Commissioner Rob Manfred weighs in on possible playoff site for Rays
Published in Baseball
ATLANTA — If the Rays make the playoffs, they now know where they will play home games: at Steinbrenner Field.
Major League Baseball has decided the Rays will get to remain in their interim home despite the small capacity, which has been 10,046 during the regular season.
“Our rule has always been that people play in their home stadiums during the World Series ...,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday. “And I’m not of a mind to change that rule. I understand it’s a unique situation. It’s different, but that’s where they’re playing. That’s where they’re going to play their games.”
The Rays, after a significant investment of money and time, moved for this season into Steinbrenner Field after damage to Tropicana Field from Hurricane Milton. They assumed it would be their home for the entire season and any postseason games.
But Major League Baseball officials have a say, given concerns about overall seating capacity and revenue-related issues.
For example, for World Series games, MLB has commitments for roughly 7,500 tickets — for use by players, team and league officials, umpires, sponsors, broadcast partners and others. The number is smaller but still significant for ALCS games.
The players’ pool for postseason bonuses would also be impacted, as it includes 60% of the gate receipts from the guaranteed games of each round, which would be smaller.
Other issues: limitations on the TV production ability and lack of media space given the 29-seat press box.
Manfred said there will be discussions about potentially expanding capacity by adding seats.
“We’ll do the best we can to make the facilities good and service as many fans as we can,” Manfred said.
He said the competitive benefits of playing at home as opposed to a neutral site were a factor.
©2025 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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