As the 2026 MLB season approaches its climax, two of the league’s franchises have struck forward-looking commercial deals concerning new stadium projects that will hit the league in the coming years.
The Tampa Bay Rays, the current leaders of the American League conference, have tapped prominent premium experientials firm Legends Global to lead on building out the commercial platform for its new ballpark, which it is terming its “Forever Home”.
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Ahead of the prospective venue’s opening, which is scheduled ahead of the 2029 MLB season, Legends will lead on sponsorship sales for Forever Home commercial inventory, as well as premium hospitality seating and VIP suite sales on behalf of the Rays.
The firm says this will include “go-to-market” analysis concerning sponsorship sales execution, pointing to naming rights partners and founding sponsorships as two areas of particular importance.
Furthermore, Legends will act as the official owner's representative relating to the construction of the venue itself, which will have a seating capacity of around 31,000, meaning Legends will liaise with architects and contractors on areas such as budgeting, construction, scheduling, quality, and risk control.
Speaking on the deal, Legends Global chief revenue officer Chad Estis said: “We share a vision to deliver a world-class fan experience and impactful partnerships that will define this ballpark for generations to come. From supporting design and construction to building a best-in-class sales and partnership program, our team will help maximize the value of the new ballpark for the Rays, their partners, and the entire Tampa Bay community.”
The Rays last reached the postseason in 2023 as a wild-card, and reached the World Series as recently as 2020, falling to the LA Dodgers in six games.
In 2026, though, the team has been imperious, racking up a regular-season record (at the time of writing) of 95 wins and 60 losses, enough to claim the top spot in the American League East division, and a guaranteed playoff berth.
Despite the team’s on-field success (the third-highest winning percentage in MLB since 2008), the Rays consistently rank in the lower reaches in terms of annual total attendance (no team has a lower average total attendance over the past 15 years than the Rays).
Struggles in cultivating a strong MLB market in the area have been compounded in recent years with the team’s stadium struggles.
Prior to the 2025 Rays takeover by Patrick Zalupski, who bought the franchise for around $1.7 billion, previous owner Stu Sternberg struck a $1.3 billion deal to replace the outmoded Tropicana Field in 2023 after close to two decades of angling for a new home, but pulled out of the deal in 2025, citing funding and pricing issues, just weeks before a significant development deadline.
In doing so, Sternberg burned significant bridges, including with St. Petersburg, Florida, mayor Ken Welch, who said that he would no longer work with the Rays’ ownership group, something that MLB itself reportedly also took note of, contributing to the pressure on him to sell the team.
In 2024, the team missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2018, and did so again in 2025, after a season blighted by weather delays in an open-air stadium, enforced by damage to Tropicana Field during Hurricane Milton in 2024, meaning the team had to play all of its 2025 home games at the open-air Steinbrenner Field in a facility used by the Yankees for their spring training earlier in the year.
The Rays have returned to Tropicana Field in 2026, but simultaneously have also advanced plans for a new ballpark.
Elsewhere in the American League, the Athletics (A’s) franchise’s long-awaited move to Las Vegas is gaining steam with the addition of a first founding partner for its new ballpark in the form of Circa.
Circa Resort and Casino, the prominent Las Vegas hotel resort, and its associated sportsbook operation, Circa Sports, have become the official resort and sportsbook, respectively, of the future Las Vegas Athletics franchise and its ballpark, set to open in 2028.
Taking up those aforementioned designations, as well as the founding partner tag, Circa will establish a branded premium hospitality experience at the ballpark, the Circa Dugout Box, and will be able to offer game tickets to “Time of Your Life” seats exclusively through its hotel packages.
Circa already sponsors Las Vegas' NL franchise, the Golden Knights, for which it is the official home jersey patch partner.
The A’s have already been eliminated from playoff contention with six games remaining in the 2026 campaign, having posted a record of 61 wins and 95 losses thus far, marking the sixth consecutive year without post-season baseball for the franchise.
