A vote was held on Monday by the team owners of Major League Baseball, unanimously approving a sale of the Tampa Bay Rays to Jacksonville’s Patrick Zalupski. The sale is reportedly for around $1.7 billion, and will change the ownership of the Rays after 21 years with Stuart Sternberg. All that’s left now to finalize the sale is approval from the Federal Trade Commission.
“It’s good to go,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. “It’s official in terms of our internal processes subject just to their closing, but it’s always subject to the closing taking place.” Zalupski and the Rays have both yet to comment to major media on the deal.
The Troubled Tampa Bay Rays
44-year-old Zalupski will take over the Rays at a time when the team faces numerous challenges. For one, their resident Tropicana Field was severely damaged last year in Hurricane Milton, leaving it unusable until April 2026. This year they’ve played at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Spring Training home of the New York Yankees. The Rays were engaged in talks to construct a new facility in St. Petersburg from 2023 to 2025, but these conversations ultimately fell through.
Also plaguing the Rays is a consistent issue with bringing out fans. They’ve been one of the bottom-two teams in the American League in attendance for nearly every year since their inaugural season in 1998. Even in seasons that the Rays have forged deep playoff runs, they’ve struggled to eclipse half-capacity. This year the Rays are facing their second straight losing record, a disappointing trend after a five-year playoff streak with one World Series appearance in 2020.
Commissioner Manfred expressed a belief that Zalupski is the right fit to help get the Rays over the hump and into a new, more successful era as Central Florida’s only MLB franchise. “I think Patrick is going to be a great addition, deeply committed to the Tampa Bay region as a home for the Rays,” he continued to the Tampa Bay Times. “I look forward to them getting past the closing and starting to work with the club.”
Background and Political Activity
Born in Detroit, Zalupski attended Stetson University in DeLand to obtain a bachelor’s degree in finance. He spent time living in Belgium before later working as an auditor for FedEx. He joined the real estate industry after relocating to Jacksonville, where he founded Dream Finders Homes in 2009. Zalupski remains the CEO of Dream Finders, as well as a member of the Northeast Florida Builders Association.
As CEO of Dream Finders, his company has constructed 35,000 single-family homes in and around Jacksonville. Mayor Donna Deegan has praised him for bringing a new University of Florida campus to their city, and for creating hundreds of local jobs.
Zalupski is a major donor to several Republican politicians from the Florida legislature to the presidential circuit. He contributed $6,600 to Senator Rick Scott’s re-election campaign in 2024, as well as $3,300 to Ron DeSantis’ 2025 presidential primary campaign. Another $5,000 went to Senator Dave McCormick’s campaign in Pennsylvania last year, plus $2,765 to Donald Trump’s first and second presidential campaigns. Zalupski also gave $500 to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
In February 2023, Gov. DeSantis appointed Zalupski to the University of Florida Board of Trustees. His first campaign contribution to DeSantis was filed just days after this appointment was announced, and others continued later in 2023.
