ORLANDO-. The fabric roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Rays Bay, was left in tatters after the passage of Hurricane Milton for the Florida on Wednesday night, with wind gusts that exceeded 160 kilometers per hour and rain that flooded large areas of the state.
It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside the facility located in the town of St. Petersburg.
The Rays’ park was not being used as a shelter, but the Tampa Bay Times reported that it was being used as “a staging site for workers” who were brought to the area to deal with the storm’s aftermath.
The stadium opened in 1990 and initially cost $138 million. It was scheduled to be replaced in time for the 2026 season by a 1.3 billion park.
Concerns about Hurricane Milton and its effects in Florida led to the cancellation of the preseason game scheduled for Friday in Orlando, between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans, the NBA reported.
The meeting will not be rescheduled.
Orlando was playing in San Antonio on Wednesday night and was scheduled to return to central Florida on Thursday. Those plans are now in doubt because of the storm, which made landfall Wednesday night near Siesta Key, Florida, and was moving through the state.
“There are always things bigger than a basketball game and that’s what we have to keep in perspective,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Knowing that there are families and households … that are going through a difficult time right now, we need to be aware of that.”
The Magic-Pelicans game is the second NBA preseason game affected by Milton. A game scheduled for Thursday in Miami between the Heat and the Atlanta Hawks was postponed until Oct. 16 due to storm concerns.
An NHL preseason game in Tampa between the Lightning and the Predators was also rescheduled earlier this week for Friday. That game was originally scheduled to be played last month and was postponed due to Hurricane Helene.
Countless collegiate and high school events in Florida have also been canceled or postponed due to the storm.
For now, two exhibitions planned by Simone Biles and other Olympic gymnasts remain on this weekend. The tour is scheduled to arrive Friday in Sunrise, home of the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. On Saturday he would arrive in Orlando.
