The Tampa Bay Rays said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done to Tropicana Field, which saw its roof ripped to shreds by the force of Hurricane Milton as the deadly storm barreled across much of Florida.

The team said no one was injured when the St. Petersburg ballpark was struck by the storm on Wednesday night. A handful of “essential personnel” were inside Tropicana Field as the roof panels were blown apart, much of the debris falling on the field and seats below.

For as bad as the damage was, the situation at Tropicana Field could have been worse. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had said earlier in the week that there were plans for the ballpark to serve as a “temporary base camp” to support debris cleanup operations and temporarily house some first responders. But those plans were changed as the storm neared, amid concerns that the roof simply would not survive Milton’s wrath.

The roof was designed to withstand wind of up to 115 mph, according to the Rays.

Lightning opener, other games and travel altered

The Tampa Bay Lightning will not play their home opener Saturday as planned.

The NHL said Thursday that Saturday’s Lightning game against the Carolina Hurricanes was postponed “amid recovery efforts in the Tampa Bay area from the impact of Hurricane Milton.”

No makeup date was immediately announced. The Lightning will open the season at Carolina on Friday, and traveled there earlier this week to get out ahead of the storm.

The change means that Tampa Bay’s home opener is now set for Tuesday against Vancouver.

The Orlando Magic spent Thursday in San Antonio and were planning to return home on Friday, a day behind their original schedule for the week.

A preseason game that was to be played Friday in Orlando between the Magic and New Orleans Pelicans was canceled and will not be rescheduled.

USF’s game with Memphis has been moved again — this time, to Orlando.

The teams were scheduled to play Friday night in Tampa, then rescheduled to play there Saturday afternoon because of storm concerns. And on Thursday night, the game was changed again with the site now set to be Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, about 90 miles northeast of Tampa.

Golf

PGA returns to Utah after 61 years

Adam Svensson made a 35-foot eagle putt he thought he had missed and closed with a birdie from the bunker for a career-best 11-under 60, giving him a two-shot lead Thursday in the Black Desert Championship as the PGA Tour returned to Utah for the first time in 61 years.

Black Desert Resort had a gorgeous day to make its debut with a Tom Weiskopf design cut through an ancient field of black lava and surrounded by the red rock mountains some 30 miles from Zion National Park.

Henrik Norlander hit all 14 fairways and all 18 greens in posting his career-low of 62. He was joined by Korn Ferry Tour grad Matt McCarty, who had an eagle on the reachable par-4 fifth.

And then Svensson came through in the afternoon and made seven birdies through 10 holes before he finished with a flourish.

NASCAR

Two teams ask court to be seen as chartered

The two teams suing NASCAR asked a judge for a preliminary injunction Wednesday so they can compete next season under the charter system they are challenging as their antitrust case moves through federal court.

23XI Racing, which is owned by Michael Jordan, veteran driver Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, sued NASCAR and chairman Jim France last week in the Western District of North Carolina. The two teams accused NASCAR of being “monopolistic bullies” after refusing to sign new charters proposed by the stock car series.

The charter system is a revenue-sharing model that is similar to a franchise in other professional sports. Although charters can be sold and leased, the charters have contractually binding terms, expiration dates and can be revoked by NASCAR. Teams fought to have them made permanent but NASCAR would not consider the issue and the newest extension runs through 2031.

23XI and Front Row allege in their suit that the agreement that goes into effect next season limits competition by unfairly binding teams to the series, its tracks and its suppliers. 23XI and Front Row were the only two organizations out of 15 that refused to sign; almost every other team has said they signed on deadline only because NASCAR threatened to do away with the charter system entirely.

Briefly

WNBA >> The Golden State Valkyries have found their head coach with Natalie Nakase taking the job. Nakase, who has spent the last three years as an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces, was hired Thursday by the expansion franchise that begins play in 2025.

Hockey >> Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner is expected to miss most of the season after having shoulder surgery on Wednesday, the day before the season opener.

NBA >> Danny Green, the sharpshooting guard who won an NCAA championship at North Carolina before helping three different franchises win NBA championships, announced his retirement as a player on Thursday.

college football >> Quinn Ewers will return as the starting quarterback for No. 1 Texas against rival No. 18 Oklahoma after missing the previous two games with an abdomen strain, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said.

College sports >> An NCAA study on social media abuse of athletes, coaches and other officials during championship events found nearly one in five posts that were flagged by an AI-based algorithm and determined to be abusive involved sexual harassment and 12% were related to sports betting, according to results of the pilot study released Thursday.

Baseball >> The Atlanta Braves are making changes to manager Brian Snitker’s coaching staff following the team’s quick exit from their NL Wild Card Series by informing hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and two other coaches they won’t return.

Golf >> A 16-year-old Ukrainian playing for just the fifth time on the European tour, Lev Grinberg shot 5-under 66 and was in a tie for fourth place, one stroke off the lead, after the first round of the French Open.

— From news services