Inside Look at the Tampa Bay Rays Team Store at the Trop
ST. PETERSBURG — Who knows what’s going to happen with the Tampa Bay Rays and the Trop?
But Rays fans can still get their holiday shopping done at the team store at Tropicana Field — and glimpse what the hurricane-wrecked Trop looks like from the inside while they still can.
Get Your Rays Gear
So far, the Bay Republic team store is the only thing that’s back to normal for the Rays and the Trop. It reopened on Dec. 9 and is stocked full of jerseys, T-shirts, Raymond plushies, and other goodies that could either be treasured keepsakes or end up on eBay — or in the trash.
One of the bestselling items is a “Tampa Bay Strong” T-shirt with an illustration of the damage Hurricane Milton inflicted on the Trop: a golden sun peeking through what’s left of the iconic roof.
An Inside Look
The window walls of the store allow rubberneckers to get a view of the rotunda. Plastic tarps are taped to the floor, ceiling tiles are missing, and waterproof plastic covers seal off openings. Workers with hard hats and reflective vests filter in and out, and disaster recovery trailers sit in the parking lot.
For some fans, visiting the store is a way to pay their respects.
“I think we came to say goodbye,” said Matt Velez, who bought a “City Connect” themed beanie for the winter. “It sucks to see all the back and forth,” said Nate Irizarry, who has followed every twist and turn of the Rays stadium saga and hopes the team sticks around.
Player Updates and Visitor Insights
Tampa Bay Rowdies veteran midfielder Lewis Hilton stopped by to pick up his team’s merch, Christmas presents for his nieces and nephews. The Rays own the Rowdies soccer team, whose own stadium and merch store at Al Lang Field were also damaged by the hurricanes. The Rowdies will play their first four games on the road in hopes that Al Lang will be repaired by the April 12 home opener.
Hilton said Rays baseball players have been training at the Rowdies’ facility in Tampa. He and his teammates have been curious about what’s going on with the Rays and the Trop, but he said the players don’t know, either.
“We don’t hear anything,” Hilton said, “but I don’t envy the person who’s organizing what’s going to happen.”
Boston’s Allison Sinder and her family were in town for vacation. The Red Sox fans never got a chance to watch a game at the Trop but took photos of what they could see out the window of the store.
“We kind of wanted to get pictures of the stadium because you don’t really know what’s going to happen,” she said. She thinks the Trop should be fixed instead of pouring hundreds of millions into a new stadium.
“Our stadium is 100 years old,” she said. “This looks pretty good to us.”
Conclusion
The future of the Tampa Bay Rays and Tropicana Field remains uncertain, but fans continue to show their support by visiting the team store and purchasing memorabilia.
FAQs
Will the Trop be repaired or replaced?
The fate of Tropicana Field is still up in the air, with some advocating for repairs while others suggest building a new stadium.
What is the status of the Rays’ training facilities?
Rays baseball players have been utilizing the Rowdies’ facility for training while the Trop undergoes recovery efforts.
