courtesy 10 Tampa Bay/X

The MLB franchise, which is planning a new $1.3 billion ballpark with Hines for 2028, said they must now "assess the true condition" of the building before the viability of playing the 2025 season there can be determined.

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Hurricane Milton severely damages Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field Stadium