Question: The ThunderDome in St. Petersburg was renamed Tropicana Field in 1996. What was the stadium originally called when built in 1990?
Answer: The Florida Suncoast Dome
Originally named the Florida Suncoast Dome, Tropicana Field’s 1.1 million square feet include unique design features and fan amenities found nowhere else in Major League Baseball. The venue opened to the public on March 3, 1990, at a cost of $138 million. It became the ThunderDome in 1993 with the arrival of the area’s National Hockey League expansion franchise, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The stadium was renamed Tropicana Field on Oct. 4, 1996, by a naming rights agreement between the Rays and Bradenton’s Tropicana Dole Beverages North America. Although originally built for baseball, at least 14 other sports and competitive events have been held there, including hockey, basketball, football, sprint car racing, gymnastics, soccer, tennis, weightlifting, table tennis, karate, motorcycle racing, equestrian events, track and field, and figure skating.
