Buyers eye Tampa Bay Rays as hedge fund founder Trip Miller says he also made recent offer

New York Times

7 hours ago

While the Tampa Bay Rays announced this week that they are in 'exclusive discussions' about a potential sale of the team with a group led by Jacksonville-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski, another possible contender has emerged to attempt a purchase of the club.
Memphis hedge fund founder Trip Miller has formed a group that made an all-cash offer to current Rays owner Stu Sternberg last week, he told The Athletic, noting the group's willingness to up their offer if needed. He did not say what amount his group bid, and said he could not reveal who was in his group, citing an NDA.
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'We made an offer last week,' Miller said. 'We have had contact with the club over the past month, specifically about our offer. If there is an exclusivity period that expires soon, and I don't know when it expires, we would welcome the opportunity to have a deeper discussion with the Rays about our offer.'
The Rays declined to discuss Miller's potential involvement, as did Zalupski via text message. MLB declined comment as well. However, the offer from Miller's group could loom over the negotiations with Zalupski, which have yet to be finalized. It is unclear if there are other groups or individuals interested in purchasing the team.
Miller has been linked to the Rays in the past. In 2023, Forbes reported that the Gullane Capital Partners founder had put together a group looking to purchase the team for $1.85 billion. Sternberg rebuffed a sale at the time. The magazine valued the franchise at just $1.25 billion earlier this year.
Miller said he believes the team will sell for more than $1.5 billion, and that the overall investment will require at least $3 billion. That would include the cost of the team, plus an additional $1.5 billion needed to fund a new stadium. Their intent would be to leave Tropicana Field and build a new ballpark, Miller said, with the caveat of first ensuring a productive partnership with local government.
In any hypothetical sale, Miller said, his intent would be to keep the team local, specifically mentioning Hillsborough County (Tampa) or Pinellas County (St. Petersburg), while not fully ruling out exploring options in Orlando.
'This is not a relocation play to another state,' Miller said. 'You won't see the Rays relocating out of Central Florida, whether it was our group or another group.
'The league, that's what they're looking for. Someone who can not only buy the club, but solves the stadium problem.'
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Zalupski's group reportedly offered $1.7 billion for the team, as first reported by Sportico. Miller noted that he believed their offer to be lower than that, and that Zalupski's group was still raising capital.
'I do know they're still out there raising money, and I know that because we've been contacted by people in their group to fill the void in their cap stack, on three occasions over the last three weeks. We were reached out directly and through intermediaries.'
When asked if he believed Sternberg could be hoping to leverage the competing offers into a bidding war, Miller said, 'I think he wants to make sure if there is a transaction, that he is maximizing the value of the club.'
'We are fully funded, and frankly over-funded,' Miller said. 'We believe that this will trade in some range, and if it gets out of that range then we're not interested. We're not going to over-pay for the club in our opinion.'
Miller declined to disclose what he believed would be an overpay.
Last July, the Rays announced a $1.3 billion stadium agreement with the St. Petersburg City Council and Pinellas County Commission. However, that deal is no longer in place after a chaotic last eight months, which culminated in Sternberg's intention to sell the team he's owned since 2004.
Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off Tropicana Field in October. As a result, both St. Petersburg and Pinellas County delayed approval on the funding for the new stadium, citing more immediate concerns.
The Rays, frustrated about the delay, signaled that it would create cost overruns that prohibit construction from ever beginning.
Even though the stadium funding was fully approved by January, the Rays formally pulled out of the deal in March. It's a move that might have actually raised the value of the team, Miller said, because it gives any new owner 'optionality' over what to do next.
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Local politicians were calling for Sternberg to sell the team, while several owners were privately encouraging the same, according to a report from The Athletic's Evan Drellich. It became clear that the league wanted an owner committed to keeping the team in the Tampa Bay region, which no longer was a given under Sternberg.
The Rays' lease at Tropicana Field expires in 2029. The team is playing its 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. They intend to move back to their old home next season, and commissioner Rob Manfred indicated that the renovations to the ballpark are on track to be ready in time.
(Top photo of Sternberg with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred: Brian Blanco / Getty Images)