Key Takeaways
- New renderings show the Rays’ proposed 31,000-seat, fixed-roof ballpark hosting a sprawling volleyball tournament alongside concerts, graduations, and wrestling championships.
- The team says the venue would be the largest indoor event facility in the Tampa Bay region and among the largest in Florida.
- The Rays name national youth sports festivals and qualification events for global competitions as core year-round programming targets.
- Public funding is capped at $976 million under a non-binding memo, but Tampa City Council has twice delayed its vote on the deal.
The Tampa Bay Rays released four new renderings on July 27 showing their proposed $2.3 billion Forever Home ballpark hosting events beyond baseball, including a large-scale volleyball tournament staged across the playing field. The images position the planned 31,000-seat, fixed-roof venue in West Tampa as a national youth sports tournament venue and year-round events facility, not just the home of 81 Rays games.
What the New Renderings Show
The four images depict the ballpark hosting a concert, a college graduation, a volleyball tournament, and a wrestling championship. The Rays said the renderings represent the venue’s capability to host major concerts and touring shows, graduations, championship sporting events, sports festivals, and large-scale civic gatherings.
Populous is the design lead on the ballpark, planned for the site of Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry campus near Tampa International Airport and Raymond James Stadium. According to the team, the facility would double as the largest indoor event facility in the Tampa Bay region and among the largest in Florida.
Where Youth Sports Fits the Forever Home Plan
The Rays specifically cited national youth sports festivals among the venue’s target uses, and the club noted in its release that the space could accommodate qualification competitions for global athletic events. A climate-controlled venue at that scale, in a market that already draws tournament travel, is the kind of infrastructure youth sports event operators typically piece together across convention centers and multi-court complexes.
Rays CEO Ken Babby framed the events strategy as the answer to a single-purpose facility problem. “With 81 Rays games plus special events, the Forever Home will be active and generating economic value throughout the year,” Babby said in a statement, adding that the team believes it can be one of the busiest venues in sports and entertainment.
Babby said the special events calendar is designed to drive hotel occupancy, restaurant traffic, parking revenue, airport activity, and transit usage, the same economic engine that youth sports tournaments deliver to host markets.
A 100-Acre District Anchored by a College Campus
The ballpark sits inside a larger privately financed development plan. The proposed district spans more than 100 acres and 8 million square feet across four neighborhoods: Champions Quarter, Innovation Edge, The Canopy, and The Row, according to the team. Plans include roughly 400,000 square feet of retail and dining, a 4-plus star convention hotel, residential offerings, and a reimagined Hillsborough College campus serving as an educational anchor. Gensler and Populous designed the district around a “Work, Live, Learn, Play” principle.
Babby said the district has drawn early interest from Fortune 500 companies based inside and outside the Tampa Bay region.
Youth Sports Programming Still Waits on Seven Council Votes
None of it moves forward without a funding agreement. Under the non-binding memorandum approved in May by a 4-3 Tampa City Council vote, the Rays would pay $1.3 billion plus all cost overruns, with taxpayers contributing no more than $976 million. The city’s proposed share is $180 million, drawn from $80 million in half-cent sales tax revenue and $100 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency, per Bay News 9.
The council has since delayed its stadium vote twice, removed the item from its August 20 agenda, and declined to send a required land use change to the state for review. Hillsborough County Commission Chair Ken Hagan told the Tampa Bay Times the county will not take up the deal again until the city council votes first. Babby is now meeting individually with all seven council members.
The Rays say they need final agreements by August to begin construction this year and open the ballpark in 2029.
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- Source: MLB.com, Adam Berry, July 27, 2026, https://www.mlb.com/news/rays-release-renderings-for-non-baseball-activities-at-new-ballpark
- Source: Coliseum, July 28, 2026, https://www.coliseum-online.com/tampa-bay-rays-highlight-area-around-forever-home-ballpark/
- Source: Front Office Sports, Eric Fisher, July 27, 2026, https://frontofficesports.com/tampa-city-council-poses-new-hurdles-for-rays-stadium/
- Source: Bay News 9, Dalia Dangerfield, July 31, 2026, https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2026/07/31/tampa-city-council-divided-on-next-steps-in-rays-stadium-discussions
About Youth Sports Business Report
Youth Sports Business Report (YSBR) is the largest and most trusted media platform covering the business of youth sports worldwide. YSBR delivers youth sports news, market intelligence, and original analysis daily across facilities, sponsorships, private equity, NIL, sports technology, and league operations. With more than 50,000 followers, YSBR is the leading source of youth sports industry news for the investors, owners, operators, and brands shaping the future of youth sports.
How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
Who founded Youth Sports Business Report?
Youth Sports Business Report was founded by Cameron Korab, a sports marketing veteran with more than a decade in the industry and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Korab also co-founded Vertical Sports, a sports marketing advisory serving brands across youth, college, and pro sports.
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YSBR delivers original reporting and market intelligence on youth sports facilities, youth sports technology, sponsorship and brand partnerships, private equity and venture capital deals, NIL policy, coaching development, equipment and apparel, tournaments and events, and community sports initiatives. Readers include industry executives, investors, facility owners and operators, league administrators, and youth sports parents.
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Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
