Rays vs. Brewers World Series Will Crown a First-Time Champion and Possibly the First All-Indoor Fall Classic

MILWAUKEE — For the first time in more than four decades, the World Series will guarantee baseball a brand-new champion, and it may also make history under a roof.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, two low-payroll teams that have never won a title, will meet in a best-of-seven series that opens Friday night in Milwaukee. It will be the first World Series between two title-less franchises since the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals in 1980.

The matchup is also likely to produce the first World Series played entirely indoors.

Baseball under a ceiling

Tampa Bay plays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, the only ballpark in the major leagues with a fixed roof. Milwaukee's American Family Field has a retractable roof, which is expected to remain closed, with game-time temperatures forecast in the upper 40s or low 50s.

That would set the series apart from previous Fall Classics played in roofed stadiums. When every World Series game was held in ballparks with retractable roofs in 2020, all at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and again in 2023 between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, three games were played with the roof open each year.

The roofs at both ballparks have already come into play during this postseason, adding an unusual element for players and fans.

Two small-market success stories

The series pits two franchises known for winning without big budgets.

The Brewers and Rays are the first teams from the bottom half of baseball's payroll rankings to meet in the World Series since 1991. Milwaukee ranked 19th in payroll as of August, while Tampa Bay has long operated with one of the smallest payrolls in the sport.

Both teams have relied on player development, analytics and creative roster construction to compete with wealthier clubs.

Milwaukee won 100 games during the regular season, the most in franchise history, and earned home-field advantage for the series. The Brewers reached the World Series by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, ending the Dodgers' bid for a third straight title.

Tampa Bay swept the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series before beating the Cleveland Guardians in six games in the AL Championship Series, clinching the pennant with a 7-3 win Monday night at Tropicana Field.

Long waits for a title

Neither franchise has won a World Series.

The Brewers, who began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 before moving to Milwaukee in 1970, are making their first World Series appearance since 1982. That year, as a member of the American League, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

The 1982 Series was played at Milwaukee County Stadium, which was home to the Braves from 1953 to 1965 before they moved to Atlanta, and then to the Brewers from 1970 to 2000. American Family Field, known as Miller Park from 2001 to 2020, sits next to the site of the old stadium.

The Rays, who began play in 1998, are making their third World Series appearance and their first in a full season since 2008.

In 2008, Tampa Bay split the first two games against the Philadelphia Phillies at Tropicana Field before losing three straight in Philadelphia. In 2020, during the pandemic-shortened season, the entire World Series was played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, where the Rays lost to the Dodgers in six games.

That means this year's series will mark only the second time World Series games have been played at Tropicana Field.

The Trop returns

Tropicana Field's presence in the World Series is notable for another reason. The ballpark reopened this season after repairs to damage caused by Hurricane Milton in 2024, which tore away much of the stadium's fabric roof. The Rays spent the 2025 season playing at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees' spring training home in Tampa.

The stadium, which opened as the Florida Suncoast Dome in 1990 and was later known as the ThunderDome, took its current name shortly before the Rays' first season in 1998.

The Rays plan to move to a new ballpark across the bay in Tampa in 2029, meaning this World Series could be among the last major events at the Trop.

Suds vs. Sun

The matchup between Milwaukee, famous for its brewing history, and the Sunshine State's Rays has quickly been nicknamed the "Suds vs. Sun" World Series.

The teams met during the regular season in Milwaukee at the start of the year, with the Brewers winning two of three games from March 30 to April 1.

Schedule

Games 1 and 2 will be played Friday and Saturday at American Family Field. The series shifts to Tropicana Field for Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5. Any remaining games would return to Milwaukee.

Whichever team wins, a new name will be added to the list of World Series champions, and the long wait for one city will finally come to an end.