TAMPA, Fla. — The group led by Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski went through an extensive process to get approved by Major League Baseball on Monday as the new owners of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The sale, for roughly $1.7 billion, is expected to be formally completed and the deal closed later this week, which will include approval from the Federal Trade Commission and money transferred.

“It’s good to go‚” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told the Tampa Bay Times after the owners voted unanimously to approve Zalupski. “It’s official in terms of our internal processes subject just to their closing, but it’s always subject to the closing taking place.”

Neither the Rays nor Zalupski’s group had any comment Monday.

Now comes the hard part for the new owners.

They take over from Stuart Sternberg at a critical juncture — there is no long-term stadium plan, Tropicana Field is in the early phases of an extensive repair to be ready for a scheduled April 6 re-opening, and the team has missed the playoffs for a second straight season and likely is headed for a another sub-.500 record.

Manfred spoke highly of Zalupski, who will be the designated control person with MLB, and his partners.

“I think Patrick is going to be a great addition, deeply committed to the Tampa Bay region as a home for the Rays, and I look forward to them getting past the closing and starting to work with the club,” he said.

The group, slated to take over daily operations of the team following Sunday’s season finale, is expected to hold a news conference in the near future to share its initial plans.

Sternberg bought into the team in 2004 and took control after the 2005 season from original owner Vince Naimoli, paying a reported $200 million.

The franchise enjoyed great success on the field under Sternberg, transitioning from one of the worst teams to the among the best following its 2008 rebranding from Devil Rays to Rays, making the playoffs nine times in a 16-year stretch (including two trips to the World Series, though losing in 2008 and 2020).

But attendance at Tropicana Field remained among the worst in the majors, and the group failed to get a new stadium built.

An agreement for a new facility was reached and celebrated in summer 2024, but the Rays pulled out of the deal in March 2025 citing increased costs as a result of delays in post-agreement issues and damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The new group emerged from a field of three to four interested parties, including one led by Tampa businessman Joe Molloy, to buy the team, and seemed to have the backing of Major League Baseball.

Zalupski is the founder and CEO of Dream Finder Homes, has a net worth of $1.3 billion (according to Forbes) and has political connections, serving on the University of Florida board of trustees and with ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis, including as a big campaign donor.

He will be joined in running the team by Bill Cosgrove, the CEO of Union Home Mortgage, who is expected to serve in a co-chairman role and Ken Babby, who owns minor-league teams in Akron, Ohio, and Jacksonville, and will serve as chief executive officer.

Among the limited partners with significant investments are Dan Doyle, CEO of Tampa-based office equipment company DEX Imaging, which has been a long-time Rays sponsor, and Rick Workman, founder of Heartland Dental services and chair of the executive adviser team at the private equity firm New Harbor Capital.

Workman lives in the Orlando area and until recently had been the “anchor investor” of the group seeking to bring a team there. He and prominent personal injury attorney John Morgan both withdrew from the Orlando group in early September.

Another known member of the 10-or-so person group, which is said to include “prominent Tampa Bay investors,” is Tampa lawyer Fred Ridley, who also is chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament.

Sternberg and his partners will retain a small share of the team, around 10%, as part of the sale agreement.

The new group is said to want to keep the core of the baseball operations staff, led by baseball operations president Erik Neander and manager Kevin Cash, intact, but to make some changes to how the business side of the franchise operates.

The team’s two longtime presidents are stepping down from their posts.

Matt Silverman, a top executive since Sternberg first got involved with the Rays, is leaving the organization, but will remain involved by serving on an advisory board representing Sternberg and his partners.

Brian Auld, who joined the team in 2005, will stay for now, shifting to a senior adviser role to help the new group through the transition, and potentially beyond, handling a variety of matters.

“I wasn’t sure this was going to be what I wanted to do, and getting to know this ownership group and Ken specifically, it’s felt really good,” Auld said. “It felt like it could be a nice, positive thing for a good amount of time.”

Auld also will remain vice chairman of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, the United Soccer League franchise that is also part of the sale. The Rowdies have been playing at St. Petersburg’s Al Lang Stadium and also may need a new home.

Once the introductions are complete, the new owners are expected to get to work earnestly on solving the stadium issue.

Zalupski’s group is likely will focus, at least initially, on Hillsborough County options, with reports they have already visited at least two — in the Ybor harbor area and Hillsborough College, which is adjacent to Steinbrenner Field, where the Rays played this season.

The new owners also might need to work out at least a short-term lease extension at Tropicana Field, as the current agreement runs only through the 2028 season.

Zalupski and his group had been in talks with the Rays for about nine months, and after they agreed to a deal in principle they met and talked with some senior executives, and also attended games at Steinbrenner Field and on the road.

A $1.7 billion sale price not only would be a hefty return on Sternberg’s original investment; the team was valued earlier this year at $1.25 billion by Forbes and $1.35 billion by Sportico. The Baltimore Orioles were sold last year for a reported $1.73 billion.

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