Report: Rays reach $1.7B deal to sell to Jacksonville billionaire

The new ownership prefers the team move out of St. Petersburg to Tampa.

  • By Louis Llovio
  • | 5:35 p.m. July 14, 2025
  • | 0 Free Articles Remaining!
Tampa Bay Rays fans head to Game One of the American League Divisional Series Oct. 7, 2021, against the Boston Red Sox. The Rays won the game 5-0.
Tampa Bay Rays fans head to Game One of the American League Divisional Series Oct. 7, 2021, against the Boston Red Sox. The Rays won the game 5-0.
Photo by Mark Wemple
  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
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Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has reached a deal to sell the team to Jacksonville homebuilder Patrick Zalupski for $1.7 billion, according to a report Monday from sports publication The Athletic.

The report, which cites a person briefed on the process but not authorized to speak, say Zalupski plans to keep the team in the area but prefers for it to play in Tampa instead of St. Petersburg.

 

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