The damage done to the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field by Hurricane Milton is so severe that it has the Major League Baseball team looking for a new place to play come opening day next spring.
Like the Rays many MLB teams play their games in stadiums that sit in geographic locations vulnerable to hurricane or tornado force winds, hail, storm surge and flooding.
The Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres and others all have stadiums adjacent to water and could see insurance premiums skyrocketing as weather related damages become more frequent and severe.
- Major League Baseball stadium roof ripped off in Hurricane Milton destruction
- Tampa Bay Times building smashed by crane in horror footage as Hurricane Milton ravages Florida
The risk of climate change to professional sports venues goes beyond the increased extreme weather related to hurricanes. (
AP)
But it’s not just MLB stadiums at risk as NFL stadiums have the potential to experience $11 billion in climate-related damages by 2050, according to a new report released by the climate risk analysis company, Climate X.
Climate X says the damage done to Tropicana Field should be a wake up call for professional sports teams around the country as well as for state and local governments.
“The problem with climate change is non-linear and non-stationary. If you had a problem there yesterday, that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be there tomorrow,” Kamil Kluza, co-founder of Climate X told CNBC. “Places that have been unimpacted will become impacted because the climate will change and move around.”
The risk of climate change to professional sports venues goes beyond the increased extreme weather related to hurricanes. Teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks who play in Phoenix, are at risk of dangerous heat waves. The team’s lease runs through 2027 at Chase
SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California (
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Field and the Diamondbacks are responsible for upkeep and repairs. The stadium struggled to keep both players and fans cool this summer as Phoenix shattered their own temperature records this year.
Some of the most notorious and harrowing images of stadium damage came in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. The SuperDome in New Orleans was seen surrounded by flood waters as it was being used as a shelter for those trying to escape the storm.
The report by Climate X ranks all 30
NFL stadiums by their vulnerable to climate hazards such as flooding, wildfires, and storm surge.
Some teams are already tackling the problem of climate change head on such as the Las Vegas Raiders, whose brand new stadium Allegiant Stadium runs completely off renewable energy. (
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The home of the New York Jets and New York Giants, MetLife Stadium, is projected to experience the biggest losses. The Climate X report estimates that the stadium will incur a percentage loss of 184%, with cumulative damages exceeding $5.6 billion by 2050. This is due to the stadium’s low-lying location the marshy meadowlands of New Jersey making it particularly vulnerable to storm surge if a hurricane were to hit the area such as it did in 2012 with Hurricane Sandy.
The relatively new SoFi Stadium, home to both the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, and the Arizona Cardinals State Farm Stadium are the next most vulnerable stadiums. The stadium’s least likely to incur climate related damages are the Seattle Seahawks’ Lumen Field and the Green Bay Packers’ Lambeau Field.
Some teams are already tackling the problem of climate change head on such as the Las Vegas Raiders, whose brand new stadium Allegiant Stadium runs completely off renewable energy.
“The bottom line is that climate change is happening, whether we like it or not, and I think the instead of fighting climate change with just sustainability and reducing CO2, we need to start acting to put adaptation measures in place,” Kluzasaid.
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