The Tampa Bay Rays, who ranked next to last in the majors in attendance last season, are eliminating all seating in the upper deck for 2019 in an effort to create a more "intimate" experience for fans at Tropicana Field.

The Rays on Friday said they would add a premium seating section in the lower level but would no longer seat fans in the upper deck, which would reduce capacity at the stadium by more than 5,000 seats to approximately 25,000 to 26,000.

That would be about 10,000 seats smaller than capacity at any other stadium in the major leagues.

"These renovations mark our continued commitment to providing a first-rate fan experience at Tropicana Field," Rays president Matt Silverman said in a statement. "Together, in concert with the reduction in seating capacity, these investments will help create a more intimate, entertaining and appealing experience for our fans."

The Rays averaged 14,258 fans last season, ranking ahead of only the Miami Marlins (10,013). It was a 7.9 percent decline for the Rays, who have ranked last in attendance in all but two seasons since 2012.

Tommy Pham, who was traded to the Rays from the St. Louis Cardinals in July, was critical of the fan base in Tampa Bay.

"It sucks going from playing in front of a great fan base to a team with really no fan base at all," Pham said on SiriusXM in December. "... That's something that I miss, because even here in the Dominican they have a strong fan base for the team I'm playing for. Their fans are very supportive. They're loud. And the Rays? They just don't have that."

Last season, the Tampa Bays Rays ranked 29th in the majors in average attendance -- just the second time they hadn't ranked last since 2012. Brian Blanco/Getty Images

In December, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said he would reopen the search for a new ballpark site after plans for a stadium in Tampa's Ybor City area couldn't be finalized by last month's deadline.

Sternberg said any new ballpark can't open until at least 2024 and that the team must start thinking about where it will play when its lease at St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field ends after the 2027 season.

"We'll continue to look in Tampa Bay, and we'll put our efforts to that," Sternberg said at the winter meetings. "One way or another, we need to figure out where the team is going to be in 2028, if not sooner. Ideally sooner. But absolutely by 2028."

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has said the sport will not consider expansion until the Rays and Oakland Athletics get new ballparks. The A's announced plans on Nov. 28 for a new stadium near downtown and are working to gain approvals.

Tampa Bay has played at what is now called Tropicana Field since its first season in 1998.