It is named in honor of Al Lang, a former mayor of St. Petersburg who was instrumental in bringing minor league and spring training baseball to the city in the early 20th century.

[5] Al Lang Stadium was the spring training home of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball from 1948 until 1997, with other teams occasionally sharing use of the facility for a few seasons at a time.

The Cardinals moved out in 1998, when St. Petersburg gained their own MLB team and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays used Al Lang Stadium as their first spring training venue and minor league ballpark.

It was incrementally modified into a soccer venue over each of the following off-seasons until October 2014, when the club and the city signed an agreement giving the team more control of the facility, and more extensive renovations were undertaken to expand seating on both sides of the pitch and improve the fan experience.

[6][7] Professional baseball grew throughout the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century, and clubs sought additional facilities to accommodate their spring training.

Al Lang, a businessman in St. Petersburg, saw a huge potential to attract northeastern teams to his city to take advantage of the warm weather during the early months of the year.

After his term, Lang devoted his life to building a successful connection between Florida and baseball, and was instrumental in marketing St. Petersburg as a desirable sports site.

Al Lang Stadium's grandstand faces the southeast, giving almost every seat a view of the St. Petersburg harbor and Tampa Bay beyond the left field wall.

A unique concrete cantilevered overhang shades many of the grandstand seats from the afternoon sun, and the stadium's waterfront location is often cooled by a sea breeze.

[15] In addition, a portion of the outfield wall was removed and two banks of uncovered bleachers installed in its place, adding several hundred seats on the sideline of the soccer pitch opposite the grandstand.

After the Tampa Bay Rowdies moved to Al Lang Stadium in 2011, the playing surface and seating arrangement had to be constantly alternated between baseball and soccer configurations, especially in the spring.

Al Lang Stadium subsequently underwent minor renovations to convert it into a soccer facility, with temporary seats added on the grass along the sidelines to increase capacity.

[27][28] On October 27, 2012, the Tampa Bay Rowdies became the 2012 NASL Champions by winning the two-leg Soccer Bowl against the Minnesota Stars at Al Lang Stadium.

As part of the arrangement, the facility would no longer be used for baseball events, and Edwards agreed to complete $1.5 million in renovations as he sought to make Al Lang Stadium more soccer friendly.

On January 29, 2013 Major League Lacrosse announced that the 2012 MLL champions the Rochester Rattlers would face the Chesapeake Bayhawks for their season opener at Al Lang stadium.

[40] In 2006, the Tampa Bay Rays announced plans to move their spring training home to Port Charlotte, about 80 minutes south of St. Petersburg, for the 2009 season.

[23] In March 2016, St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman announced plans to hold a public referendum on extending the Rowdies' lease at Al Lang Stadium and to use tax dollars to help the club transform the facility into a "city showpiece".