The team has a place to play through 2028.
It seems as if the future of where Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays franchise will call home is in limbo. The business could be sold in the near future. The present ownership’s deal to build a St. Petersburg stadium-village on a parcel of land that houses the team’s present stadium is dead. The business’s lease to use the stadium has been extended by one year and will be done after the 2028 season. St. Petersburg is paying to repair the baseball stadium and will have the place opened in 2026. The repairs are necessary after the venue’s roof was ripped off by Hurricane Milton in October 2024.
At some point Stu Sternberg could sell his Rays’ franchise. There seems to be a framework that could allow Sternberg to sell the business to Jacksonville, Florida developer Patrick Zalupski and others but there is a long way to go before that happens. And even if that occurs, Major League Baseball officials have to vet the potential buyers to make sure they have the wherewithal not only to buy the Rays’ business but also to support the franchise on the field. That means pay a roster of players. Major League Baseball owners then have to vote on whether they want Zalupski’s group. But that has not stopped Tampa Bay politicians from talking about building a Rays’ baseball park. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor called the framework of a potential deal of the Rays business changing hands “a very positive step” and said her city’s “bid is dusted off and we’ve sharpened our pencils.” Sternberg once had a deal in place to build a baseball park in Ybor City but he didn’t have the money to start the project. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he would like to see the Rays’ franchise continue in the Tampa Bay market.
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