Milton Damages Roof of Rays’ Stadium and Forces NBA Preseason Game to Be Called Off

Tropicana Field opens a staging site for workers and operations before the arrival of Hurricane Milton, in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Oct. 7, 2024. Octavio Jones/Field Level Media via Reuters

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—The roof panels over the home of baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays were ripped to shreds after Hurricane Milton came ashore in Florida on Wednesday night, bringing wind gusts exceeding 100 mph and flooding parts of the state.

It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside Tropicana Field, located in St. Petersburg. Television images showed the swaths that serve as the domed building’s roof were completely tattered, giving a clear line of sight to the lights that were on inside the stadium.