Mark Ferguson, owner of Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill, expects business to increase by 30% when the Tampa Bay Rays return to St. Petersburg. Photo by Mark Parker.
Baseball will soon return to St. Petersburg for the first time since September 2024, and tickets to see the Tampa Bay Rays on Opening Day have nearly sold out.
A freshly repaired Tropicana Field will likely reach its 25,025-seat capacity, without the upper deck, throughout the season-opening homestand that begins on April 6. Thousands more will watch the Rays face the Chicago Cubs from local establishments, which is welcome news to the ears of many business owners who were impacted by the storm-displaced Rays spending the 2025 season in Tampa.
Mayor Ken Welch called the return of Major League Baseball a “huge economic boost” for St. Petersburg. He also believes it will benefit the city’s psyche.
“We can look at the Trop and realize we can take on big challenges – what some people might say are insurmountable challenges – and overcome them,” Welch told Power Broker Magazine. “A lot of folks didn’t have faith that we could get this done. That’s going to be a point of celebration and pride, I think, for the community.”
Mark Ferguson, owner of Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill, expects a 30% boost in revenues when the Rays return. A tunnel underneath 1st Avenue South connects his business with Tropicana Field.
Ferguson said stakeholders “could not ask for a better team to open with” than the Cubs, known for their large fan base. He will transform a parking lot into “Wrigleyville South,” a nod to the district centered around Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field, throughout the three-game homestand that begins on April 6.
Ferguson is installing replicas of the stadium’s outfield walls, complete with ivy, and has spent the past two months securing marketing partnerships with establishments in Chicago. The goal is to ensure “all the northern people know they’re invited,” and maximize business following last year’s downturn.
“It means a lot to all my employees, to their families – they missed out last year on a baseball season,” Ferguson said. “Now it’s back, and we can get back to normal. It was a slow, hot summer without baseball.”
The city is again offering free shuttles via the Looper from downtown to Tropicana Field during every home game. Eric Carlson, transportation director for the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, has served as the service’s administrator since 1995.
Carlson said he has received several calls from “very loyal fans of the trolley” inquiring about the return of the service. He has also secured three coach buses “because our little trolleys can’t handle the Opening Day crowd.”
A map of the free shuttle service. Image provided.
Shuttle service begins at 2 p.m. on April 6, two hours prior to the game, and will continue for an hour after the final out. The two trolleys and three buses will pick up fans approximately every five minutes.
“It doesn’t necessarily reduce the demand for parking, but it certainly does spread it out,” Carlson said. “There is a lot of parking at Tropicana Field … However, sometimes it’s not enough.”
He said the Trop’s lots will reach capacity on Opening Day, and digital signage will direct attendees to downtown garages and the free shuttle service. Carlson expects a “mad rush” for the service, particularly “given we lost the last season to Hurricane Milton.”
“With five vehicles on that route, certainly the frequency is very high,” he said. “So we can get back and forth and move people quickly and efficiently.”
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