The sale of the Rays seems to be coming to fruition. A report from Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic says that a sale has been agreed to in principle which would see the club be sold from current owner Stuart Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski. The deal is worth about $1.7 billion and is expected to be completed as soon as September. The report adds that Zalupski plans to keep the club in the Tampa area, with a preference for Tampa proper over St. Petersburg. The sale would need to be approved by 75% of MLB owners in order to become official.
It was reported about a month ago that Sternberg was in “advanced talks” to sell the team to Zalupski’s group. Shortly after that reporting emerged, Marc Topkin and Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times spoke to hedge fund founder Trip Miller, who spoke of his desire to get involved in the bidding. It’s unclear if there was ever any chance of Miller’s group outpacing Zalupski’s, but it now seems basically confirmed that Zalupski’s group will be taking over.
As of a year ago, it seemed like Sternberg was going to stick around for a long time. He purchased the club in 2004 for $200MM. Since then, he has been trying to find a long-term home for the club so that the Rays could move on from Tropicana Field, which has long been viewed as insufficient and outdated for the major leagues.
Various proposals were floated over the years, including a creative plan which would have seen the franchise split its home games between Florida and Montreal. That was nixed but the Rays eventually put a plan in place to build a new stadium on the Tropicana Field site. Under that plan, the Rays would stay at The Trop through 2027 but would open the new facility in 2028. They had agreements in place with the city of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and private investors for the $1.2 billion project.
That entire plan was thrown off the rails in October when Hurricane Milton swept through the area, doing significant damage to The Trop, particularly the roof. The Trop became unplayable for 2025 and the new stadium plan got delayed. Elections in October changed the composition of local government bodies, with the new paradigm less amenable to the Rays. The club made arrangements to play the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner field in Tampa. That seemed to not sit well with some Pinellas County officials, as Steinbrenner Field is in Hillsborough County.
The relationship between Sternberg and local officials seemed to sour, as he claimed the delays would lead to massive cost overruns. It was reported in March that the Rays would not be moving forward with the planned deal. That was shortly after it had been reported that league officials had been pressuring Sternberg to sell.
Now it seems the transition process is making quick progress and Zalupski’s group could be at the helm a couple of months from now. That’s notable timing, as there are key things to be worked out regarding the future of the franchise. It’s still unclear if the The Trop will be playable in time for the 2026 season. There’s also the usual baseball matters of payroll and things of that nature. And of course, new plans will need to be developed for a future stadium.
As mentioned, the report from The Athletic says Zalupski’s preference would be for the club to be in Tampa proper, as opposed to St. Petersburg. That is something that will have to be negotiated with local officials and private investors. If the club can chart a course towards a move into Tampa, there would be logic to that. It has been suggested by many that The Trop’s location isn’t highly accessible, which has contributed to the club’s poor attendance figures over the years, despite generally fielding competitive teams. A move to Tampa could help in that regard, though previous attempts to get the club into Tampa have not been successful.
Zalupski is the CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a publicly traded, Jacksonville-based developer that has built more than 31,000 homes across ten states. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4 billion, while his company’s valuation rests at $3.4 billion.
The timeline for the Rays will also have consequences across the league. Commissioner Rob Manfred has long insisted that expansion wouldn’t be a realistic possibility until the Athletics and Rays found new stadiums. The A’s are currently playing in West Sacramento but are expected to start playing in their new Las Vegas stadium by the 2028 season. If that plan progresses on schedule and the Rays get a new stadium plan in the works, then expansion will become a more realistic possibility.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Big W for the sport
I’m with a TBD on it. Everyone thought when the Os got sold, things would be different but they almost seem worse.
Tampa doesn’t have a on field problem, they have a stadium location problem. Rays have the 7th best winning percentage in all of baseball over the last decade. Orioles situation isn’t really applicable here
If they can get out to Tampa with a nice new ballpark, that should fix a lot of attendance issues.
Fair point but you never know what new ownership will do. And though they’ve been competitive, they haven’t gotten over the hump.
Sternberg bought the team for 200 mil in 04, now this new group is paying 1.7 b for it.
They aren’t going to try and fix the parts that are working, the current team, top farm system and the strong FO are part of the evaluation
My biggest worry is he comes in and guts our front office to bring in his own people. That’s when I riot. Right now, I’m being optimistic. But this isn’t a win for us until I see Neander and the others secured.
They’ve been competitive despite continued payroll and attendance issues, hurricane displacement, their star and largest contract ever (Franco) going through legal troubles and off-the-field issues. They are the Job of MLB…if any owner can give them any stability which could include financial — I can’t imagine what they’d be able to do.
I don’t believe new owners buy based on the existing front office, or even the farm, because these things all change. It’s a long-term investment.
Ken Babby, part of the ownership group, owns a couple minor league teams and has experience with baseball operations. He probably has widespread contacts within baseball and some idea of people he might want to bring in. At the same time, the new owners as a whole probably don’t want to do much that disrupts a relatively successful front office, at least to start with. A lot might depend on the exact contract situations of everyone involved.
Inventory is very much part of business evaluations.
That is what they said down in Miami, ‘…wrong stadium, wrong location…’ The stupid Miami voters (not a rich, or particularly bright group) got suckered into building a nice, new stadium right where the owners wanted it. Is the team better? NO!!! Do people come to the games? NO!!! Tampa draws big crowds when the Yankees come to town. Are they cheating for the home team? NO!!! All Yankee fans. Florida has a strange demographic, mostly transplants and immigrants. A LOT of people who are baseball fans are rooted in the Northeast. They root for the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, and the Mets. It will be decades, if ever, before the Marlins and Rays develop a strong fan base.
The business evaluation is that it’s one of 30 monopolies that operate in some sense as 1 giant monopoly.
They’re the Job of MLB? The city of Oakland is on line 3.
Why Marlins stadium is not at option for the Rays to play?, or the A´s in San Francisco?
It is pathetic they are playing in minor facilities.
@ Yankee what you described is southern Florida. I think if you moved the team to Jacksonville where there are more native Floridians than transplants it would catch on.
Miami ain’t exactly close to Tampa.
Same kind of people though, @Yankee has a point. South Florida is full of northeast transplants that moved for the weather. They already have their team up north. Jacksonville is different, not as many transplants and they could battle the Braves for South Georgia fans.
Maybe start winning championships, like the Tampa Lightning and Florida (Miami) Panthers did.
But, it certainly doesn’t seem like his net worth + cost of the team will allow him to contribute a whole lot of cash to a downtown Tampa stadium.
Miami drew big crowds during their WS runs in 1997 and 2003.
The reason attendance is down in Miami boils down to one thing: the team blows. If im a casual baseball fan in Miami, I’m not spending my money to go to a stadium where I know the home team is gonna get spanked by the visiting team.
Tampa Bay is in the position where they’ve been a consistently competitive team since 2009 but can’t draw casual fans because casual fans don’t want to drive to St. Petersburg to see games.
In other words: if you want a consistent casual fan base (and trust me: you do) to attend Florida’s teams, Miami needs to stop being rancid feces and Tampa Bay needs to get out of St. Pete
Why? That’d be a nightmare for the scheduling committee to figure out scheduling sharing 2 MLB teams. If nothing else, that would mean long road trips. Yes, it’s pathetic, but they could have played in a larger stadium, but it’d be outside their Tampa area. I can’t imagine ownership also allowing their respective teams/stadiums to share other teams without a massive payday.
Surely you cannot be serious to borrow a phrase. Jacksonville has a 41st media market rank. Tampa Bay is 11th. the people just aren’t there. In Tampa, not SP, the attendance will ris3 significantly.
Jacksonville holds an NFL team just fine doesn’t it. Don’t give me media market size arguments. There’s enough people in Jacksonville proper to attend games it has a million people. You just don’t have suburbs….
@Gho5
When was the last time Neander made a successful trade? His success is in the rearview mirror and has been on the decline since Civale. His Paredes trade was headscratching at best. Arozarena trade nay end up being ok but we still have a long time to know if that’ll pan out. The Snell trade was awful.
In the end, people keep thinking of Neander’s successes but not his failures. He’s done an ok job, but he is not without criticism. I for one am ok with getting some fresh air in the office and on the field. I hope Neander and Cash both get the boot.
The Florida issues will be exactly what occurs in Vegas, assuming that happens. New stadiums don’t make up for everything.
Life-long Floridian, and I agree. Jacksonville makes a lot of sense, although the “city” of Jacksonville is HUGE geographically. I haven’t been there enough to give an educated opinion insofar as where a stadium would go. The place is a pain in the a… to visit!
Miami has won two World Series and it did nothing for pre-season sales. So the owner then sells off the players, fans get pissed and hostile. No telling when it comes to Miami. And Tampa has put a lot of winning teams together over the past fifteen years. Getting around Tampa is a nightmare, even for my Tampa friends. And like most big cities it has areas where a person would be stupid to go to a game if a new stadium where built there. And good, “safe” real estate is crazy money!
They have an income disparity problem, and the bad attendance makes it worse.
The Orioles situation is similar but better attendance and a nice ballpark. But they aren’t handing out any 700 million deals any time either.
Anyone who thinks that the Rays problems are changing with a new owner, especially the new owner, is in for a rude awakening.
The biggest fool might be named Manfred.
And Marlins tore down both teams after each world series. Panthers kept their 3 best free agents after 2 cups. A ownership’s commitment goes a long way towards earning fan’s trust in loyalty.
Mavs fans trusted Mark Cuban. They don’t trust the Adelson-Dumont new owners after selling off Luka Doncic.
As a Florida resident I really don’t remember anyone ever saying that in Miami. I’m aware the owners said it. But I can’t recall that anyone else did.
Tampa is different. There’s actual everyday people, including myself, that say out loud they’d go to more games if the team were closer to civilization. They certainly could be exaggerating or lying about their motivation. But still, the rays do not seem comparable to the marlins.
I’ve been shouting this from the mountain tops for years. Baseball fans are also stubborn and refuse to root for the local team when they’re not playing their childhood favorite. When you have 15 local teams because you’re a spring training destination, that brings about a troublesome situation.
Well, the NFL team plays games in London and only has 9 homes games to begin with; there’s no way MLB would let them move to Jacksonville.
Blue Jays, too, with all of the Canadians in the TB and MIami areas. It’s already been 30+ years for the Marlins (1993) and almost 30 for the Rays (1998) and I think in both markets it will continue to be at best a 50/50 fan proposition.
Was Franco in breach? You’d think his legal matter would qualify if ever there was one.
Honestly, not sure of the financial ramifications since it’s just concluded, but he shouldn’t have been paid while on suspension list. How much he ends up with on the contract will be interesting, but shouldn’t be crippling.
@lordteabo
You make good points with Miami it’s a bit more difficult because every time the team gets real good and wins it gets torn down before the players get paid. So I feel there’s a lot of not wanting to support the fish because in the back of your mind you have this when are they gonna wholesale. Tb is easier move them on the tb side maybe the burbs of tb like what atl did. Going to the trop is a pain granted only been once but my buddy from that area says going to st. Pete sucks. Also there is nothing by the trop that makes you wanna go and visit.
@Zippy — A’s problem is self-inflicted, mostly. Their owner is a cancer or a trojan horse. Not saying the city didn’t have some involvement with the exit, obviously, but I don’t think it compares to a natural disaster ravaging your home (or your star imploding). Plus, A’s at least have an illusion of a home in the near future. TB almost has to go back to Square 1…and return to one of the worst MLB parks (now with a fixed roof….whoopie!). Even then, they’ve been bottom-5 or worse in attendance since forever, while winning games.
@RunDMC
I’m sure the union would fight character clauses. But they need to be in place. Id have to think at some point it might be an insurance demand. I’d assume teams have these contracts insured. I can’t imagine any other business operating at the normal 50% cost on labor…and having that under contract even…and NOT having that covered. That’d be a business wrecker under most normal circumstances.
Franco was placed on the restricted list which means he’s not being paid.
Technically Rays aren’t out of the woods because MLB could move him off, but I would put the likelihood of that at 0.01%.
He’s done, and thankfully Rays won’t be on the hook other than the money they already had paid him.
Franco was on the administrative leave list until he was convicted. He was getting paid. When he comes off MLB suspension he will have to be paid again, but that decision is a couple years down the road.
Orlando is the best Florida market.
Tampa Bay Metro has both a larger population and larger media market. The Rays also own the Orlando market, so it would be included in their media market.
And like the Marlins did
Os payroll went up like 50+ mil? Needed to spend more on medical staff it seemed…
The O’s are spending more money. Also, this guy Zalupski doesn’t have deep pockets like Rubinstein.
A change is exciting but this could be another Bruce Sherman.
& whatever you wanna say about Stu not spending money he has consistently let his FO build a good team. Not necessarily a big W
He has several partners with very deep pockets. This won’t be a one man show.
@Joe
A big win for sports in general. Sternberg was bad for baseball and bad for the area. He never invested in the team nor area the way he should have and leeches off other teams. It also feels like the recent Rays have been slipping in their trades and drafts and are not as ‘invincible’ as people make them out to be. After the pandemic, the team has really made puzzling decisions that almost seemed to self-destruct the team itself. So it’s time for some fresh air. Whether that fresh air makes the team better or worse is yet to be seen, but there’s no doubt it’s a huge win for MLB and a huge win for the TB area.
The Rays made 270 million in total revenue in 2024. Their final profit was 32m.
How should they invest that 32m?
To be clear, are you saying that the new Orioles owner is “almost worse”?
It’s only a big W if his group actually spends money to improve the team instead of penny-pinching and overusing analytics in hopes of being competitive.
Spend to improve? It could be argued Stu developed the best FO in baseball and they have the best player development organization in baseball. The on field product of the Rays is consistently one of the best in baseball. Being a great owner isn’t about throwing money at players, he was a smooth operator. It’s a shame a hurricane and an election did him in.
You have to spend money to bring stars into your organization. Yes, they developed players. But they also refused to spend the money, or didn’t have the money necessary to put their teams over the top. Either way, you can’t penny pinch and expect to win a World Series.
Dude, since 2009 the Rays have a .544 win percentage. They’ve averaged 83 wins per season in that stretch, and have made the playoffs seven times.
I mean say what you will, but the Rays have been a competitive team for nearly 18 years now
Also when your yearly revenue is 297 million as was the case for the team last year, you kind of have to pinch a few pennies
Lord – Having watched the Rays up close for the past 4 days, I can see why they always choke in big games and especially the postseason. Cash is robotic and tunnel-visioned as it gets.
His pitcher management was horrendous.
His team’s baserunning blunders are inexcusable, whether it’s the players or the coaches or both.
His failure to keep his players abreast of MLB rules points to an incredible lack of communication.
If winning 80-86 games is your idea of a successful team, then so be it. Yes they are competitive, but not when it really counts.
Lord – All signs point to revenue being intentionally suppressed as an excuse to move or get a new stadium.
And the Rays receive on average $60M in revenue sharing annually, so where’s the incentive to spend more with the hope of generating more revenue?
Where are those signs? Revenue in baseball comes from ticket sales, concessions, media contracts, and merchandising. In order to deliberately suppress revenue, a team would have to deliberately undersell tickets, cut back or eliminate concessions, either refuse or take undervalued media contracts, or eliminate team merch (jerseys, shirts, and assorted knick-knacks).
So where is the revenue being suppressed? I’m not saying you’re wrong; I genuinely want to know your thoughts on it.
Also, the 270 million figure from last year was total revenue, which includes the amount from revenue sharing.
Now, factor in that revenue goes into a business’s operational costs before everything else. That means you have to allocate that money to stadium upkeep/repairs, front office staff, back office staff, marketing, sales, finance, stadium staff, public relations and so on.
THEN you use what’s left after that to pay coaches, managers and players.
After you deduct all that you’re left with an operating income, which is the actual profit made after deducting operational and personnel costs from the revenue.
In 2024, the Rays made 270 million dollars in total revenue. After all deductions, they were left with an operating income of 32 million.
So where are they supposed to spend more? And what will need to be cut from the team deductions in order for them to do so?
Payroll. MLB players between salaries and benefits should receive 50% of the gross revenue of the sport as is guaranteed in all the other major sports in the US. That $32 million in profits should have been spent on player payroll.
Of the Rays’ revenue, 190m of that went to players and coaches.
Do you really think that extra 32m is going to keep talent from leaving in free agency? If not, then how should the team invest the profit back into the team?
Do you think Sternberg, or even the new ownership if it happens can afford to operate the Rays at a loss like the Steinbrenners and Cohens of the world can? (Yes, both the Yankees and Mets lost money last year lol)
No it didn’t. $106 million went to the entire 40 man roster including all benefits beyond salary. The baseball development (coaching and training) staffs as a whole from rookie leagues to the major leagues didn’t cost much if anything at all more than the $16.2 million the Braves spent in 2024.
Try again.
No, the Yankees didn’t lose money. Try again,
Per Forbes the Yankees lost 57m in 2024. You wanna tell them to try again then by means do. Let me know what they say
You neglect to mention the other over 100 players in the Rays system. Why is that?
Yankees lost money?! Really? Where did you come by that information? I do believe that you are very mistaken.
Compare Forbes claims to the shareholders reports for the Braves and Blue Jays. Forbes is not close on much of that. Try again.
You mention the other over 100 players in the Rays system that make $18-38.5k per season or less than $4 million combined. Why is that?
I would say that Tampa fans now have a “ray of hope”, but they are already pretty good.
Tampa would be so much better. St. Petersburg is a pain to drive to
You will go to the exact same amount of games . It really isn’t that bad driving the extra ten minutes over the bridge.
People, like myself that actually live there, would disagree. But keep up that narrative that the bridge isn’t a big deal.
I lived outside of the city for 7 years and went to plenty of Rays games. The location and ease to get to through Tampa was mild compared to getting to stadiums in other cities. It tells you everything you need to know about Floridians complaining they have to drive an extra ten minutes.
I wish it was 10 minutes but from May to September, due to beach traffic, it’s actually more like 40. You can see for yourself by going to Google Maps or similar and comparing drives to Tampa airport against drives to st Pete.
Not convinced. We live in Pinellas and went to games at the Trop as well as games at GMS in Tampa. About the same amount of time in the vehicle for both.
The reality is there are few local fans; there are lots of Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies fans. Also a lot of Braves and Dodgers fans. When either of the latter teams comes to town, there is a good crowd. We went to a Tigers/Rays game last month, and the Tigers fans outnumbered the Rays fans by three to one.
It’s not just the drive and traffic, it’s the actual ballpark. It’s awful, you have to really like baseball and be a fan to go.
Reality, is they need a stadium that casuals can go to, more social spaces, areas for kids, etc
Big win for the Rays
Congratulations, Tampa fans. Sure this has to be an exciting day for you all.
Very good news for an unfairly maligned fanbase.
Move to a more desirable area for FAs. Spend some money. Keep developing as they have been. In a good position forsure
Tampa is a really nice area. Team is usually really good. Just need a stadium in an area fans can get to easily.
The most desirable area for free agents is where they get paid the most.
Well hopefully a new owner has a better chance at getting a new stadium.
Almost definitely. Let’s keep in mind that they could easily build a stadium in Tampa is they were willing to pay more money. St Pete offered that and then Sternberg got hostile when the city snubbed him a little to prioritize hurricane recovery. With prickly stingy Sternberg out of the picture it should be a much smoother process
Sternberg didn’t get hostile. Both the city of St Petersburg and Pinellas county delayed voting on funding which increased construction costs. Sternberg exercised his right to not go forward with the deal because of those increased costs. Facts matter.
Stu is notoriously cheap and wanted a city to foot most of the bill on a new stadium that would provide the same problems as the current one (location). Stu refused Tampa because Tampa refused to use everyones tax dollars for him. Defending Stu is such a funny position lol
Sternberg and the ownership group of the Rays were going to be paying more than half the $1.3 billion cost of the new ballpark in St Pete with the city footing $287.5 million and the county $312.5 million.
In Tampa the Rays would have paid exactly half of the $1.5 billion estimated cost for a park in Ybor City.
Was not defending Sternberg. I was stating facts.
Congrats Rays fans! Enjoy the new stadium roof.
Congrats Rays fans! Hopefully you get a better owner and a proper stadium in Tampa. Let the good vibes reach the Angels and Pirates!
The Pirates should be sold next but that’s wishful thinking.
Too late for the A’s. MLB should have made sure that team had the owner it deserved. That would mean that we would have an independent Commissioner whose real allegiance would be to the fans, not the Monopoly.
Rays about to be even better now. Congrats Rays fans.
Aloha Tampa! Excited for the organization and it’s fans! I hope a new state of the art stadium comes soon! Mahalo
I doubt they will move to Hawaii. It’s far for other teams to play there.
Lol, I wasn’t thinking in the islands. Though I grew up with a AAA franchise called the Hawaii Islanders. Rather I hope the Rays get to stay in Florida and in a new stadium 🏟️! Mahalo!
I think that if the minor leagues were scheduled like they are today that the Islanders would still have a shot to be a MILB team.
Today MILB teams play Tuesday to Sunday and travel on Monday. Each 6 game stretch is a single series in a town. Traveling to and from Hawaii would not be that much of an issue if the teams were staying for 6 days.
Congrats Rays fans. Really hope to join you soon.
This could be bad news for the rest of the league. The issue for the Rays has always been about the stadium itself and its location in St Pete. The Rays are fantastic at finding and developing talent-maybe the best in the league- and are always in contention, despite a low payroll. If they have an owner willing to spend and a ballpark that can draw fans, the Rays could be even more of a threat in the AL.
That’s one of the issues. However, the biggest issue would remain in that they’d still be in Florida.
Congratulations to Rays fans. Hopefully this is a good sign for the team.
And I hope a Twins’ sale is finalized soon, too.
This is an insanely good deal considering he doesn’t bring a new taxpayer funded stadium.
Usually owners who sell try to get a new stadium to sweeten the deal for the new owner. Loria is a good example for that.
That someone is paying 1.7b for that team without a stadium and local authorities having demonstrated unwillingness to spend tax dollars on it is pretty crazy. Seems baseball is not such an unhealthy industry after all.
Yes and no.
The Rays are an incredibly profitable organization. They don’t make their money from ticket sales but rather from TV and media deals which are very healthy. Sternberg and the media make the Rays look impoverished but they have loads of money coming in, all of which is not going towards the team itself. With Sternberg out of the way and local owners who will likely be more committed to the area, they will be able to get a certain amount of tax dollars from locals. Sternberg wanted most of the stadium funded for him, something that Tampa (and later St. Pete) were unwilling to do. If the Rays put up more dollars (a 50-50 or 45/55 split) both cities will likely be more welcoming. Sternberg was the wrench in the gears the whole time.
The real wrench should be people funding billionaires. If someone has $1.7B to blow on a personal sports team why does that person need my money? Especially since the last guy made $1.4B profit and isn’t giving any of that to the city of Tampa.
I don’t disagree with you in general but a team does provide jobs and revenue to its city. Your money is spent on worse.
There should be a rev share aspect to it
@muleor
I never said I condone cities paying taxes for sports owners. On the contrary I’m against it and think owners definitely need and should pay their own way when it comes to stadiums.
Yeah but your property value sure as hell quadrupled since the Rays have been here. Nobody ever thinks about that. A major league sports team generates millions in revenue for surrounding citizens and business owners. Take your blinders off!
As I previously pointed out, the Rays generated 270m in total revenue in 2024. Their operating income (the actual profit made by a business after all operations and personnel costs are deducted) was 32 million.
So again, where is that investment supposed to come from? And where do you invest it?
The ownership group that is named in this article is not local. One from Jacksonville. Two are from Ohio, one of which owns both a AAA Jacksonville minor league team and a AA Akron Ohio minor league team.
Sternberg’s ownership group was putting up $700+ million of the costs of building the $1.3 billion ballpark in St Petersburg plus any over runs. The city of St Pete was to spend $287.5 million and Pinellas county $312.5 million on the ballpark. The city was also putting up $130 million in infrastructure costs over the next 20 years on the $6.5 billion redevelopment of the Gas Plant District.
It is obvious you don’t like Sternberg, but you have the facts wrong about just about everything in your comment.
The thing about that St Pete stadium deal was that Sternberg was getting a piece of the Gas Plant District land as part of the deal. So it was not investing solely in the stadium itself.
There are some minority stakeholders from TB last time I checked. Maybe they dropped out, but local to me means being from Florida, which Zapulski is.
Yup. No matter how much someone tries to tell me how good Sternberg was, I won’t change my mind about him.
The thing about the St Pete Stadium is that Sternberg, the Rays ownership group, and Hines were spending $5.8 billion out of a $6.5 billion Gas Plant District project.
There are no minority stakeholders from Tampa mentioned in any of the articles referenced here or in The Athletic.
So Boston and DC are LOCAL to NYC?
You are definitely not a person who pays any attention to facts, so that makes sense.
So will Zapulski take full control in the offseason, or once the sale is complete? I would assume it would be the offseason, but I could be wrong assuming that.
Why would it be delayed if the transaction is complete?
Once everything’s signed in September possibly, he’s the man. Should be an interesting pennant race if they get back to playing good baseball.
No guaranteed stadium? Team’s moving.
Oh yea? Inside info? Let’s have it. Nashville? Portland? Montreal? C’mon, tell us uninformed. Where? The reality is that you don’t know. I’ll tell you. They’re going nowhere. We’ll, actually to Tampa and not St Pete.
Hasn’t Tampa already said that they are not paying for the stadium? If the new group wants a stadium in Tampa they likely have to pay it out of their own pocket (basically another billion or at least like 700m or so)
So $2.5-$3 billion total for an excellent organization with a good farm system, management, on field product, and a new shiny baseball stadium that should get better attendance in Tampa?
That’s playing chess.
Combined with better resources (payroll) and income streams (stadium and surrounding businesses), it’s an outstanding deal for new ownership.
The attendance isn’t going to change.
Ahhhh, little details. Let us Rays fans enjoy the news we’ve been waiting for since the ridiculous Montreal scam.
@Doningo
Tampa will not pay for MOST of the stadium. I wouldn’t either with Sternberg at the negotiation table. Now with local owners who may be more likely to spend money on a new stadium, I expect the city to revisit talks with the Rays and negotiate. Seeing the success (for Rays standards) at Steinbrenner also gives city officials a small sample blueprint to go on.
The Rays ownership group were offering to pay the majority of the cost in negotiations with Tampa and in St Pete.
Greenwood, SC
And Spartanburg spend $430M for their new minor league ballpark that just opened this year
Tokyo, Japan.
“Oh yeah? Inside info?..theyre going nowhere”…It’s actually ok to disagree with someone and simultaneously admit you know no more about the future home of the Tampa Rays than does anyone else. I guess they do call them “fanatics” for a reason
They’re not going anywhere. I’ve lived this back and forth charade for awhile. They’ll be somewhere in or near Tampa. Not sure why anyone who doesn’t live here would care unless they live in Nashville, Portland, etc.
Portland native and insider here.
Plan is that in time, all mlb teams will move to the Portland metro area. We’re already planning infrastructure to account for the future rivalry games between the Portland Yankees and the Gresham Red Sox
@LordTeaboBaggins
New York and Boston are boring baseball cities now. We need this shakeup. I look forward watching the Portland Yankees and Gresham Red Sox play.
I’m a Beaverton Orioles guy myself
Lake Oswego Mariners #1 fan
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
And I guess since Toronto isn’t technically in the U.S. (maybe soon as the 51st state), we could have the Vancouver Blue Jays just north of Portland…
I think it will be to Zapulski’s home base Jacksonville where he has good political contacts. Jacksonville might of already told Zapulski but the team and you will get a stadium. You don’t spend 1.7 Billion on speculation unless ya worth 100 billion plus. Either Tampa is working with him or he has a deal elsewhere most likely Jacksonville
I can easily see them moving. What’s stopping them?
“I can easily..what’s stopping them?”…Most likely MLB. Until they can get approval and agreement with MLB a move seems continuous at best and unlikely at worst.
Moving in MLB is more than just packing your stuff and making travel arrangements. MLB has an ongoing anti trust exemption and has much authority to limit moves.
Keep them in the bay!!!
Won’t they drown?
It depends. If they’re the devil rays that day they’ll swim.
Current owner is good in that he hires very smart FO personnel to fulfill his mission to draft/develop its way to winning in a Goliath division….trade guys to reload & essentially “get out of the masterminds way”. It’s a rational inverse to those that can outspend mistakes based on geography….and players/agents who rightfully squeeze every dime when reaching free agency.
And yet they never won a single WS because they won’t pay. Notice I didn’t say ‘can’t’. They refuse to pay.
About half league (14 of 30) hasn’t since 2000… Mets, Padres, Rockies, Brewers, Reds, Pirates, Blue Jays, Orioles, A’s, Mariners, Tigers, Twins, Cleveland, Tampa. Mix of clubs that at least at times have spent big bucks w/o sealing the deal.
Fans haven’t exactly packed the park even though they have been good….that would have helped at least for taking on a big addition at a deadline (even if not big FA).
The average major league salary was 4.9m in 2024.
The average top level major league salary (your Sotos, Ohtanis, etc) is 136.9m
Given the Rays’ actual 2024 profit of 32m, do you propose they sign 7 players at the 4.9m average? Put all that profit into one or two guys who might sign a one or two year contract that will come out to 32m?
Seriously, where do they spend?
Whos getting 136.9 million a year? Why do you keep typing this? Are you ok?
I really hope this happens but Twins had agreed in principal to sell and that didn’t happen.
Other things to keep in mind are that Zalupski and his group are from Jacksonville, Ken Babby owns the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp minor league team, and Zalupski’s company holds 16 acres of property across US 1 Alt that is now used as parking for Jaguars games.
Going to be interesting how this plays out if Tampa does not pony up for part of a new ballpark. I think St Pete is out completely.
St Pete has to be out. As a rays fan, I’d rather them move out of FL than be stuck in St Pete any longer
16 acres is damn small for a stadium.
9 acres in Vegas…if it all goes as planned.
Built on 9 acres of a 35 acre site. 16 for the entire lot is micro sized. Any stadium is going to have things built up outside of it. That’s the new model. IE the battery in ATL
We’ll see how long that continues. Not all owners want to become developers. Fisher himself bailed on that idea to pivot to what he felt would be the fastest/quickest stadium.
The Tropicana site itself is 30 acres though. The ballpark spans 9 acres.
Sadly I agree. That location will never be the place people are excited to visit.
NOW the question is will they build a REAL stadium in an OPTIMAL area. Even the suggested new spot is crap. It is making the same mistake they made with they built the New Comiskey.
What does anyone know about Zulipski? I hope the update gives a bit more information. I am off to check his credit score.
So the owners of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are part of his group and he’s a Jacksonville based housing developer who is tight with DeSantis. So I trust he can find money from the state.
He’s in his mid 40’s, graduated from Stetson. He’s lived in Jacksonville for about 20 years (currently Ponte Vedra Beach). Most of his wealth is tied up in his home building company, which he’s built up from a local flipper operation with a small loan to a behemoth whose shares are publicly traded.
Its pretty good. His net worth is higher than Sternberg.
Can you say, hello ” Nashville Stars!!”
This is a Tampa guy so they will stay, now if it were someone from Nashville or Portland then that would be different
He’s not a Tampa guy, he’s a Jacksonville guy from Detroit via way of Memphis.
Jacksonville rays are close enough to Tampa
Besides the jaguars suck there so they could use some competition down there
Jacksonville is 224 miles from Tampa. About the same distance from NY to Boston or Baltimore. Or Atlanta to Nashville. Its not close.
No fans. It’s embarrassing watching a game on TV and seeing more than half the crowd wearing the visiting teams’ jerseys. You can’t blame that on the stadium.
Have you been to a game there in Tampa? Tickets are very expensive if you have a family. Say a family of 4 and you will easily spend 500 for the outing with parking food and seats.
Why are you lying? It’s the cheapest tickets to get in the league. You can even park a few blocks away and not pay anything for parking. I’ve gone to many games with a family of five and didn’t pay a hundred bucks for everything.
The stadium is in a terrible location. You have to go THROUGH downtown Tampa rush hour traffic and then continue for another hour or so over a bridge and into St. Pete, and then drive 2.5 hours back home for where Stu refuses to invest in player payroll. Thats gonna lead to no fan turnout. Is there some reason you guys have a hard time understanding the Rays’ problem?
There is rush hour traffic in every city. It’s not a st Pete/tampa problem
I never said it was. However to go to a Rays game you have to go through it, not to it, and then add another hour on top of that (if st pete traffic is clear). So lets say youre in a Brandon, Plant City, etc (nearby towns to Tampa) its a long drive and not worth it. Its essentially in the middle of nowhere
I don’t know the Tampa fan problem but I went to Miami and saw that not a ton of people go to marlins games or wear their merchandise
I’ve always assumed that both teams didnt get many fans because Florida is football/basketball country so does Miami also have a traffic problem?
I have no idea about Miami’s stadium, never gone to it so couldnt tell you. But as a Tampa resident my whole life I can tell you that the Trop is in a terrible location. Theres not a ton of people in St. Pete and St. Pete is quite the drive for anyone not in St. Pete, especially for 5-7pm games. The Bucs pull in people, the Rays have been maxing out George M Steinbrenner almost every game (not counting standing room, the only tickets not being sold out usually), the Lightning bring in people, the Savannah Bananas sold out the Bucs stadium
Theres a Tampa/Florida baseball market, it just needs an ownership group that cares about building the brand correctly.
I refused to go a penny above 1.6 billion….
Sorry, I only had $1.6 billion to lend!
did you check underneath the sofa cushions for spare change?
I’m insanely jealous, now let’s pray they don’t get moved.
See Arte… People do want to buy teams….hint…hint…
as a Rays fan all I can say is thank the Lord!
You claim to have been a fan of a top 7 winning team the last decade and you are saying thank the Lord? The only issue with the Rays has been attendance caused by a horrific stadium in a horrible area.
and Stu was a big reason for a horrible stadium in a horrible location
Nope. Sternberg neither built the stadium nor signed the lease in 1995 that kept the Rays there. He bought the team a decade later and has been trying to get them a new stadium for more than a decade. He has been shot down for a stadium at a new site by the governments of Tampa (Ybor City and MLK site), Hillsborough county, St Pete, and Pinellas county prior to this last deal at the site of the Trop.
Wasn’t Miami in the same situation and then got a new stadium? How did that work out ?
Isnt Miami still the team that has the lowest payroll? Why would you actively spend money to watch it? Also, its location thats the Rays’ issue. If you plopped the Trop in Tampa and not St Pete, as much of a dump the Trop is, theyd pull more numbers.
The Marlins are in a mess of their own making. The Rays have a relatively healthy market outside of ticket sales.
I thought Manfred said the sport is in crisis….
Did you really think that Manfred knew how to tell the truth? I can find no evidence that he does.
I’m glad this mentions the October election as a major point in this rollar coaster. Everything was going smoothly until Chris Latvala got his grubby hands into this.
Yes and no. Latvala is a gremlin but Sternberg is Scrooge McDuck. Won’t pay anything above bare minimum to secure personal profits. So happy for this change.
As a revenue-sharing recipient, shouldn’t the major market teams get a percentage of the sale price since they helped increase the investment from $200MM to $1.7B?
I’m not serious, although I do wonder if MLB ever wants to implement a salary cap and floor with wider revenue sharing if that might be a way to get the major markets to agree. You lose money today, but you make it up later.
Manfred is campaigning. Pretty good indication they already want it.
They absolutely need a floor. Look what the Athletics did after being threatened. Teams need a floor with financial penalties. A cap as well wouldn’t hurt. Make the successful teams the smartest ones, not the richest ones.
What teams really want it a cap so they can arbitrarily limit team spending and therefore suppress salaries.. If they can sell that to the public under the guise of competition they’ll do so.
Or they just want to improve the product by improving FA. Make it better for the consumer by creating a window that condenses the action, and a cap that increases the number of teams participating.
They want to make more money.
I hope these are real billionaires with real money
(not coupons) buying the team. MLB needs to do a better job of screening out pretenders…..
And so many are controlling teams.
Good riddance
I wonder how much they take out in taxes/capital gains? lol
They’d be better off in Nashville or Charlotte. Florida simply doesn’t support Major League full season baseball. Never will
Strong chance they’ll move to Jacksonville, imho. Which is a city not made up of 70 year old’s or tourists.
Jacksonville’s football team is bailed out due to the owner taking them over to England and making them popular. Would be a disaster to think they’ll get support for 81 baseball games there.
The only reason you think this is because the ownership for both Florida teams actively tear their team down and trade any home grown stars that can help build a brand. Florida sports fans show up if the team is good, and you have to invest in the team in order for it to be good. See how that doesnt work out for fan attendance if you dont invest in your team?
Dont get me started on stadium location lol With so many people moving to FL, theyll start putting together numbers if they have an owner who wont trade everyones favorite players.
People will stop moving to Florida soon enough, as more and more home insurers stop insuring homes there.
FL is still at its peak population
@Beg, isn’t every state at it’s peak population?
No. New York and Illinois for example saw population decreases from 2020 to 2024 (because theyre all going to FL or Texas). You can google this
@Begamin
Exactly. Sternberg was never interested in building a true fanbase and was never interested in investing in the local area. The Bucs/Lightning do it every day and that’s why they have a solid fanbase. You see banners everywhere and donations. From the Rays? Usually crickets.
Everything is marketing. They dont really market nor provide a quality product. Im not sure why people cant accept that as the main reason for lack of attendance. Northerners just go “heh theyre not a baseball state” despite this being one of the only places kids play it year round.
They were even able to establish hockey here in FL, both in Tampa and Miami and it doesnt even snow here because the Lightning and Panthers put a quality product out for fans to enjoy
I’ve pointed this out before and I’ll do it again: The Rays made 32m operating income (true profit) in 2024. How are they supposed to invest that in keeping players?
And i’ll re-point out the issue the Rays have at increasing revenue, its a failure to invest in their own team which does the opposite of build a brand. You trade all your homegrown stars and refuse to invest in the team when they have a shot, nobody wants to pay to see that and rightly so.
Gee we put the stadium 2 hours minimum away from everyone and actively worsen the product at the same time how come no one want the product?
You can’t really do much to invest in a team when you’re making 32m a year.
However, I will agree that the stadium location is a factor in revenue and profits. A stadium built in Tampa would definitely increase revenue from ticket sales. However, that won’t be an instant fix for the Rays’ profit issues though.
That is where you are wrong. A couple millions extra here and a few million extra there and they are adding or keeping top notch players.
The Rays problem has never been winning. They spend with the big boys on player development, technology, and the analytics to make themselves into winners. The problem is that ill-informed fans of other teams equate not winning the WS with not spending enough to win.
The Rays have no profit issues. Making an 11.9% net profit is immense for any corporation.
The average top tier MLB salary is around 146m/year
The Rays made 32m
How exactly does a team that made 32m add or keep top tier talent without operating at a loss?
$146 million annual salary in MLB. What are you smoking?
Pads, if they simply spent 10-20MM more theyd have 2 rings right now
Lord,
The profit equation is Revenue-Costs, so yes, increasing revenue by providing a product people want to spend money on would eventually outweigh the initial costs needed to start increasing total profit numbers. Btw its a revenue sharing league stop falling for the wahwahh this billionaire cant afford to try its just not fair boohoo. Stu actively spits on the fans and then youre confused why fans dont show? Give it a rest
Begamin, the Padres are the perfect example of spending on the team begetting spending by the fans. Of course, we have one of the best ballparks in the country for fans to go see games at.
It is hard to say that spending $10-20 million extra would have given them a ring in any individual year, but it would have certainly kept many players in Tampa over the years and attracted a few others. .
Correct, one of (if not the) best ballparks in one of the best locations. So for the Rays, they have a poor ballpark and a poor location.
They can and have spent 10-20m more in various years and it changes nothing for an outcome or attendance perspective, so I don’t blame Stu for not doing it to “prove something” to anyone.
So…..they will now be able to pay a player now?
I suppose what’s the worst that can happen; the owner doesn’t spend money and they end up playing in a dilapidated dump or a minor league stadium? Oh wait…
I think they should build the new stadium actually in Jacksonville. Jacksonville is much less prone to direct hits from hurricanes and it has the native population for a team.
Downtown Tampa has not received a direct hit from a hurricane since 1921. St Pete is a bad spot, but even Milton was kind of an outlier as far as storms that have passed by the Trop go.
The 18 acres of property between East Duval Street, Bryan Street, East Adams Street, and Parker Street in Jacksonville looks like a solid footprint for a new billion $ baseball stadium to move into in 6 years or so.
But only if they get rid of the “Rays” name and adopt the “Jumbo Shrimp.”
Jumbo Shrimp can move to Tampa. With a home plate to second base oriented NE direction they’d have a nice outfield view of Mathews Bridge….have the city repaint it the color of the new club.
Jacksonville is a horrible destination and 16-18 acres is a small site for a stadium.
Way too close to Atlanta. Everything north of there is firmly braves country and not changing. Him having business interest in Jax is just a side note. I don’t see anything to believe that’s a destination.
18 acres is a small site for a stadium?
How so?
And how is 300 miles from ATL too close?
Him living in Jacksonville, is not a side note.
Most of the view would be the cement plant, but tear that down for parking and yeah, you could see the bridge.
Zalupski owns 16 acres there. It is currently used for tailgates for Jaguars games and leased to the team.
Awesome….. Minnesota next please
Congratulations Rays fans!!!
Sincerely, Frustrated Pirates Fan
I’m half happy because I’m also a long time Buc fan. Sad situation there.
Now Twins
Congrats Rays fans! Playing in Tampa itself sounds a lot better than in St. Petersburg.
I know this is a baseball forum, but the Rays do own the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a soccer team also in St. Pete. Wonder what happens to them
I assume that’s also part of the deal… Which would be good because they’ve had the same issues as the Rays.
Yeah im just wondering if they relocate them or if they sell that part off or what
They are not being sold as far as I can find. Have you found anything saying they are?
The Rays are being sold, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies are owned by the Tampa Bay Rays Baseball LLC. It stands to reason theyre part of the package unless something explicitly says they arent.
They touched on that a bit in The Athletic today and the Rowdies are not part of the sale.
Al Lang stadium lease is up at same time as the Trop and is possibly being torn down to make room for an amphitheater, so they could be sold separately.
My money is on them being sold separately to the owners of the Tampa Bay Sun, the women’s soccer club who are building a 15k seat soccer stadium in Tampa. Both are in that 2nd tier of soccer in the US and it makes sense for both to play in same place.
Karma for the St Pete/Pinellas county government to lose their baseball team, soccer team, and $6.5 billion of development in the Gas Plant District all at one time?
Interesting. I wonder if its even worth relocating the Rowdies or just keep them there. Its a nice field
The lease is up at Al Lang stadium after 2026, which was originally a minor league baseball stadium. Pretty sure that the city will cut off their nose to spite their face when it comes to renewing that lease.
The stadium the women’s soccer team is building in Ybor Harbor would be a great home for the Rowdies too and Darryl Shaw has expressed interest in partnering with them in the past. I think he should just buy the team and Sternberg can go back to NYC. He is a close personal friend of Cohen’s, so maybe he takes part of the $500+ million he will make from the sale of the Rays and buy a minority stake in the Mets
Good now the
Stadium will go in Tampa
Oi vey!
Finally! Something most Rays fans have been asking for years has come true. Whatever happens to the team whether it be becomes a worse team or not, I’m ok with it. I hated Sternberg and he hated TB. He just wanted to suck profits out for himself or other ventures and never reinvest I. The team or area. Good riddance!
Damn straight!!
Sportico deserves more credit they’re the ones who really broke this
Well someone finally realize the new stadium needs to be in Tampa, just plain common sense!
This is good for Tampa. I’m glad MLB allowed them to get an owner with some pocket money.
As a Marlins fan, it ticks me off that MLB allowed for Loria to tinker with things to prevent Jorge Mas from once again outbidding Bruce Sherman. Any idiot knows the guy worth $2.7 billion will make a better owner than the guy worth $500 million…and if not blocked by a madeup “deadline”, the guy worth $2.7 billion was going to be able to outbid anything the guy worth $500 million was, and was clearly showing he was going to do until Loria and MLB came up with the fictional “deadline”.
Building a stadium 5 mil west of Interstate 75 would be the key move by the new ownership group. It would open the stadium to the Orlando market. The stadium would only be one hour away from Disney and a one and half hour drive to do downtown Orlando. Traffic has become much worse the past few years on Interstate 4, so weekend games would atttact more attendance from the Orlando population. They would have a much better revenue stream available to them. Folks from Sarasota and Bradenton would have a much better drive than having to drive into St. Pete.
I think building it on the Fair Grounds off MLK would elite
As long as the new ownership reverts the name back to Devil Rays and takes on a more Goth/Black Metal aesthetic, I support this 100%
Imagine if the Rays spent even 150 million.
Imagine if they could
They can. They spent $132 in 2023 and that was playing in the Trop which cost them an estimated $24 million in lost annual revenue according to the Tampa Bay Times.
132 is not 150
I think he is saying that any team can spend 50% of revenue on CBT payroll and the Rays were pretty close to $300 million in revenue prior to the hurricane. Add the $24 million they were losing by playing in Tropicana Field and they could have easily spent $150 million. Judging from your previous comments you will argue that point just to argue though.
Teabag, they can. They have the revenue and profit to do so. You yourself said they had $32 million in net profit while spending $132 million in CBT payroll which is 40 man roster plus all benefits, so investing just part of that profit takes them from $132 million to $150 million. Why argue that simple fact?
Ok, you said that much better than I did Pads.
Hmm.
He’s got 1.4B, most of which is in his home building business (from an earlier comment). Team cost 1.7B. New stadium maybe 1B.
Florida has had the highest increase of home mortgage delinquency of any state this year (National Mortgage Professionals news). Does anyone else see this possibly not working out well?
You realize that it will be an ownership group made up of 4 different billionaires buying the Rays, right? You did read the article first? And that no ownership group pays cash for a team?
I don’t have a dog in the race but as a Phillies fan who watches citizens Bank Park get 40–45,000 fans every single night even on a dingy Tuesday evening against Colorado. I’ve always thought that as good as the Rays have been for the last decade it’s embarrassing That fans just do not support that team. They are not Colorado or Miami or Chicago White Sox. They should be getting 30 to 35,000 people every single night with that team. The outgoing owner got a steal for 1.7 billion and this new owner now will probably have to spend half of that just cleaning up after the old owners. Tampa fans I hope when the new stadium is built, you will go and support this team of great players and an owner who is really risking it all.
Philly draws 30-35 k on a school night. Of course they’re all there to heckle Santa but I digress
hopefully the new owners doesn’t ruin the rays mojo .. only reason the dodgers won anything .. is because the stole friedman from the rays .. work on getting a new stadium.. but leave the rays process alone
selling the team to a Floridian that got rich scooping up foreclosed homes during the 2008 mortgage crisis. If MLB approves the sale it will tell you how much they really hate Sternberg lol
Will not matter who owns them. Fan attendance is a joke. I went to a playoff game and the place was less than 50% capacity. At George Steinbrenner Field you can get tickets for most games for $25. When the Yankees are in town it is 75% Yankees fans at the games. Tampa fans are a joke. They do not support this team. Please move to a deserving city. They have had their chance and they blew it. Year after year terrible attendance. Move the team!
Vegas let’s get it done
Hopefully Nationals next
They should have the new park on the east side of Tampa near 4 and 75. Easy access from Tampa, Clearwater, Bradenton, Sarasota and Orlando. As it is, getting to the Trop is a pain from every direction.
So that way they’ll attract 14 k geezer instead of the 12k
Huge fall for Stuart Sternberg…. I thought he was one of the better owners in the Sport, especially after the release of the book “The Extra 2%”
But this is a huge win for Tampa Bay and the State of Florida
The ownership group is making a $1.5 billion profit from the sale after raking in profits almost every year along the way with Sternberg pocketing about 25% of that. Somehow I don’t think they are crying about it.
Better owners lol He was sued by the other owners bc of allegedly shady practices.
Wrong, but thanks for playing. Sternberg was sued by a group of 5 minority partners who collectively own less than 10% of the team and that was settled. tampabay.com/sports/rays/2024/05/02/rays-sternberg…
Mostly it was about Sternberg transferring the ownership from one legal entity to another named Rays Baseball Club and “secretly” negotiating a deal to play half the games in Montreal.
As managing partner he does not have a requirement to disclose ongoing negotiations, he only has to get approval of stakeholders of the majority of the shares before signing off on them. Those minority partners would have little say in the deal.
Why do so many people comment when they have so little grasp of the facts? Why?
If the Rays build a proper stadium in Tampa Bay vs the St Pete area, I feel the attendance will improve. I lived in the area some years back and found driving to St Pete to be a big pain.
Hopefully a new stadium can be built in the city of Tampa.
Or Saint Pete. I had a cat named Pete. He was a saint too
Move the Rays to Boston. Alternate schedule with Red Sox. 162 games a year for boston fans.
No
A good move: finally, a team that wins its games in Boston.
There is a God!!!!! Now spend some money to extend Caminero and others and make some moves in the deadline to actually improve the club since you know you won’t be footing the final bill, $tu!!
1.7 billion? Seriously? Is there a new stadium included??
Baseball in Florida is stupid. Only good for spring training
Baseball in Cleveland is stupid. I have been there in early May 2020 when it snowed and in early October 2003 when it snowed.
He sell this on eBay? Can I still bid