TROPICANA FIELD PARKING

Nothing tastes sweeter than tender, juicy Florida oranges, except a cold beer while watching a Tampa Rays game with your friends at Tropicana Field. Since it opened in 1990, Tropicana Field has been home to the Tampa Bay Rays of the MLB, the NCAA Beef ‘O’ Bradys Bowl, the Under Armour All-America Game as well as the East-West Shrine Game. As the arena hosts one MLB team and three annual football games, it can be difficult to find parking at Tropicana Field. The stadium is unique within major league baseball in that the dome is permanently affixed to the arena itself, while all others in the league are retractable. The advantage of this feature is that rain or shine, sports fans never get rained on, even if the stadium itself is in one of the rainier regions of the United States. The fact that it is so rainy in Florida is one of the reasons why the stadium has a slanted roof. If a hurricane does occur, water simply slides off. In homage to their tenant team’s namesake, Tropicana Field has its own 35-foot aquarium which holds cownose devil rays, allowing fans to come up and learn about these wondrous creatures. Sometimes, home runs land in the tank, in which case the Rays donate $5000 to charity; so far, only Miguel Cabrera and Luis Gonzalez have achieved this spectacular feat. You won’t get to see the splash if you’re late for a Rays game and have no place to park, however. If you plan ahead, you can book your Tropicana field parking spot in advance through ParkWhiz, so you won’t have to give your buddies a rain check on the game!

The Tampa Bay Rays, formerly known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, were introduced to the major leagues in 1998, even though Tropicana Field was opened in 1990, albeit under the name of the Florida Suncoast Dome, and then the aptly named Thunderdome. Getting a major league team to Tampa was the result of decades of deal-making, haranguing and dashed dreams, even including a false start in 1992 when the Giants were almost sold to them. Finally, an expansion franchise was allotted to the Tampa Bay area in 1995, with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays starting play in 1998. The team’s name was shortened in 2008 to the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing allusions to the rays of the Florida sun to be used as well as the past name of the devil ray fish. The team won East Division titles in 2008 and 2010, an American League Pennant in 2008, and a matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2008 World Series. Despite the Tampa Rays parking the ball over the field time after time, Philadelphia won the competition; considering the fact that the Rays came into existence ten years before, they played very well for their age as a major league team! Since Tampa has only begun to play, finding parking at Tropicana Field can be challenging, especially when the game is about to begin in the dry field inside while it rains cats and dogs outside. Luckily for you, booking a parking space in advance of the game is easy-peasy with ParkWhiz!

ParkWhiz is a service that allows you to book your parking spot in advance, no matter what kind of weather happens when its’ game time. Using the ParkWhiz website, you can find your baseball or football event at Tropicana Field, print out your parking pass and bring it with you. With your parking place booked securely in advance of the game, you won’t have to worry about having to navigate around and around the Tropicana Field parking lots, even if mother nature is having a bad day. With ParkWhiz, you won’t need to spend a lot of money or effort to find a nice spot in the sun.

Parking at other MLB stadiums:

• AT&T Park
• Fenway Park
• Nationals Park
• Wrigley Field
• Yankee Stadium