Our guide to Steinbrenner Field, spring-training home of the New York Yankees and temporary home of the Tampa Bay Rays, includes information on events, tickets, parking, public transportation, nearby hotels and restaurants, seating, bag policy and more. Read on to find out how to get the most out of your gameday experience.

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Perhaps befitting one of Major League Baseball’s marquee franchises, the Yankees’ spring training home is one of the most palatial as spring facilities go.

Modeled after Yankee Stadium right down to the matching field dimensions and the distinctive frieze that lines the seating bowl overhang, George M. Steinbrenner Field — named after the team’s late owner — could easily be confused for a regular-season major-league stadium.

OK, its capacity of just over 11,000 isn’t quite to major-league standards, but just about everything else is. And in 2025, it will get a chance to serve as a regular-season venue.

Because of the extensive hurricane damage sustained by Tropicana Field in the fall of 2024, the Tampa Bay Rays will need a temporary home for at least one season. So they’ll be moving across the bay from St. Petersburg to Tampa and taking up residence in the spring home of its American League East rival.

It remains to be seen to what extent the Rays will be dressing up Steinbrenner Field to at least obscure some of the Yankees imagery and make the ballpark their own. But thanks to the Yankees’ popularity, some of the creature comforts that have come to be expected in a major-league environment, such as digital scoreboards and displays and premium spaces, already exist.

Here’s what to expect when the Rays move in for the 2025 season — and possibly beyond — as one of MLB’s top spring facilities gets a bigger turn in the spotlight.

Looking for Steinbrenner Field event tickets? Search events on Ticketmaster.

Getting to Steinbrenner Field

Though several MLB teams have their spring training facilities around the Tampa Bay region, the Yankees are the only one located in Tampa proper.

And it’s a prominent area of town, a few miles northwest of Tampa’s downtown and very close to Tampa International Airport. Football fans already know the location well, as Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is just across the busy Dale Mabry Highway.

Interstate 275, the highway that cuts through central Tampa and then crosses the bay on its way to St. Petersburg, runs about three miles south of Steinbrenner Field. For drivers, this would serve as the main route to the stadium — from downtown Tampa, it’s just a short drive west on I-275 before exiting at Dale Mabry and heading north.

For visitors to the Tampa Bay region who don’t have a car, you’ll have to rely on a taxi or rideshare to get to Steinbrenner Field. The area has little in the way of public transit besides the usual bus network.

If you’ve come to town specifically to see a game at Steinbrenner Field, you can take advantage of the nearby Tampa Airport and the many hotels that serve it. Most of the brand-name airport hotels can be found along Boy Scout Boulevard, about a mile and a half south of the ballpark.

Walking from a hotel in this area to Steinbrenner Field isn’t out of the question — but it’s not likely a desirable option on a hot and muggy summer day typically seen in Florida.

Parking at Steinbrenner Field

Steinbrenner Field and the rest of the Yankees’ spring training complex is served by a parking lot right at the main ballpark’s home plate gate — but it’s reserved for VIP guests as well as the team’s staff.

Besides, it’s not large enough to support the typical crowd for a spring training game, so it won’t be enough for Rays regular-season games either.

General parking for Steinbrenner Field events is on the other side of Dale Mabry Highway, in the grassy lot just north of Raymond James Stadium. The lot can be accessed on three sides and is plenty large enough for a typical game.

Fans can park in this lot and walk across a nearby pedestrian bridge to get to Steinbrenner Field. If you’re taking an Uber or Lyft to the stadium, the drop-off and pick-up point is next to this bridge, at a turnoff road from Dale Mabry.

Tampa hotels near the ballpark

• Econo Lodge at Raymond James Stadium – 0.6 miles away
• AC Hotel by Marriott Tampa Airport – 0.9 miles away
• Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Hotel – 1.2 miles away
Search for more Tampa hotels on Booking.com.

Map of the Tampa area

Check out rates for hotels near Steinbrenner Field below.

Things to do around Steinbrenner Field

If it weren’t for the sports venues, this area of Tampa is one that probably wouldn’t be frequented by visitors. There are several residential neighborhoods nearby, as well as car dealerships, furniture stores and the Buccaneers’ practice facility.

Look hard enough, though, and you will be able to find a handful of establishments that cater to sports fans — prime season for them, of course, is the NFL regular season and spring training, but it figures that they’ll also look to cater to fans attending Rays regular-season games at Steinbrenner Field.

Look primarily to the stretch of Boy Scout Boulevard/Columbus Drive, which runs perpendicular to Dale Mabry Highway and is home to many of the hotels near Steinbrenner Field. You’ll find several high-end restaurants and brewpubs.

Miller’s Ale House is the most conspicuous sports fan-geared establishment on this street — highly popular for Buccaneers games, it’s also a viable option for pregame enjoyment before baseball games as well.

A little farther west is the sizable International Plaza shopping mall, with a number of food stands and restaurants scattered throughout. Many are of the familiar chain variety, such as Shake Shack, The Cheesecake Factory and so on.

Also, don’t overlook the handful of smaller establishments along Dale Mabry between I-275 and the ballpark.

Finally, be mindful of the Single-A Florida State League schedule. The Tampa Tarpons, the Yankees affiliate that normally plays at Steinbrenner Field in the summer months, will instead hold its games at an adjacent field with small bleacher seating. It’s possible that their games will be held at the same time as Rays games.

For more on visiting Tampa, check out our Tampa Bay sports travel guide.

Tampa restaurants near the ballpark

• Miller’s Ale House – Tampa Airport – pub, 0.8 miles away
• La Teresita Restaurant – Caribbean, 0.8 miles away
• Happy Fish – Latin, 1.0 miles away
Search for more Tampa restaurants on Tripadvisor.

Watching a game at Steinbrenner Field

The Rays and their fans will certainly find some disadvantages to playing at Steinbrenner Field over Tropicana Field. The biggest among them: The fact that there’s no roof, putting games in mid-to-late summer under constant threat of rain delays and rainouts.

In fact, MLB has made adjustments to the 2025 schedule to lessen the number of games the Rays play at home after the All-Star break, meaning 69 of Tampa Bay’s final 103 games will be on the road.

In addition, despite what’s expected to be significant efforts by the Rays to make Steinbrenner Field their own, the Yankees imprint will be inescapable. Most prominent are the façades behind the seating areas on both sides that spell out “Yankees,” which likely will be covered up in some fashion.

Outside the park, a statue of George Steinbrenner commemorates the owner’s impact on the Yankees franchise and on baseball, and the Yankees’ many retired numbers are on display nearby.

However, there should also be a few advantages. The biggest one is location: Tropicana Field’s location in St. Petersburg made it an undesirable drive for many who lived on the other side of Tampa Bay.

But the appeal of the Rays now playing in Tampa proper could drive up demand for tickets at the same time that supply is reduced. So it’s likely that the Rays will become a hot ticket in 2025, especially if they are in playoff contention.

Steinbrenner Field’s seating bowl is fairly typical as spring training stadiums go, with a single tier of seats that run from left field to right field and wrap around home plate, separated by an aisle running about halfway up.

What makes it distinctive — and more appealing as a temporary home for the Rays — is the number of club and premium seating options around the ballpark. In particular, the large Right Field Terrace offers cabana seating as well as a standing-room bar atmosphere.

There are also club options behind each of the bullpens in left and right field for patrons willing to splurge a bit on their game experience.

Food and drink at Steinbrenner Field

The Yankees had their own concessions management company run the food and drink operation at Steinbrenner Field, and for spring-training and Tarpons games the concessions options had a fairly New York flair.

It remains to be seen whether the Rays will look to bring over some or even most of their food offerings over from Tropicana Field. But the typical stadium staples of hot dogs, nachos and popcorn figure to be constants, as will at least one item prevalent at the concessions of every sports venue in the Tampa area: The Cuban sandwich.

One big change is expected: Steinbrenner Field serves Pepsi products, instead of the Coke offerings at Tropicana Field.

Steinbrenner Field bag and food policy

Per policy, approved bags for entry into Steinbrenner Field for spring training games must measure 16 inches by 16 inches by 8 inches or smaller. They need not be clear, like those permitted in NFL stadiums.

Backpacks, suitcases, large purses, hard-sided containers and bags exceeding the size limit are forbidden at Steinbrenner Field per stadium policy.

No outside food is permitted at Steinbrenner Field. This includes water bottles.

Bags will be inspected by security at the entry gates to Steinbrenner Field, and patrons carrying any bags that don’t comply with stadium policy will be denied entry.

Note that the above guidelines are specifically for Yankees spring training games. It remains to be seen if any changes to the Steinbrenner Field bag policy will be made for Rays regular-season games.

Original publish date: November 26, 2024

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