Hurricane Milton damages roof of Rays stadium, forces NBA preseason game to be called off

Concerns over Hurricane Milton and its effects on Florida forced the cancelation of Friday’s preseason game in Orlando between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans, the NBA said.

The game will not be rescheduled.

Orlando was playing at San Antonio on Wednesday night and was scheduled to return to central Florida on Thursday. Those plans are now in flux because of the storm, which made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on Wednesday evening and was moving across the state with wind gusts exceeding 100 mph and several inches of rain forecast for some areas.

“There’s always things bigger than the game of basketball and that’s what we have to keep our perspective on,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Knowing that there’s families and homes and situations that are going through a tough time right now, we need to be mindful of that and conscious of it.”

In St. Petersburg, Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, appeared to be badly damaged. Television images Wednesday night showed that the fabric that serves as the domed building’s roof had been ripped to shreds. It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside the stadium.

The Rays’ stadium was not being used as a shelter, but the Tampa Bay Times reported that it was being used as “a staging site for workers” who were brought to the area to deal with the storm’s aftermath.

The stadium opened in 1990 and initially cost $138 million. It was due to be replaced in time for the 2026 season with a $1.3 billion ballpark.

The Magic-Pelicans game is the second NBA preseason matchup to be affected by Milton. A game scheduled for Thursday in Miami between the Heat and Atlanta Hawks was postponed until Oct. 16 because of storm concerns. Also called off earlier this week: a rescheduled NHL preseason game on Friday in Tampa between the Lightning and Predators — one that was originally set to be played last month and was postponed because of Hurricane Helene.

“Stay safe Florida!” former Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos, who is entering his first season with Nashville, posted on social media Wednesday. “Thinking about all the amazing people in the Tampa area right now.”

Countless college and high school events in Florida also have been canceled or postponed because of the storm.

For now, two planned exhibitions by Simone Biles and other Olympic gymnasts — part of the “Gold Over America Tour,’ the acronym not coincidentally spelling out GOAT in a nod to Biles’ status as the consensus Greatest Of All-Time in the sport — this weekend are still on. The tour is scheduled to come to Sunrise, the home of the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, on Friday and then move to Orlando on Saturday.

Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida, which is north of Miami, is scheduled to resume live racing on Friday. Saturday’s college football game with Cincinnati going to Orlando to face UCF is still on, and the Memphis-South Florida game in Tampa was rescheduled earlier this week to be played Saturday.

UCF and USF officials have both said further decisions will be made, if necessary, after the storm damage is evaluated.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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