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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The Rays officially have new owners. Major League Baseball unanimously approved the sale of the team Monday.
Over the weekend, the Rays honored former owner Stuart Sternberg. He’s been with the team for 20 years. The new ownership is faced with a task that’s been historically challenging: finding a new home for the team.
“I think Tampa is the wiser choice,” said John Boyd, the principal at The Boyd Company that helps advise major corporations on site locations. “Also, Ybor City is set to be the location for the new Brightline station coming to Tampa within the next decade. That will link the Rays to Miami and to Orlando and also the Space Coast.”
Boyd said cities count on stadiums and arenas to bring in billions. 8 On Your Side asked what the loss could mean for the St. Pete area.
“Well, St. Petersburg will be able to benefit by having the Rays stay in the Tampa Bay market, much more so than if the Rays relocated to Orlando,” Boyd said. “It was a very viable option. It’s no secret that that site is a prime real estate site in St. Petersburg, the Gas Plant District. There’ll be a number of very exciting redevelopment proposals that likely will have nothing to do with the Rays but nonetheless be very successful development projects.”
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The Rays had 61 sellouts this year at Steinbrenner Field, bringing in 786,750 attendees. It’s down from the 1,337,739 at Tropicana Field in 2024.
“The fan base is here. They won’t go wrong,” said Gregory Randle, a Ray’s fan.
Randle wants the owners to invest in St. Pete, as the city has new condos and continues to build up the area.
“It’s not all up to the fans. It’s up to the general managers. It’s up to the owners. You know, you got to draft the right players. You got to build your team around the fan base,” Randle said.
