Major sporting events coming to Tampa

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Published  November 12, 2024 6:34pm EST
FOX 13 News
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    TAMPA - From 2025-2027, Raymond James Stadium will host a "winning trifecta" of major sporting events.

    Messi & MLS Soccer

    Florida Derby rivals, Inter Miami CF, who star Lionel Messi, and Orlando City SC face off in a preseason game on February 14, 2025.

    "A lot of people don't realize from a professional sports standpoint, soccer was our very first team," Tampa Bay Sports Commission Executive Director Rob Higgins said. "Before you had the Rays, the Lightning, and the Buccaneers, we had the Rowdies. And so the fabric of our sports community has been built on soccer."

    READ MORE: Soccer star Lionel Messi to play in Tampa

    The presale ticket event begins at 10 a.m. on November 13. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on November 14.

    The return of banana ball

    In a "one-night-only special event," the Savannah Bananas are playing in their first NFL stadium on March 15, 2025.

    The wildly popular team has already played five sellout games at Steinbrenner Field from 2023-2024. They had plans to play at Tropicana Field next, but due to significant hurricane damage the stadium suffered, the Bananas will play at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

    READ MORE: Savannah Bananas to play at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2025

    "This is [Raymond James Stadium’s] first ever venture into baseball," Higgins said. "What better partner to do that with than the Savannah Bananas and their 12 million social media followers."

    As for transforming the football field into a baseball field, home plate is expected to be near the pirate ship, Hillsborough County Commission Chair Ken Hagan told FOX 13 on Tuesday.

    "And I think the biggest challenge is going to be the right field wall," Hagan said. "It's going to be short by Major League Baseball standards, and so they're going to erect a large fence, screen, or netting – if you will – that's apparently going to be higher than the Boston Red Sox and the Green Monster. So it's going to be very high in order to protect the surrounding area."

    Savannah Bananas in Tampa. 

    When the Bananas played at Steinbrenner Field this past year, about 35% of fans came from out of town, according to Higgins.

    "And it resulted in close to 5,000 hotel visitor room nights. So when you increase the capacity, it's going to be even higher here," Higgins said.

    The world's largest cocktail party

    The Florida-Georgia college football game is usually played at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville. But due to stadium renovations there, the two teams will face off in Atlanta in 2026 and in Tampa in 2027.

    "This is not just another game," Hagan, a Florida grad, said. "The RVs will start to pull in on Monday. Fans will pack our community like really no other event, with the exception of possibly the Super Bowl."

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