ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A third group has emerged to potentially purchase the Tampa Bay Rays as Major League Baseball has been putting pressure on owner Stu Sternberg to sell, according to The Athletic.

What You Need To Know

  • The latest group is being led by Dex Imaging CEO Dan Doyle Jr., according to The Athletic

  • Doyle Jr. reportedly tried buying the team in 2023 

  • Interest in buying the team has peaked as it appears the Rays are poised to walk away from a $1.3 billion new stadium deal

  • The deadline for the Rays to show they’re meeting certain funding obligations for the new stadium is March 31

The latest group is being led by Dex Imaging CEO Dan Doyle Jr., who reportedly pulled out of a previous process to buy the Rays in 2023. Attorney Carter McCain is representing another group of investors mostly outside of Florida and former New York Yankees minority owner Joe Molloy is leading a Tampa-based group, according to our partners at the Tampa Bay Times.

“The success of the team, the success of the City of St Petersburg… it's a recipe for interest,” said Copley Gerdes, St. Peterburg City Council Chair. “So it doesn't surprise me one bit that there's groups out there that are interested.”

Interest in buying the team has peaked as it appears the Rays are poised to walk away from a $1.3 billion new stadium deal. The Rays would pay $700 million of that total cost with the county and city splitting the remaining $600 million.

The deadline for the team to show they’re meeting certain funding obligation is coming up on March 31. Council Chair Gerdes said he has not seen any evidence the Rays will meet that new stadium deadline.

“Certainly my hope is that they do that but I think at this point my latest update is that they have not,” he said. “I don't love that update. But we've done what we're supposed to do and that's what we can control.”

Rays management have previously said Pinellas County Commissioners delaying a bond vote in October, after the region was battered by back-to-back hurricanes, increased the cost of a new stadium and don’t believe they should have to cover it on their own. Despite the signed agreement which calls for the Rays to pay for all cost overruns.

Pinellas County commissioners approved the bonds in December and said there’s no evidence their delay caused any major cost overruns. Gerdes said if a new group buys the team, he’s not sure how the stadium deal could be transferred.

“There's a lot of moving parts to this,” he said. “I wouldn't speculate how this deal could come forward if it were to terminate because of an automatic termination clause. But it certainly would be a lift.”