At least four interested parties who say they have the means to buy the Tampa Bay Rays have come forward as pressure builds among elected officials and fans for owner Stuart Sternberg to sell the team.
Days before the Rays pulled out of the agreement to build a stadium in St. Petersburg, representatives of two local groups signaled their interest in the franchise, which Forbes estimates is worth $1.25 billion. Both groups declined to name the deep-pocketed suitors backing any possible bids.
In the days that followed, more names have been floated. Others have resurfaced. Nothing is certain.
There’s been a DeBartolo name drop; it’s unclear if anyone from the family of Tampa-based sports magnates and developers are backing a group. Even Gov. Ron DeSantis recently commented on a possible sale, though he said that’s been speculated for a while.
“I’ve been hearing the team was going to be sold for, like, years now. … It never seems to really happen,” he weighed in last week.
Sports news site The Athletic reported earlier this month that Sternberg is under pressure to sell from Major League Baseball, though he has not said the team is for sale. Rays president Matt Silverman told WDAE-AM radio last week he puts no stock in reports based on anonymous sources.
“The team’s not for sale,” he said.
That’s different than saying Sternberg would never sell if offered the right price.
Of those publicly jockeying for ownership, most have stated interest in keeping the Rays in Tampa Bay. But at least one group is courting the team from afar.
Here are some of the names of suitors getting tossed about now, those declared and others not. But beware: If the Rays are indeed for sale, it would be in Sternberg’s interest to have competition, or at least the perception of it. The team has used that playbook before in pushing for a would-be stadium site.
Another warning: Wealthy investors-turned-sports-franchisers rarely divulge their intentions publicly in advance. Sternberg’s name first appeared in the pages of the Times only after he had purchased a large share in the Rays.
“The people who are serious bidders are talking to a handful of bankers, a small number of New York-based law firms and some people at the league,” said Robert Boland, a New York-based sports attorney who has represented groups seeking to buy professional sports teams. But for serious contenders who might have a challenge getting approved, “that might be a reason to go public in that circumstance.”
Joe Molloy
When former New York Yankees managing general partner Joe Molloy spoke with Sternberg a couple of weeks ago, they didn’t discuss a sale price, he told the Times.
Molloy, also a Tampa Bay educator and CEO of JAM Sports Ventures, says he is backed by an undisclosed number of local investors .
Molloy declined to say how many people are in the group or what their backgrounds are because those investors are under a nondisclosure agreement.
Molloy told the Times most are local to Tampa Bay, with the exception of two investors from the Orlando area.
His group was interested in pursuing the planned downtown St. Petersburg stadium deal that Sternberg has said is now unworkable.
Last week, the Athletic reported that the DeBartolo family is involved with Molloy’s effort, though it didn’t cite its sourcing. Eddie DeBartolo Jr., who owned the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers for 23 years before ceding control to his sister, declined to comment through an assistant. His half-brother, Ed Kobel, is the president and chief operating officer of DeBartolo Development.
Asked if The Athletic’s reporting was incorrect, Kobel wouldn’t say.
“We’re not talking about it,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of people talk to us. We’re listening, no action.”
Molloy, who once described his life to a reporter as “Cinderella in reverse,” was formerly married into the family of late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and briefly ran the team. With Kobel, the group would have ties to two of the biggest sports families in Tampa Bay.
JAM Sports Ventures was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to acquire the Miami Marlins in 2017.
Molloy teaches religion part-time to eighth-graders at his alma mater, St. Lawrence Catholic School and was the athletic director of St. Petersburg Catholic High School while St. Petersburg City Council member Copley Gerdes played baseball there.
He recently emailed Gerdes with a pitch: “As a new ownership group, we will cultivate a culture that promotes healthy competition, inspires with vision, and commits to a legacy that strengthens the community both on and off the field.”
Carter McCain
A day after Molloy announced his group’s interest in the team, Tampa lawyer Carter McCain stepped forward to say he represents a group of interested buyers, mainly from out of state.
Like Molloy, McCain declined to name any members but said the group is led by an out-of-market investor well respected in Major League Baseball circles. A minority of local business leaders are involved as well.
McCain graduated from Stetson Law and has been a practicing attorney in Tampa Bay since the 1980s. He said he has worked with athletes and sports teams throughout his career.
His group is interested in building an entertainment complex around the new stadium and is looking at opportunities beyond the Rays, he said. But the investors’ first choice is a team in Tampa Bay.
No formal offers have been made, McCain told the Times. If his clients buy the team, they intend to stay in the region, but McCain said they are looking at sites in both Hillsborough and Pinellas.
“It is a growing area with people all around the country moving here,” he said. “It is an area where you can have entertainment 365 days a year, you’re not limited by weather.”
Dan Doyle
This isn’t the first time Dan Doyle Jr., CEO of the Tampa-based office equipment company DEX Imaging, has been floated as a potential Rays suitor.
In 2023, The Athletic reported that Doyle was interested in buying the franchise. Doyle and a group of other investors, including Memphis hedge fund founder Trip Miller, offered$1.85 billion for the team, Forbes also reported. That pitch fell through.
Now, Doyle has joined forces with another group interested in inking a Rays stadium deal in Tampa, according to The Athletic. Efforts to reach Doyle were unsuccessful.
Doyle has deep roots in the Tampa Bay business community and with the Rays.
His father, Dan Doyle Sr., began building the family’s office equipment empire in the 1970s.
Doyle Sr. was one of the original general partners of The Rays back in 1998. Sternberg bought him and several other local owners out in 2004.
Doyle Jr.’s company is a major sponsor of the team.
Orlando Dreamers
An Orlando businessman vying to take the Rays outside Tampa Bay says he has secured hundreds of millions of dollars to build a baseball stadium in Orange County.
Jim Schnorf, co-founder of the Orlando Dreamers, said two months ago during a news conference in Orlando that his group secured verbal commitments from local investors for more than $200 million in minority ownership.
He also said an institutional investor group pledged to invest $250 million as a minority owner in the future team.
The Dreamers told the Times in a statement via email that they believe they have a strong case. The group points to its stadium’s design and its prime location.
“Orlando has positioned itself as the most attractive option for the next Major League Baseball franchise city,” said the Dreamers. “We are fully prepared to welcome an MLB team, regardless of whether that path is via the sale and/or the relocation of an existing franchise, or from an expansion slot.”
Two years ago, the late Orlando Magic executive Pat Williams and the Dreamers revealed plans for a $1.7 billion ballpark on a 35.5-acre site near SeaWorld and the Orange County Convention Center. It would be part of a bigger complex with a hotel, restaurants, shops and parking.
Revenues from the county’s tourist tax would pay for $975 million, according to that Dreamers’ plan. Orlando is the largest media market in the U.S. without a Major League Baseball team and has a strong economic base to support a franchise, said the Dreamers.
But bringing baseball to Orlando has been nothing but a pipe dream for local business leaders in the past.
Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings said nothing is confirmed regarding a new stadium or any agreements made to move the Dreamers’ project forward.
“Several groups within the last four to five years have pitched various plans to partner in building a baseball stadium in Orange County,” Demings said in an email to the Times. “However, nothing definitive has developed from those conversations.”
Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, who was introduced in January as an MLB ambassador for the Dreamers, said in a news release that he had direct conversations about the league’s possible expansion and Orlando’s viability as a new host city with key people in MLB, including Commissioner Rob Manfred. Larkin also confirmed last week that an anchor investor for the control ownership group has been identified.
“It became immediately apparent that Orlando has the most compelling market in the country to be the next MLB franchise location,” Larkin said.
Conclusion:
The potential sale of the Tampa Bay Rays has garnered interest from multiple parties, each with unique backgrounds and motives. The future ownership of the team remains uncertain, but various groups have emerged as contenders in the discussions.
FAQs
Q: Is Stuart Sternberg actively looking to sell the Tampa Bay Rays?
A: While pressure from Major League Baseball has been noted, Sternberg has not confirmed that the team is for sale.
Q: What are the primary locations of interest for the potential buyers?
A: Buyers are exploring options in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, with a focus on keeping the team within the Tampa Bay region.
Q: Are there any external factors influencing the sale of the team?
A: Factors such as stadium deals, market attractiveness, and financial backing are likely playing a role in the ongoing discussions around the potential sale of the Tampa Bay Rays.
