Tampa Bay Rays in talks for a potential sale, but what happened to the big stadium deal?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays are in talks to potentially sell the team to a group led by a Jacksonville home builder. 

The news comes at a precarious time for the team — with the Rays playing in Tampa while their home ballpark sits roofless and heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton.

But before this latest group of investors entered the equation, the future of the team and a potential multi-million-dollar stadium redevelopment deal had been a topic of discussion in the Tampa Bay area for years.

Here’s a timeline of the Tampa Bay Rays’ potential sales and stadium deals since Tropicana Field was ravaged by the hurricane.

After Hurricane Milton brought wind gusts of up to 101 mph to the area, footage from outside Tropicana Field showed large sections of the stadium’s roof torn apart and flapping in the wind. Shreds of the Teflon-coated fiberglass roof were scattered across seats and rows of cots that had been set up on the field.

The damage came a few months after the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County approved a new $1.3 billion ballpark in an adjacent location that would open in the 2028 season, part of a much larger downtown revitalization project, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Nearly one month after Milton made landfall, a report commissioned by St. Pete leaders revealed that the cost to repair Tropicana Field topped $55 million. But the Rays wouldn’t be able to play until 2026.

The report showed that the earliest the repairs could be completed would be in time for Opening Day in 2026. That still left the Rays with the decision on where to play for the 2025 season — and the team decided that the new location would be George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. 

Pinellas County, the city of St. Pete and the Tampa Bay Rays were now left with two issues: a ravaged Tropicana Field and the future of the previously agreed-upon stadium deal now in jeopardy. 

While the Rays sent a letter to commissioners saying that delays on a vote for funding the new stadium meant the current deal was all but dead, city and county leaders believed there was still a path forward.

St. Pete City Council and county commissioners voted in favor of funding a new Rays stadium. However, questions remained on whether the Rays would want to follow through on the deal.

A statement from Rays co-president Matt Silverman stated that the twice-delayed vote resulted in the project being pushed back a year, increasing costs significantly. 

At this point, if the team still wanted the deal, it was theirs — as long as they met certain conditions before a March 31 deadline. If they failed to meet the obligations on that date, the deal would terminate. Among those conditions was showing the team had the funds to cover their portion of the stadium cost.

Tampa Bay Rays leaders said they “support and expect” the city of St. Petersburg to repair hurricane-ravaged Tropicana Field in time for Opening Day 2026. 

“The League and the Rays stand at the ready to work hand in hand with the City throughout the reconstruction process to make sure the design and implementation satisfy MLB requirements and meet the necessary deadlines,” Silverman said in a previous statement. “We look forward to a grand reopening.”

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and other owners were reportedly pressuring Stu Sternberg to sell the Tampa Bay Rays as the team was just weeks away from kicking off the 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field.

Then, the team announced it would not be moving forward with an on-the-table deal for a new $1.3 billion stadium and surrounding redevelopment in St. Petersburg. 

In April, St. Pete council members voted to pay for a new roof for the Trop — one that can withstand a Category 3 hurricane under current building codes. The city is reportedly contractually obligated to get Tropicana Field back in playing condition.

Just weeks after several reports came out, the Rays confirmed they are in discussions to potentially sell the team to a group led by Patrick Zalupski, the CEO of Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes.

Also in the group are Bill Cosgrove, Ken Babby and “prominent” Tampa Bay investors, according to the Rays. Babby is the owner of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, a Triple-A Minor League Baseball team in Downtown Jacksonville. 

Previous 10 Tampa Bay reporting contributed to this story.