M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, will receive another round of upgrades before the 2025 season kicks off this fall, but it will be a bit pricier than expected.
According to The Baltimore Banner, the Ravens will now pay an additional $55 million for improvements to M&T Bank Stadium due to “confluence of several factors, including increased construction costs, design modifications, and changes to the project schedules.” However, the Maryland Stadium Authority would reimburse them for up to $35 million, so they'd actually only pay around $20 million more. Together with the $434 million in state funds already set aside, the cost of the project now comes to a total of $489 million.
The stadium authority board reportedly approved the memorandum during a special meeting on Wednesday, though it still needs to be approved by the state's Board of Public Works and the authority board would need to approve any financing plans.
A state law passed in 2022 allowed the authority to sell $1.2 billion in bonds to fund upgrades for both M&T Bank Stadium and Oriole Park, with $600 million going to each. That came with the provision that the debt service on those bonds would not last beyond the teams' leases, so both the Ravens and Orioles signed leases to keep them in Baltimore for 15 more years.
The debt on those bonds will be paid off with state lottery funds, which normally go to Maryland's general fund.
The renovation project includes a beer hall along the venue's exterior, new luxury suites, expanded concourses and more.
In 2023, the Ravens signed a new lease to keep them in Baltimore through 2037, with five-year options to extend the lease to 2042 or 2047. As such, they received most of the $600 million the state set aside for stadium renovations, but not quite all of it.
