Tampa Bay owner “not for sale” despite premium offer

Even when offered a premium for his team’s success, he refuses to sell. This is the story of Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg.

FrontOffice Sports, an American sports industry publication, reported on Tuesday (April 20) that Stewart has rejected recent offers to buy the Tampa Bay team, saying he intends to remain the majority owner.

According to U.S. business magazine Forbes, Tampa-area businessman Dan Doyle Jr. and Tennessee-based hedge fund Gullane Capital founder Tripp Miller are reportedly preparing a $1.85 billion (about $2.369 billion) offer to buy the Tampa Bay club.메이저놀이터

Considering that Forbes values Tampa Bay at $1.25 billion ($1.069 trillion), the offer represents a premium of $600 million ($768.4 billion). That’s a premium of nearly half of its current value.

Considering that Sternberg bought Tampa Bay for $200 million in 2004, 19 years ago, that’s already a six-fold increase in value. The premium alone is more than three times the purchase price. Despite the fact that he could have gotten more than nine times that amount in 19 years, Stewart didn’t take it.

In fact, the Tampa Bay organization is laughing off the idea of a buyout. When Front Office Sports emailed Tampa Bay to ask about the offer, they were told they were unaware of it until they were contacted.

While Stewart is excited about the team’s increased value, the reality is that Tampa Bay is still a small market organization.

The Rays are hoping to build a new stadium to replace Tropicana Field, but have been rebuffed by Major League Baseball (MLB). The team also ranks 27th out of 30 MLB teams in attendance, averaging 17,187.

Tampa Bay’s value has increased for one reason: the team’s performance. The Rays are the first team in MLB to reach 50 wins this season (51-24) and have the best winning percentage of all 30 teams. The Rays have made the postseason in four straight seasons, from 2019 to last year, and are a strong contender again this season.