MLB’s ownership committee is reviewing the $1.7 billion Tampa Bay Rays sale to a Florida investment group, and if approved the purchase will be submitted to Major League Baseball owners for final approval.
The Rays sale to a Jacksonville group is led by developer Patrick Zalupski and also includes Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Triple-A; International League) owner Ken Babby, Union Home Mortgage CEO Bill Cosgrove and former Orlando Dreamers investor Rick Workman (more on that below). Current owner Stu Sternberg will reportedly retain a small share of the team as well. The Rays sale is expected to close in the next five to six weeks barring some unforeseen circumstances.
Once the Rays sale is finalized, the new owners are expected to tackle the biggest issue facing the Rays: the team’s future home. As a large TV market (ranked as high as #11 nationally) and a top-20 market in total population, Tampa Bay is clearly a favorite of MLB owners, and the thought is that a more inviting climate-controlled ballpark in a better-situated location (i.e., Tampa and Hillsborough County instead of St. Pete and Pinellas County, with better access to the I-4 corridor and Orlando) will give the team a needed financial boost. Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, who has been working on a new Rays ballpark in Tampa for years, says two potential sites are the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough Community College–basically located south of Steinbrenner Field and west of Raymond James Stadium–and a Ybor City harborside location previously considered by the current owners. The economic model for a new ballpark will be familiar to anyone tracking new MLB facilities over the last 25 years: build a new ballpark as well as associated development, with MLB teams increasingly becoming core parts of real-estate efforts. This would seem to be a strong argument for a Hillsborough Community College location: create an entertainment district that can also cater to fans attending games and concerts at Raymond James Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Orlando Dreamers organization, seeking to bring MLB to the Magic City, is facing some perhaps insurmountable hurdles, as potential investors pull their financial commitments to the efforts. The organization, originally launched by the late Pat Williams, had announced commitments of $2.5 billion toward the acquisition of a new MLB team as well as construction of a new ballpark in the Convention Center area. Leading those financial commitments: Rick Workman, founder of Heartland Dental, and local attorney John Morgan.
The Dreamers were realistic about one thing: there was little chance both Tampa Bay and Orlando would host MLB teams. The best chance for Orlando MLB ball would be a purchase of the Rays (which the Dreamers pursued) or an expansion team should be the Rays move.
But with a new Tampa Bay ownership in place, the chances of a move up I-4 became remote (though not totally out of the question). As a result, Workman has joined the new Rays ownership group, and Morgan has pulled his support. Morgan made it clear he was withdrawing his financial commitment because he sees a new Tampa ballpark as being a done deal. From the Orlando Sentinel:
“I am out. The fix is in,” Morgan said in an email. “What I believe will now happen is this group will seek a sweetheart deal in Tampa, while stringing the prospects of Orlando as a bargaining chip. Get lots of free land and entitlements and make a real estate profit on the surrounding land at the taxpayers’ expense.”
In a spin on his law firm’s famous slogan, “For the people,” Morgan said the likely Tampa deal was “Certainly not for the people but for the rich people.”
This doesn’t mean Orlando residents should totally give up on MLB baseball. The aforementioned Hagan sees Orlando as a prime landing site for the Rays should a new Hillsborough County facility not work out.
Rendering of proposed Ybor City ballpark courtesy Tampa Bay Rays.
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