ATLANTA — The sale of the Tampa Bay Rays from current owner Stu Sternberg to a group led by Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski for about $1.7 billion has been agreed to in principle and is expected to be completed as soon as September, a person briefed on the process who was not authorized to speak publicly told The Athletic on Monday.
Zalupski is expected to keep the team in the Tampa Bay area, with a strong preference to be in Tampa rather than St. Petersburg, the source said.
Sternberg bought the team for $200 million in 2004.
Zalpuski’s group could not immediately be reached for comment. The Rays declined to comment.
Sportico reported in June that Zalupski’s group was in advanced talks to buy the team and had signed a letter of intent. The Rays last month said in a statement that they were in exclusive talks with Zalupski’s group, which includes Bill Cosgrove and Ken Babby. Zalupski is the founder of Dream Finders Homes, while Cosgrove runs Ohio-based Union Home Mortgage. Babby owns a pair of minor-league teams, the Akron RubberDucks and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
As of last month, other bidders were still hopeful of landing the team, including a group led by Memphis hedge fund founder Trip Miller.
The sale could hasten a conclusion to the Rays’ long-running search for a new stadium. For two decades, Sternberg has tried to find a new home for the Rays other than Tropicana Field, which was built in 1990. But several iterations fell through, including a unique plan that would have had the team split time between Florida and Montreal. This spring, The Athletic reported that Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred and some owners were pressing Sternberg to sell.
Sternberg’s most recent plan, to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg where the team currently plays, was derailed after Hurricane Milton ravaged the area in the fall. The hurricane significantly damaged Tropicana Field, forcing the Rays to play this regular season at Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees’ spring training facility and home of the minor league Tampa Tarpons.
A fight over public funding for a new stadium also ensued, and an agreed-upon $1.3 billion deal to build a new park in St. Petersburg went by the wayside this spring.
Manfred said last month he was hopeful that the Rays could return to Tropicana Field for the 2026 season.
“The repair of the stadium is moving along,” Manfred said at the time. “We remain optimistic that we will be ready either for Opening Day or very shortly thereafter. Obviously, the big contingency is what happens with hurricane season, right? There’s not much you can do about that, other than keep your fingers crossed. But we are hopeful that we’ll get it ready for Opening Day ’26.”
(Photo: Brian Blanco / Getty Images)
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