TAMPA, Fla — The sale of the Tampa Bay Rays to a group led by Florida homebuilder Patrick Zalupski was approved on Monday, ending the 20-year run of Stuart Sternberg as principal owner of the team.
After landing on an agreement in July to follow through with the $1.7 billion sale, Zalupski’s group entered an extensive process leading to Monday’s approval. The expectation is that the sale will be formally completed later this week, which will include approval from the Federal Trade Commission and money transferred, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
“It’s good to go‚” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told the Tampa Bay Times after the owners voted unanimously to approve Zalupski. “It’s official in terms of our internal processes subject just to their closing, but it’s always subject to the closing taking place.”
Now that new faces are at the helm, other challenges must be resolved.
The elephant in the room is where the Rays will call home in years to come. The club concluded an unprecedented home schedule on Sunday in which all games were played at George M. Steinbrenner Field after damage from Hurricane Milton last October rendered Tropicana Field unusable.
Zalupski, who is based in Jacksonville, is taking over as Tropicana Field is currently under repair with a reopening date of April 6, 2026, in the crosshairs. However, a long-term plan for a stadium is undecided. Under the current agreement with the city of Saint Petersburg, the Rays have an obligation to play in the Trop through 2028.
Zalupski has expressed his desire to keep the Rays in the Tampa Bay area, with Manfred echoing those sentiments.
“I think Patrick is going to be a great addition,” Manfred said. “Deeply committed to the Tampa Bay region as a home for the Rays, and I look forward to them getting past the closing and starting to work with the club.”
Under Sternberg, an agreement for a new stadium was reached in 2024, but the Rays abandoned the deal with increased costs due to delays in post-agreement issues.
Another dilemma facing new ownership is attendance. Historically, Tampa Bay has ranked near the bottom of Major League Baseball in average attendance since the team’s inaugural season in 1998, despite extensive postseason success since the rebranding of the team in 2008. Before calling Steinbrenner Field a temporary home, the Rays posted an average attendance of 16,515 during the 2024 season, ranking 28th in MLB according to ESPN’s attendance report.
In consecutive seasons, Tampa Bay has departed from its winning ways. With six games remaining in the season, the Rays (76-80) will miss the postseason again and may once again finish with a sub .500 record.
Much like attendance, Tampa Bay’s payroll under Sternberg’s watch has also ranked toward the bottom of baseball. In a sport without a salary cap, the Rays have never spent big, making their nearly recurring success even more unlikely. However, the limitations of a roster built and backed by limited money have always come to pass.
Zalupski, the CEO and founder of Dream Finder Homes, possesses a net worth of $1.3 billion. He will be joined by Dan Doyle, the CEO of Tampa-based DEX Imaging, an office equipment company, and Rick Workman, founder of Heartland Dental services and chair of the executive advisor team at the private equity firm New Harbor Capital.
With finalization of the sale looming, the trio of businessmen certainly have their work cut out for them.