Latest news with #TripMiller
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Potential Rays buyer talks vision, exploring Tampa Bay locations for new stadium
TAMPA, Fla (WFLA) — A hedge fund founder and a team of investors are looking to buy the Tampa Bay Rays. On Wednesday, the team announced they were in exclusive discussions to potentially sell the team to another group. Advertisement Trip Miller is the founder of Gullane Capital LLC. They manage capital for private and public companies or institutions. News Channel 8 On Your Side asked Miller what his vision is for the team. Dodgers announce $1 million donation to aid families of immigrants affected by federal raids 'Much like the Atlanta Braves have done, if you've been to the battery in Atlanta, we think that's a wonderful model for what we'd like to do in the right place with the right public-private partnership in the Tampa area,' Miller said. 'There are other interesting locations in the Tampa area that we have explored, and I think if we are chosen to acquire this valuable asset that we would take a very thoughtful approach over a number of months, with a pigeon hole six; but probably will take some time to figure out exactly the right financing package in the right location to do a master plan development.' Miller said there are three steps in his process. The first is acquiring the ball club. Then building the stadium and developing the area around it to engage fans year-round. He said it should be what the Tampa Bay area deserves. News Channel 8 On Your Side also asked if Miller acquired the team, would he be willing to revisit plans for Tropicana Field and the Historic Gas Plant district in St. Petersburg. Advertisement 'Absolutely. I think that a thoughtful buyer of this asset will look at all options, including where they are right now,' Miller said. Pinellas County and the City of St. Pete have started looking ahead. The city development administrator sent an email Wednesday informing council members about a study for a potential convention center located on the Historic Gas Plant site. The study would evaluate the demand for convention and meeting space, and how it would support tourism and economic development. Ron Diner, who started 'No Home Run' to oppose the now dead Rays Hines deal, said the city should slow down because the team has three more years at the Trop. Advertisement 'Convention center? Maybe. We're way ahead of the game thinking about it. And number two, it can't be that big, let the private sector build a hotel and convention center. Let's not do what we did once before, build it and they will come, and then we get stuck with a big loser,' Diner said. Diner said the county and city should consider bringing in outside consultants to lay out the property and decide what would be best to put there. City council would review and consider the study when it's finalized. Meanwhile, Miller said he has a cash offer for the Rays with no financing contingencies, and no debt in the offer. He said he looks forward to hearing back from the team. Advertisement 'I think we want to create something there that's been missing, which is a true feel of community. And again, as I talked about earlier, a true public-private partnership,' Miller said. Miller said hopefully a transaction will happen for a buyer this year, and said at this point he hopes to hear back from the Rays once their period with the other group expires. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hedge fund founder Trip Miller reportedly joins mix of buyers interested in Tampa Bay Rays
Another Tampa Bay Rays buyer has come to the table, according to The Athletic, which reported Friday that Memphis hedge fund founder Trip Miller created a group that made an all-cash offer to Rays owner Stu Sternberg last week. The news comes just two days after the Rays released a statement announcing that they are in "exclusive discussions" about a potential sale of the team with a different group. That group is led by Jacksonville-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski. Advertisement 'We made an offer last week,' Miller told The Athletic. 'We have had contact with the club over the past month, specifically about our offer. "If there is an exclusivity period that expires soon, and I don't know when it expires, we would welcome the opportunity to have a deeper discussion with the Rays about our offer." Miller also told The Athletic that his group is willing to up its offer, if necessary, although he didn't not reveal to The Athletic how much money his group bid or what he deems an overpay for the club. Sportico reported that Zalupski's group offered $1.7 billion for the Rays. Advertisement Miller told The Athletic that, if his group were to acquire the team, he wouldn't move move the Rays from Central Florida. He's not ruling out locations in Orlando, according to The Athletic, which reported that Miller mentioned Hillsborough County in Tampa and Pinellas County in St. Petersburg as potential options. "This is not a relocation play to another state,' Miller said, via The Athletic. "You won't see the Rays relocating out of Central Florida, whether it was our group or another group. "The league, that's what they're looking for. Someone who can not only buy the club, but solves the stadium problem." Miller told The Athletic he believes the total investment, for both the team and its new stadium, will require north of $3 billion.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Buyers eye Tampa Bay Rays as hedge fund founder Trip Miller says he also made recent offer
While the Tampa Bay Rays announced this week that they are in 'exclusive discussions' about a potential sale of the team with a group led by Jacksonville-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski, another possible contender has emerged to attempt a purchase of the club. Memphis hedge fund founder Trip Miller has formed a group that made an all-cash offer to current Rays owner Stu Sternberg last week, he told The Athletic, noting the group's willingness to up their offer if needed. He did not say what amount his group bid, and said he could not reveal who was in his group, citing an NDA. Advertisement 'We made an offer last week,' Miller said. 'We have had contact with the club over the past month, specifically about our offer. If there is an exclusivity period that expires soon, and I don't know when it expires, we would welcome the opportunity to have a deeper discussion with the Rays about our offer.' The Rays declined to discuss Miller's potential involvement, as did Zalupski via text message. MLB declined comment as well. However, the offer from Miller's group could loom over the negotiations with Zalupski, which have yet to be finalized. It is unclear if there are other groups or individuals interested in purchasing the team. Miller has been linked to the Rays in the past. In 2023, Forbes reported that the Gullane Capital Partners founder had put together a group looking to purchase the team for $1.85 billion. Sternberg rebuffed a sale at the time. The magazine valued the franchise at just $1.25 billion earlier this year. Miller said he believes the team will sell for more than $1.5 billion, and that the overall investment will require at least $3 billion. That would include the cost of the team, plus an additional $1.5 billion needed to fund a new stadium. Their intent would be to leave Tropicana Field and build a new ballpark, Miller said, with the caveat of first ensuring a productive partnership with local government. In any hypothetical sale, Miller said, his intent would be to keep the team local, specifically mentioning Hillsborough County (Tampa) or Pinellas County (St. Petersburg), while not fully ruling out exploring options in Orlando. 'This is not a relocation play to another state,' Miller said. 'You won't see the Rays relocating out of Central Florida, whether it was our group or another group. 'The league, that's what they're looking for. Someone who can not only buy the club, but solves the stadium problem.' Advertisement Zalupski's group reportedly offered $1.7 billion for the team, as first reported by Sportico. Miller noted that he believed their offer to be lower than that, and that Zalupski's group was still raising capital. 'I do know they're still out there raising money, and I know that because we've been contacted by people in their group to fill the void in their cap stack, on three occasions over the last three weeks. We were reached out directly and through intermediaries.' When asked if he believed Sternberg could be hoping to leverage the competing offers into a bidding war, Miller said, 'I think he wants to make sure if there is a transaction, that he is maximizing the value of the club.' 'We are fully funded, and frankly over-funded,' Miller said. 'We believe that this will trade in some range, and if it gets out of that range then we're not interested. We're not going to over-pay for the club in our opinion.' Miller declined to disclose what he believed would be an overpay. Last July, the Rays announced a $1.3 billion stadium agreement with the St. Petersburg City Council and Pinellas County Commission. However, that deal is no longer in place after a chaotic last eight months, which culminated in Sternberg's intention to sell the team he's owned since 2004. Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off Tropicana Field in October. As a result, both St. Petersburg and Pinellas County delayed approval on the funding for the new stadium, citing more immediate concerns. The Rays, frustrated about the delay, signaled that it would create cost overruns that prohibit construction from ever beginning. Even though the stadium funding was fully approved by January, the Rays formally pulled out of the deal in March. It's a move that might have actually raised the value of the team, Miller said, because it gives any new owner 'optionality' over what to do next. Advertisement Local politicians were calling for Sternberg to sell the team, while several owners were privately encouraging the same, according to a report from The Athletic's Evan Drellich. It became clear that the league wanted an owner committed to keeping the team in the Tampa Bay region, which no longer was a given under Sternberg. The Rays' lease at Tropicana Field expires in 2029. The team is playing its 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. They intend to move back to their old home next season, and commissioner Rob Manfred indicated that the renovations to the ballpark are on track to be ready in time. (Top photo of Sternberg with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred: Brian Blanco / Getty Images)
