Former Rays reporter Tricia Whitaker says team employees, fans ‘deserve more’

The Tampa Bay Rays announced on Thursday that their planned new stadium project had been halted. Seeing that news, Tricia Whitaker, a former on-field reporter for the Rays, issued a statement bemoaning the news.

Whitaker, who is a sideline reporter for Apple TV+’s Friday Night Baseball coverage and worked as a sideline reporter for the Rays for six seasons before announcing her departure following the 2024 season, replied to the team’s post announcing the news on X (formerly Twitter) with her thoughts on the matter.

“I love the community I worked in for 6 years,” Whitaker said. “I love the employees of the Rays I worked alongside for 6 years. I will always cheer for them, the players, the coaches and the team — people I am still close with. This is not their fault. They deserve better. In every facet. This is just another blow to what is the never ending cycle of the stadium saga in St Pete and the Tampa Bay Area. The employees of the team, the fans of the team and the community deserve more.”

Tropicana Field was built in 1990 with hopes of luring a Major League Baseball team to the area. While the Tampa-St. Petersburg area was not included in MLB’s 1993 expansion and potential moves from the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants didn’t happen, the area was awarded a team as part of MLB’s 1998 expansion. Tropicana Field has been the home of the Rays since their inaugural 1998 season.

Due to damage sustained by Hurricane Milton in October, the Rays will play their home games at Tampa’s George M. Steinbrenner Field, spring training home of the New York Yankees, in 2025, while Tropicana Field is being renovated.