Report: Major League Baseball wants Tampa Bay Rays sold

A story in a prominent sports publication says the league and owners want Stuart Sternberg to sell the team to someone who will resolve long running stadium issues.

By Louis Llovio
| 9:15 a.m. March 10, 2025
| 0 Free Articles Remaining!

Damage to Tropicana Field following Hurricane Milton have forced the Tampa Rays to play in Tampa and could lead to a stadium deal collapsing.

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

As a March 31 deadline approaches for the Tampa Bay Rays to meet critical deadlines in its deal to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg, The Athletic is reporting Major League Baseball wants the team’s current owner, Stuart Sternberg, to sell the team.

In a story posted to its website Sunday night, the prominent sports publication owned by The New York Times says the league and other owners are frustrated with Sternberg, writing MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and the owners “appear out of patience.”

The report says MLB wants the team to stay in Florida, either in downtown St. Petersburg, where a deal for a $1.3 billion stadium is teetering, or Ybor City. Moving the team to Orlando is also a possibility.