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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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)
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
Kopřiva postoupil v Bastadu do druhého kola
Online magazín deníku Právo & Seznam.czCopyright © 1996–2025, Seznam.cz, a.s., Borgis, a.s., ČTK, DPA, Reuters, fotobanka Profimedia.Publikování nebo další šíření obsahu serveru Sport.cz je bez písemného souhlasu společnosti Borgis, a.s. zakázáno. RSS kanály serveru Sport.cz jsou určeny pouze pro osobní užití. Jakékoli kopírování, šíření nebo využívání obsahu RSS kanálů serveru Sport.cz bez předchozího písemného souhlasu společnosti Borgis a.s. není dovoleno. Dodavatelem obsahu serveru Sport.cz a osobou vykonávající redakční odpovědnost je společnost BORGIS a.s. Šiřitelem reklamy na serveru Sport.cz je společnost Seznam.cz, a.s., IČO 26168685.
Why Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek’s doping cases hang over Wimbledon champions
This year’s Wimbledon singles champions are Iga Świątek and Jannik Sinner. Świątek routed Amanda Anisimova of the United States 6-0, 6-0 in the first “double-bagel” Grand Slam final since 1988, while Sinner beat his nearest and only real rival, Carlos Alcaraz, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.Świątek now has six Grand Slam titles; Sinner has four. They are both first-time champions at Wimbledon — and they have both received suspensions for anti-doping violations in the past 12 months. It is also the first time in Wimbledon history that both champions have served anti-doping suspensions.AdvertisementSinner, the men’s world No. 1, was suspended for three months between February and May this year after twice testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid. Świątek was suspended for a month at the back end of 2024 after testing positive for a banned heart medication.The International Tennis Integrity […]
Top 20 drafted NHL goalie prospects ranking: Askarov, Fowler lead Wheeler’s summer 2025 list
Welcome to the summer 2025 edition of my drafted NHL prospect rankings at The Athletic.This ranking of the league’s top 20 drafted goalie prospects follows yesterday’s top 100 drafted skaters list.After publishing this project for years as one combined ranking, the move to two lists, dividing the goalies from the skaters, was made in 2020 as a response to reader demands for evaluations on a wider range of goaltenders (previously, when skaters and goalies were ranked together in a single list, only a handful of netminders normally made it). The ranking includes 20 goalies to reflect the five-to-one skater-to-goalie ratio on the ice.AdvertisementTo be considered a prospect, a goalie must be under 25 and not fully established as an NHL goalie. The latter qualifier is arbitrary. There, I trust my judgment for whether a goalie should be considered fully graduated […]
MLB’s Home Run Derby showcases the once-viral torpedo bats — but has their moment passed?
ATLANTA — On April 1, Alex Bregman posted his latest order to an Instagram story. The post featured a natural wood Marucci torpedo bat. Bregman added his initials and number — “AB2” — along with a rocket ship emoji.At a time when the Yankees were crushing home runs and bat companies were backlogged with orders, Boston’s star third baseman was among a wave of players who rushed to get their hands on a bat some theorized could take over the game.AdvertisementA few months later, the torpedo bats were again on center stage at Monday’s Home Run Derby, where Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hoisted a trophy with help from the bulblike bats that have weight and wood redistributed toward the barrel.In reality, though, the torpedo bat was again on an outsized stage. Rather than taking over the league, torpedo bats seem […]
From Navy SEAL to NHL front office: How Wild’s ‘big brother’ teaches players to overcome adversity
Editor’s note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak here.One day in January, a collection of minor-league hockey players from the Minnesota Wild visited the Navy SEAL base in San Diego. What they witnessed blew their minds. AdvertisementA group of trainees was going through the unit’s rigorous Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, designed, as the Navy puts it, to develop “men of the strongest character.” There were barrel rolls in the sand, a blaring bullhorn and constant yelling from officers. The players marveled as teams of six carried a boat on their heads into the ocean and back. It was 50 degrees outside. It looked freezing.As he watched in appreciation, David Spacek, a 22-year-old Czech in the Wild’s farm system, remembers thinking: “I wish I were playing hockey […]
At LSU, urgency levels for a fast start are high. Brian Kelly isn’t shying away from it
ATLANTA — The paw prints are everywhere. The LSU players see them as they go into their building. They see them on hallway video monitors. They enter the weight room and there they are: on weights, bags, all kinds of equipment.Those Clemson paw prints.But it’s not really about Clemson, which happens to be LSU’s opening opponent this year. The paw prints stand for something else for this LSU program.Advertisement“At LSU, the expectation is to win a national championship, and I think we were too focused on having the type of season to do that,” quarterback Garrett Nussmeier said. “I think we lost focus on where it starts.”LSU has not won a national championship since 2019, which, incredibly, is also the last time it won its season opener: 2020: A home loss to Mississippi State, 44-34. 2021: A loss at UCLA, […]
Related
Kopřiva postoupil v Bastadu do druhého kola
Online magazín deníku Právo & Seznam.czCopyright © 1996–2025, Seznam.cz, a.s., Borgis, a.s., ČTK, DPA, Reuters, fotobanka Profimedia.Publikování nebo další šíření obsahu serveru Sport.cz je bez písemného souhlasu společnosti Borgis, a.s. zakázáno. RSS kanály serveru Sport.cz jsou určeny pouze pro osobní užití. Jakékoli kopírování, šíření nebo využívání obsahu RSS kanálů serveru Sport.cz bez předchozího písemného souhlasu společnosti Borgis a.s. není dovoleno. Dodavatelem obsahu serveru Sport.cz a osobou vykonávající redakční odpovědnost je společnost BORGIS a.s. Šiřitelem reklamy na serveru Sport.cz je společnost Seznam.cz, a.s., IČO 26168685.
Why Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek’s doping cases hang over Wimbledon champions
This year’s Wimbledon singles champions are Iga Świątek and Jannik Sinner. Świątek routed Amanda Anisimova of the United States 6-0, 6-0 in the first “double-bagel” Grand Slam final since 1988, while Sinner beat his nearest and only real rival, Carlos Alcaraz, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.Świątek now has six Grand Slam titles; Sinner has four. They are both first-time champions at Wimbledon — and they have both received suspensions for anti-doping violations in the past 12 months. It is also the first time in Wimbledon history that both champions have served anti-doping suspensions.AdvertisementSinner, the men’s world No. 1, was suspended for three months between February and May this year after twice testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid. Świątek was suspended for a month at the back end of 2024 after testing positive for a banned heart medication.The International Tennis Integrity […]
Top 20 drafted NHL goalie prospects ranking: Askarov, Fowler lead Wheeler’s summer 2025 list
Welcome to the summer 2025 edition of my drafted NHL prospect rankings at The Athletic.This ranking of the league’s top 20 drafted goalie prospects follows yesterday’s top 100 drafted skaters list.After publishing this project for years as one combined ranking, the move to two lists, dividing the goalies from the skaters, was made in 2020 as a response to reader demands for evaluations on a wider range of goaltenders (previously, when skaters and goalies were ranked together in a single list, only a handful of netminders normally made it). The ranking includes 20 goalies to reflect the five-to-one skater-to-goalie ratio on the ice.AdvertisementTo be considered a prospect, a goalie must be under 25 and not fully established as an NHL goalie. The latter qualifier is arbitrary. There, I trust my judgment for whether a goalie should be considered fully graduated […]
MLB’s Home Run Derby showcases the once-viral torpedo bats — but has their moment passed?
ATLANTA — On April 1, Alex Bregman posted his latest order to an Instagram story. The post featured a natural wood Marucci torpedo bat. Bregman added his initials and number — “AB2” — along with a rocket ship emoji.At a time when the Yankees were crushing home runs and bat companies were backlogged with orders, Boston’s star third baseman was among a wave of players who rushed to get their hands on a bat some theorized could take over the game.AdvertisementA few months later, the torpedo bats were again on center stage at Monday’s Home Run Derby, where Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hoisted a trophy with help from the bulblike bats that have weight and wood redistributed toward the barrel.In reality, though, the torpedo bat was again on an outsized stage. Rather than taking over the league, torpedo bats seem […]
From Navy SEAL to NHL front office: How Wild’s ‘big brother’ teaches players to overcome adversity
Editor’s note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak here.One day in January, a collection of minor-league hockey players from the Minnesota Wild visited the Navy SEAL base in San Diego. What they witnessed blew their minds. AdvertisementA group of trainees was going through the unit’s rigorous Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, designed, as the Navy puts it, to develop “men of the strongest character.” There were barrel rolls in the sand, a blaring bullhorn and constant yelling from officers. The players marveled as teams of six carried a boat on their heads into the ocean and back. It was 50 degrees outside. It looked freezing.As he watched in appreciation, David Spacek, a 22-year-old Czech in the Wild’s farm system, remembers thinking: “I wish I were playing hockey […]
At LSU, urgency levels for a fast start are high. Brian Kelly isn’t shying away from it
ATLANTA — The paw prints are everywhere. The LSU players see them as they go into their building. They see them on hallway video monitors. They enter the weight room and there they are: on weights, bags, all kinds of equipment.Those Clemson paw prints.But it’s not really about Clemson, which happens to be LSU’s opening opponent this year. The paw prints stand for something else for this LSU program.Advertisement“At LSU, the expectation is to win a national championship, and I think we were too focused on having the type of season to do that,” quarterback Garrett Nussmeier said. “I think we lost focus on where it starts.”LSU has not won a national championship since 2019, which, incredibly, is also the last time it won its season opener: 2020: A home loss to Mississippi State, 44-34. 2021: A loss at UCLA, […]
Be the first to leave a comment