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Tropicana Field
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BUY Tropicana Field TICKETS
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Tropicana Field is a domed baseball stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida and
the current home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Tropicana Field was designed by the
architect HOK and was built in 1986 as a way to either get a Major League Baseball
expansion franchise or to get an existing team to move to the Tampa Bay area. The
stadium was originally named the Florida Suncoast Dome and was built in an attempt
to entice the Chicago White Sox into moving its franchise to Florida. Because of
this being a viable stadium option for the White Sox, the Chicago & Illinois governments
got together and agreed to build a new stadium for the White Sox in 1989.
The Florida Suncoast Dome was finished in 1990 and was still in need of a full time
tenant. For the next couple of years, there were various rumors of other Major League
Baseball teams moving to the Tampa Bay market. At one point, there was talk of the
Seattle Mariners moving there in the early 1990's. That rumor never materialized.
The next team to use the possibility of moving to the Florida Suncoast Dome as a
bargaining tool to get a new stadium in their own market was the San Francisco Giants.
This rumor almost came to fruition in 1992 when there was a press conference to
announce that the Giants were moving. The move was blocked by the owner of the Florida
Marlins, Wayne Huizenga, who also owned Blockbuster Video. He obviously wanted a
monopoly on the Florida baseball market. His blocking of the move resulted in a
boycott of all local Blockbuster Video stores.
In 1993, the Florida Suncoast Dome finally got a major tenant. The upstart hockey
team, Tampa Bay Lightning, played at the dome for three full seasons and it was
renamed the Thunderdome. The stadium had potential to seat many more people than
a typical NHL arena. Because of that, the Tampa Bay Lightning set many NHL attendance
records during their stay at the Thunderdome. During the same period, the Tampa
Bay Storm, an AFL team plated their games at the Thunderdome. They also set attendance
records while they played at the Thunderdome.
The attendance success of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Storm while
they played at the Thunderdome opened the eyes of Major League Baseball, and in
1995 the Tampa Bay area was finally awarded a baseball team. There were $70 million
dollars in necessary modifications done to the Thunderdome to accommodate Major
League Baseball. Keep in mind the stadium only cost $115 million to build a mere
eight years earlier. The naming rights were sold to Tropicana Products, a major
Florida company, and the name of the dome was changed to Tropicana Field in 1996.
The first ever Major League baseball game at Tropicana Field was played on March
31, 1998 between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Detroit Tigers. Tropicana field
seats 43,500 for baseball and has Field Turf with a dirt infield.
Throughout its years as the home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Tropicana Field has
been home to many NCAA men's college basketball regionals and sub regionals as well
as the NCAA Final Four in 1999. Tropicana field has been describes as a quirky stadium
because of the 4 catwalks that hang from the ceiling and often come into play during
baseball games. Tropicana Field has been listed as one of the worst stadiums for
viewing a Major League Baseball game and many people complain that it is a domed
stadium in a tropical market. Those people should try sitting outside for 3 hours
in St. Petersburg in August. I have the feeling they wouldn't question the importance
of the dome after that experience. Tropicana Field sells plenty of tickets and whether
you are visiting the area or a lifelong resident, tickets at Tropicana Field are
a commodity you won't want to pass up. Buy tickets now for the best selection of
seats!
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BUY Tropicana Field TICKETS
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