Thanks to pending new ownership, the probability of the Tampa Bay Rays moving elsewhere now seems as likely as the resurrection of Tropicana Field, the team’s original ballpark.

According to The Athletic, Stuart Sternberg is concluding arrangements to sell the American League East franchise to Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski. The $1.7 billion deal is expected to be approved by the required three-quarters of incumbent owners, perhaps as early as September.

Even if that happens, however, Sternberg would still receive the 2025 World Series trophy if the Rays rebound from an erratic first half to win their first world championship. The team lost both of its previous Fall Classic appearances, in 2008 and 2020.

Under Sternberg, who purchased the Rays in 2004 for a reported $200 million, the team has established a reputation for making the most of minimal resources.

Low Payroll

The Rays rank 26th among the 30 teams in 2025 payroll, according to Roster Resource, and are one of just five teams to pay their players less than $100 million. They also have a long track record of avoiding the sting of free-agent desertions by trading their highest-salaried stars – a trend that may continue before the trade deadline of July 31.

Sternberg’s stewardship has been controversial. To combat flagging attendance at Tropicana Field, he allowed the team to play six games (two three-game series in 2007 and 2008) at Disney World, hoping that the Orlando locale would attract regional fans. He also flirted with the idea of playing half his home schedule in Montreal, which the Expos deserted when they became the Washington Nationals in 2005.

Ideas for building new ballparks in Ybor City, on the Tampa side of the bay, or even in St. Petersburg, across a causeway crowded with evening rush-hour traffic before night games, have also been considered.

Financing Issues

But financing has always been a stumbling block, even after the Rays convinced the City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, and assorted private investors to share the cost of a proposed $1.2 billion ballpark to replace the outdated Trop. The projected completion date was 2028.

And then the roof fell in – literally.

Hurricane Milton imploded the Tropicana dome last October, making the field unplayable. After considering various options, the Rays agreed to play their 81-game home schedule at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Tampa-based spring training home of the New York Yankees. For the first time, the vagaries of the humid summer climate became a scheduling factor.

Because that minor-league ballpark is located in Hillsborough County rather than Pinellas County, the impact on the local economies compounded the catastrophe.
Sternberg, who had scuttled the idea of building the new ballpark on the Tropicana site, found himself stuck in no-man’s-land, pressured to sell rather than shift. He finally found a buyer in Zalupski, the billionaire CEO of Dream Finders Homes. His net worth is $1.4 billion and his company is valued at $3.4 billion, according to Forbes.

Injecting new cash into the team could end its years of fiscal frugality, such as trading players before they become free agents and not signing any high-priced players once they join the market.

Once new ownership is finalized, the team must decide on a 2026 home, either returning to a repaired Tropicana Field or staying put in their current borrowed minor-league ballpark.

Finding a permanent home will also take on new urgency.

Playoffs Park?

Should the Rays reach the playoffs this fall, they already have permission from Major League Baseball to play those games where they are. The team drew an average of 16,575 fans into Tropicana Field in 2024, ahead of only the Marlins and Athletics in attendance, but couldn’t fit that many into Steinbrenner Field, which has a capacity of just 10,046.

Staying there indefinitely is not a solution that seems satisfactory to the team, its fans, or new ownership. Zalupski prefers a Tampa location over St. Pete, according to The Athletic, but that will require detailed and delicate negotiations with civic leaders in both locations.

Until they come up with a site for a new stadium, not to mention financing and a projected opening date, the Rays are likely to remain in a baseball Twilight Zone. Although they are one of two clubs, along with the Athletics, playing home games in minor-league parks this year, the A’s have earmarked a 2028 opening for their Las Vegas ballpark, now under construction.

That leaves them light-years ahead of the Rays, who share Florida with the Miami Marlins, another team with attendance woes. Critics have long contended that the Sunshine State cannot sustain full-time teams despite its history as the birthplace of spring training.

In addition, Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, who plans to retire when his term expires in 2029, insists that expansion from 30 to 32 teams will not commence until all existing clubs are anchored in permanent parks.

The Rays reached the All-Star break last weekend with a record of 50-47, 5½ games behind the front-running Toronto Blue Jays and 1½ games removed in the race for the third and final wild-card spot. The team lost eight of its last ten before the break.