The news throws the project, which has already seen a construction team appointed, into doubt.

The new ballpark in St. Petersburg was originally due to be completed in time for the 2028 season, with Skanska USA acting as owner鈥檚 representative for the $6.5bn redevelopment of the 86-acre site where the current stadium sits and the design and construction of the new stadium.

The Rays committed to pay for over the stadium鈥檚 cost including any overruns but were relying on the city of St. Petersburg to contribute $417.5 million towards the district, with another $312.5 million in tourism revenue coming from Pinellas County.

Skanska鈥檚 appointment was announced in July, ahead of October鈥檚 Hurricane Milton, which tore off the non-retractable roof of the Ray鈥檚 current home in St. Petersburg, Tropicana Field.

Having voted in July to approve their share of the public financing, Pinellas County commissioners then voted in October to delay votes on issuing bonds amid uncertainty over where the Rays would play their 2025 season following damage to Tropicana Field.

The Rays have since announced that they will play 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa as a temporary measure but some of the county commissioners argued that this was taking tax dollars that would have paid for the project out of the area. Their preferred option for a temporary home is BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater.

Complicating the picture further, some of the commissioners who were in favour of offering financial support to the project have since been replaced after the November election.

In a letter to the county commissioners shared by the , Tampa Bay Rays presidents Brain Auld and Matt Silverman said, that they couldn鈥檛 get BayCare Ballpark into a condition where it could host regular games by opening Day in March.

They warned that the county鈥檚 failure to finalise bonds last month meant that the new ballpark could no longer be delivered by 2028, pushing costs for a 2029 delivery 鈥渟ignificantly higher鈥�.

They added, 鈥淲e informed our many architects, builders and consultants that our agreement has not been honoured by the county. There were dozens of people who were about to relocate to St. Petersburg along with their families. There were large contracts with long lead times. We suspended work on the entire project 鈥� the ballpark and Historic Gas Plant development.

鈥淭he Rays organisation is saddened and stunned by this unfortunate turn of events. We have put decades of work and spent more than $50 million to bring this historic project to a reality.鈥�

They said they 鈥渟tand ready鈥� to work with partners to preserve the future of the project.

When contacted, Skanska referred questions to the City of St. Petersburg.