Tampa Bay Rays Tropicana Field – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Sean Pavone
According to Sportico, the Tampa Bay Rays are in “advanced talks” to sell the team to a consortium headed by Patrick Zalupski, a home developer in Florida.
Although the Rays acknowledged that the team had “exclusive discussions” with a group headed by Zalupski, they would not elaborate on the nature of those discussions.
According to the source, the squad is reportedly worth about $1.7 billion in the deal. It has been claimed that Zalupski has signed a letter of intent to buy the franchise. But according to Sportico, that does not ensure the sale will take place.
According to a report that surfaced in March, the league and some of its owners were pressuring Rays owner Stu Sternberg to sell the team. For over ten years, Sternberg, who paid $200 million to acquire the franchise in 2004, has been looking for a new stadium for the Rays. The Rays pulled out of the March agreement to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, even though it looked like the team had finally come to an agreement.
Zalupski is the CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a house design and construction company. Forbes estimates that he has a net worth of $1.4 billion.
According to Forbes’ yearly “Most Valuable Teams” rankings, the Rays were valued at $1.2 billion in March. The Miami Marlins were in worst place on that list, and the Rays were placed 29th out of 30 MLB teams.
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Melissa’s career in writing started more than 20 years ago. Today, she lives in South Florida with her husband and two boys.
