Latest news with #StuartSternberg
New York Times
06-08-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Is He Baseball's Most Brilliant Owner, or a Failure?
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays joined the American League as an expansion team in 1998 and immediately became an object of ridicule. Playing in a dingy, depressing stadium in six-color uniforms that could have been pajamas, they finished in last place every season but one for a decade — and next-to-last in the other one. By 2008, though, a former options trader named Stuart Sternberg owned the franchise and had hired a cohort of baseball novices to run it. Sternberg tweaked the colors and shortened the nickname to the Rays. And to the surprise of just about everyone, when his Rays arrived at Yankee Stadium for a doubleheader that September, they led their division. Mike Mussina, a right-handed pitcher who was in the final weeks of a Hall of Fame career, started the first game for the Yankees. Nearly all right-handers are more effective against right-handed hitters, so teams usually prefer to send lefties up to bat against them. But Mussina, who would win 20 games that season, was an anomaly: Righties hit significantly better against him than lefties did. 'Everyone knew it about Mussina — they had the numbers — but nobody had the nerve to do anything different,' Sternberg told me. 'We said: 'Look, this is stupid. We shouldn't be putting lefties up against this guy. He's carving them up.'' The lineup that the Rays' manager, Joe Maddon, sent out to face Mussina included only one left-hander and two switch-hitters. Maddon asked the switch-hitters to bat right-handed. 'I haven't hit right-handed against a righty since I was a kid,' one of them, Ben Zobrist, remembers thinking. 'But my manager thinks it will work, so let's go with it.' When Zobrist, an infielder and outfielder who started in the minors with the Houston Astros, arrived at Tampa Bay, he found a low-budget team willing to consider almost anything that might create a competitive edge. It was as if the Rays had taken Billy Beane's 'moneyball' — a concept introduced to baseball fans through Michael Lewis's 2003 book of that name — and stretched it as far as it would go. 'They were looking for different ways to be better so they could compete against the Yankees and the Red Sox,' Zobrist says. 'That was the approach of the whole organization. 'So what if our names aren't as big as the Yankee names? Why can't we figure out something that hasn't been figured out yet?'' In the fifth inning of that game, Zobrist doubled. Then he scored on a single to put the Rays ahead, 5-0. They won that game, and eventually the division. A month later they advanced to their first World Series. A remarkable run followed. Since April 2008, only two teams, the Yankees and the Dodgers, have won more games. At one point, this poorly supported, low-revenue franchise managed to win 860 games over the course of a decade — that is, it averaged 86 wins a season while playing in the same division as the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays. 'What they do down there, I think, is very special,' says Rocco Baldelli, the Minnesota Twins' manager, who played and coached for the Rays. 'Not just in baseball, but in the world of sports and even business.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Forbes
19-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tampa Bay Rays Find New Owner But Still Battle Old Problems
When Hurricane Milton imploded the Tropicana Field dome last fall, the Tampa Bay Rays had to find a ... More new place for home games. (Photo by) Thanks to pending new ownership, the probability of the Tampa Bay Rays moving elsewhere now seems as likely as the resurrection of Tropicana Field, the team's original ballpark. According to The Athletic, Stuart Sternberg is concluding arrangements to sell the American League East franchise to Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski. The $1.7 billion deal is expected to be approved by the required three-quarters of incumbent owners, perhaps as early as September. Even if that happens, however, Sternberg would still receive the 2025 World Series trophy if the Rays rebound from an erratic first half to win their first world championship. The team lost both of its previous Fall Classic appearances, in 2008 and 2020. Under Sternberg, who purchased the Rays in 2004 for a reported $200 million, the team has established a reputation for making the most of minimal resources. The Rays rank 26th among the 30 teams in 2025 payroll, according to Roster Resource, and are one of just five teams to pay their players less than $100 million. They also have a long track record of avoiding the sting of free-agent desertions by trading their highest-salaried stars – a trend that may continue before the trade deadline of July 31. Stuart Sternberg, owner of the Tampa Bay Rays since 2004, will escape a myriad of problems when he ... More completes negotiations to sell the team in September. (Photo by A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sternberg's stewardship has been controversial. To combat flagging attendance at Tropicana Field, he allowed the team to play six games (two three-game series in 2007 and 2008) at Disney World, hoping that the Orlando locale would attract regional fans. He also flirted with the idea of playing half his home schedule in Montreal, which the Expos deserted when they became the Washington Nationals in 2005. Ideas for building new ballparks in Ybor City, on the Tampa side of the bay, or even in St. Petersburg, across a causeway crowded with evening rush-hour traffic before night games, have also been considered. But financing has always been a stumbling block, even after the Rays convinced the City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, and assorted private investors to share the cost of a proposed $1.2 billion ballpark to replace the outdated Trop. The projected completion date was 2028. And then the roof fell in – literally. Hurricane Milton imploded the Tropicana dome last October, making the field unplayable. After considering various options, the Rays agreed to play their 81-game home schedule at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Tampa-based spring training home of the New York Yankees. For the first time, the vagaries of the humid summer climate became a scheduling factor. Because that minor-league ballpark is located in Hillsborough County rather than Pinellas County, the impact on the local economies compounded the catastrophe. Sternberg, who had scuttled the idea of building the new ballpark on the Tropicana site, found himself stuck in no-man's-land, pressured to sell rather than shift. He finally found a buyer in Zalupski, the billionaire CEO of Dream Finders Homes. His net worth is $1.4 billion and his company is valued at $3.4 billion, according to Forbes. Injecting new cash into the team could end its years of fiscal frugality, such as trading players before they become free agents and not signing any high-priced players once they join the market. Once new ownership is finalized, the team must decide on a 2026 home, either returning to a repaired Tropicana Field or staying put in their current borrowed minor-league ballpark. Finding a permanent home will also take on new urgency. Should the Rays reach the playoffs this fall, they already have permission from Major League Baseball to play those games where they are. The team drew an average of 16,575 fans into Tropicana Field in 2024, ahead of only the Marlins and Athletics in attendance, but couldn't fit that many into Steinbrenner Field, which has a capacity of just 10,046. Staying there indefinitely is not a solution that seems satisfactory to the team, its fans, or new ownership. Zalupski prefers a Tampa location over St. Pete, according to The Athletic, but that will require detailed and delicate negotiations with civic leaders in both locations. Until they come up with a site for a new stadium, not to mention financing and a projected opening date, the Rays are likely to remain in a baseball Twilight Zone. Although they are one of two clubs, along with the Athletics, playing home games in minor-league parks this year, the A's have earmarked a 2028 opening for their Las Vegas ballpark, now under construction. That leaves them light-years ahead of the Rays, who share Florida with the Miami Marlins, another team with attendance woes. Critics have long contended that the Sunshine State cannot sustain full-time teams despite its history as the birthplace of spring training. In addition, Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, who plans to retire when his term expires in 2029, insists that expansion from 30 to 32 teams will not commence until all existing clubs are anchored in permanent parks. The Rays reached the All-Star break last weekend with a record of 50-47, 5½ games behind the front-running Toronto Blue Jays and 1½ games removed in the race for the third and final wild-card spot. The team lost eight of its last ten before the break.
Forbes
17-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Sale Discussions Could Put An End To Soap Opera And Place Rays In Tampa
TAMPA: Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg chat prior to a game ... More between the Rays and the Boston Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field on April 15, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by) Seems like Tampa Bay Rays fans who chanted 'sell the team' Opening Day at Steinbrenner Field may receive their wish. If so, it has been quite a journey to get to this point even when the scope is limited to the past nine months. Within that timeframe, Hurricane Milton severely damaged Tropicana Field, the Rays announced they would play in Tampa, St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch tweeted about burned bridges, the Rays issued a statement noting the team was engaged in talks about the 'possible sale of the team' to a group led by a Jacksonville-based developer and, on Monday, according to The Athletic, there is an agreement in principle with said group for Stu Sternberg to sell the club for $1.7 billion. In a report published in March, Forbes listed the Rays' value at $1.25 billion, 29th among MLB teams and ahead of only the Marlins. Tampa Bay's operating income was listed at $32 million. A group led by Sternberg initially purchased 48 percent of the team in 2004 and bought out 15 percent held by then-managing general partner Vince Naimoli following the 2005 season, which is when Sternberg took charge. It has been reported that Sternberg paid a total of $200. At that time, Forbes valued the Rays at $145 million. While hurdles may arise through the vetting process – 75 percent of MLB ownership approval is required -- it seems there might finally be much-needed good news for Major League Baseball as it pertains to Tampa Bay, or perhaps more specifically, Tampa. During the Rays/Tropicana Field/St. Pete soap opera – thank you Yankees for handling something in a refreshingly smooth manner – MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has repeated his desire for the Rays to remain in the Tampa Bay market. It appears the preference of the group led by Patrick Zalupski, founder of Dream Finders Homes, is to do just that, and on the Tampa side of the bay. 'Looks like there's going to be new owners, and a good possibility that the team will be moving to Tampa,' said Tampa mayor Jane Castor on Tuesday. Of course, a stadium is needed. Repairs to Tropicana Field, or least the prep work, began earlier this summer. According to Bill Walsh, the team's chief business officer, installation of a new roof would begin in August. With the Rays unable to play in St. Pete this season, the lease agreement with the city was extended for one year through 2028. Hence, the team could spend three more seasons (2026 to 2028) at the Trop before occupying a new venue. While such details will come to light should a sale come to fruition, which could be as soon as September according to The Athletic report, the team could cross Tampa Bay three times in five years. The hope, of course, is that it does not take on water somewhere along the way. After all, nothing ever seems certain with the Rays, does it? Things seemed to be looking up when giddiness overflowed at the Trop with a 'Here to Stay' campaign revealed in September 2023. Sternberg, Welch, and assorted team, city and county officials engaged in plenty of back-patting having agreed to a $1.3 billion ballpark as the centerpiece of a redeveloped Gas Plant District within which Tropicana Field resided. Hurricane Milton tore those plans apart with the ease it did the Tropicana Field roof. That afternoon seemed to put an end to a stadium charade that included a dog-and-pony show for the ages in June 2019 at the Dali Museum on the St. Pete waterfront. That was when the St. Pete/Montreal split city plan left many with splitting headaches. The proposal was touted a year after the Rays released details of a $900 million stadium in Tampa's Ybor City neighborhood. Speaking of stadiums and Ybor City, earlier this summer the Tampa Bay Sun unveiled plans for a 15,000-seat venue as part of a development that would include the headquarters of the United Soccer League. Costs and constructions dates, though, were not revealed. However, Ybor City appears to be back in play for a possible baseball stadium. Perhaps Zalupski will put an end to a circus that essentially began to perform when the Trop was completed in 1990 without a tenant, and certainly in the summer 1992 when the cash-strapped San Francisco Giants agreed to sell the club to a Tampa Bay ownership group. Of course, that did not happen and the then-Devil Rays took the field in 1998 as an expansion club. Talk of a new venue and where the team will play has since been a popular and often divisive topic. Perhaps it will all come to an end soon and with the team remaining in the Tampa Bay area.
Globe and Mail
19-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Tampa Bay Rays say they're in talks for a potential sale amid stadium uncertainty
The Tampa Bay Rays say they are in 'exclusive discussions' with a Florida investment group for a potential sale of the team. The Rays are valued at $US1.25-billion, according to Forbes magazine. Stuart Sternberg bought the Major League Baseball club for $US200-million in 2004. 'The Tampa Bay Rays announced that the team has recently commenced exclusive discussions with a group led by Patrick Zalupski, Bill Cosgrove, Ken Babby and prominent Tampa Bay investors concerning a possible sale of the team,' the club said Wednesday while declining further comment. The potential sale comes at a precarious time for the Rays and their home ballpark. They are playing this season at the spring training home of the New York Yankees in Tampa after the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg was heavily damaged during Hurricane Milton last October. Before the hurricane, the Rays and the city had agreed on a plan for a $US 1.3=billion stadium development project next to Tropicana Field. In March, Sternberg said the club was withdrawing from that agreement. St. Petersburg is spending about $US55-million to repair Tropicana Field with a plan for the Rays to return there in 2026. The city and the club have a three-year agreement to play there. Beyond that, the club's future in the Tampa Bay area is uncertain. When the Rays withdrew from the project, the city noted that it was possible the club would have new owners. 'If in the coming months a new owner, who demonstrates a commitment to honouring their agreements and our community priorities emerges, we will consider a partnership to keep baseball in St. Pete,' Mayor Ken Welch said in March. 'But we will not put our city's progress on hold as we await a collaborative and community-focused baseball partner.'
Forbes
19-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Who Is The Billionaire Making A Bid For The Tampa Bay Rays?
By Thomas Gallagher Patrick Zalupski On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Rays announced that a group led by Patrick Zalupski—a homebuilding billionaire–entered exclusive negotiations to buy the team from principal owner Stuart Sternberg. The price being discussed: $1.7 billion, according to Sportico. The announcement comes amid uncertainty regarding the team's future in the Tampa Bay area following a series of failed stadium proposals–including plans for renovations of Tropicana Field or a new ballpark in St. Petersburg. Now, ownership could be turned over to a group headed by the 44-year-old CEO of a publicly-traded developer. Zalupski, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $1.3 billion, is the founder and CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a Jacksonville-based company that describes itself as one of the country's fastest-growing homebuilders. Zalupski's group is in talks with Sternberg, a former partner at Goldman Sachs who purchased the Rays in 2004 with fellow Goldman Sachs partner Matthew Silverman for a reported $200 million. The two other buyers joining Zalupski, according to a Rays announcement, are Bill Cosgrove, CEO of Union Home Mortgage, and Ken Babby, the founder of the Fast Forward Sports Group and owner of two minor league baseball teams. Zalupski did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Forbes. Born in the suburbs of Detroit, Zalupski's family moved frequently during his childhood, as Forbes first reported in 2021. After graduating with a degree in finance from Stetson University, he became an auditor at FedEx, a job he felt dispassionate about. When his parents divorced, his mother moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where she worked as a realtor. Zalupski soon followed and began helping with her business. He flipped his first property in 2004 at age 24. Reinvesting the profits from the deal, he then bought a nine-unit condo project in 2006–just before the housing market crashed. Despite taking a loss on the investment, the mistake formed the foundation of Dream Finders, which Zalupski cofounded with a construction partner, Mark McGuigan, and McGuigan's wife, Tobi, in 2008. As the real estate market began to rebound following the financial crisis, Dream Finders built 27 homes the following year. By 2013, the company had sold a total of more than 1,000 homes, and Zalupski bought out the McGuigans for an undisclosed amount. Zalupski then expanded Dream Finders beyond Florida into Georgia, then Colorado and Texas. In 2021 he took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange. He owns about half the company's shares and has 84% of the voting rights. The business has been profitable every year since its founding, Zalupski told Forbes in 2021. That remains true four years later, based on Securities and Exchange Commission filings. In its most recent year, Dream Finders closed on 38,000 homes and earned $335 million in net income on revenue of $4.4 billion. More than 90% of Zalupski's estimated fortune lies in his Dream Finders shares, per Forbes calculations. Since taking the company public four years ago, he's sold about $20 million worth of his stock, plus has entered into more than one pre-paid forward only sale agreement. Just how he's going to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to finance the purchase isn't clear, though there is always the chance he pulled out dividends when the company was private. He'll also have partners and the group will likely borrow to fund the deal. The Rays, meanwhile, have gone through a tough stretch. In 2024, the roof at the team's stadium, Tropicana Field, was destroyed by Hurricane Milton. For the 2025 season, the Rays elected to play home games at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees' spring training stadium, located nearby in St. Petersburg. It only seats 11,026, making it the smallest ballpark in Major League Baseball and roughly a quarter the size of Tropicana. With ticket sales down for the 2025 season and the foreseeable future, Zalupski's group might have a plan to turn the franchise around. Despite being relegated to a stadium more compact than the Oakland A's, who are destined for relocation, billionaire Zalupski and his rich partners' potential ownership may be a needed shot in the arm for the team's stadium issues.
