Rays’ ownership wanted the financing by June 1st.
The majority owner of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays franchise, Patrick Zalupski, is finding out what the John Steinbeck phrase “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” really means. Zalupski purchased the franchise on September 30th, 2025, from Stu Sternberg’s group and immediately began a quest to build a state-of-the-art Major League Baseball stadium in Tampa and wanted all of the financing and all of the paperwork done by June 1st, 2026 so construction could start on the project with a finish date by the opening of the 2029 baseball season sometime in either March or April of that year. The Rays’ ownership’s lease agreement with the City of St. Petersburg to play at the municipally-owned venue is set to expire after the 2028 season. June 1st is fast approaching and Zalupski has the land for the planned stadium-village but the financing just isn’t there yet. In fact the financing looks like it might become a major hurdle.
The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners could discuss how the county can provide public funding for the planned facility at a May 20th meeting. Rays’ ownership wants Hillsborough County to put up roughly $750 million. Rays’ ownership is also looking to get about $251 million from the Tampa city government. The state of Florida would also kick in some funding with Rays’ ownership providing for the rest of the money for the more than an estimated $2 billion project. Florida legislators are not committing any dollars until local governments firm up a deal with Zalupski’s group. In January, 2026, the Hillsborough College District Board of Trustees voted to approve a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Rays’ owners to pursue a partnership to redevelop the college’s 113-acre Tampa campus that would include a stadium and mixed-use development. Previous Rays’ ownerships saw stadium plans fall through in Ybor City and St. Petersburg.
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