Rays hire venue management firm to help build, sell new Tampa ballpark

The Tampa Bay Rays are teaming up with a venue management firm co-owned by the New York Yankees' ownership group to help turn the team’s plans for a Tampa ballpark into both a construction project and a revenue generator. 

Earlier this month, the team announced it has entered into a long-term partnership with Legends Global, a worldwide venue management, hospitality and live-entertainment company formed in 2008 as a joint venture between Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and the Yankees’ Steinbrenner family. 

Under the agreement, Legends Global will serve as representatives for the Rays ownership as the team moves forward with plans to build a new stadium on the current site of Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry campus, next to the Yankee’s Steinbrenner Field. Legends Global will take the lead in monitoring the budget, schedule, construction quality and risks while working with architects and contractors to bring the stadium to fruition, according to the Sept. 18 announcement. Legends will also lead sales of naming rights, sponsorships, suites and premium seats. 

The two companies did not disclose the financial terms of the partnership or how long it will last. 

The new agreement puts Legends Global at the center of two major goals the Rays’ need to accomplish to make the jump across the bay from St. Petersburg to Tampa: getting a ballpark built in time for the Rays’ targeted 2029 opening day and securing business commitments to sustain the new venue. 

The Rays envision a roughly 31,000-seat ballpark near Raymond James Stadium as part of a larger, mixed-use district. In a release, the team describes the proposed ball park as “the most intimate in Major League Baseball,” with a footprint of about 120 acres. 

“The Rays’ forever home is about much more than baseball,” Rays CEO Ken Babby says in the partnership announcement. “It’s all about creating a world-class destination that our fans and the entire Tampa Bay region can live, work, learn, and play in for generations to come."

Legends Global plans to assemble a Tampa-based team for the project and has named Todd Fleming senior vice president and project lead. Fleming has worked for nearly 14 years on Legends Global’s sales team and most recently served as vice president and executive director of the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, the company says. 

Current Tropicana Field suite holders will get their first purchase opportunity for full-season suites, clubs and boxes in the new stadium sometime in November, the team says. Sales will then open up to Tropicana Field season members in January followed by fans who have placed deposits for seats in the new stadium.