The Tampa Bay Rays are coming off a mediocre 80-82 season. While that doesn't sound horrendous, a sub .500 record will not cut it in the extremely competitive American League East. The Rays finished next to last in their division and missed the postseason.
Tampa had made the playoffs as a wild card bid the previous two seasons, but got swept on both occasions. Most fan bases view Opening Day as a time of hope and optimism. It took all of six innings of play for Rays fans ti decide they were already fed up with ownership.
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Tampa Bay Rays fans already calling for ownership change
Going into the top of the seventh inning on Friday, the Tampa Bay Rays found themselves down 2-0 against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are expected to be one of the lower-performing teams in all of baseball this year, so this was certainly frustrating for Rays fans to witness.
Chants begin to break out among the crowd, calling for Stu Sternberg (owner) to "sell the team." It is easy to look at this situation and condemn Rays fans for expressing hostile emotions so early in the season but the fact of the matter is, this is frustration that has been lingering for some time.
Audible "Sell the team" chants at Steinbrenner Field.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 28, 2025
We presume these are Rays fans but if any Rockies fans made the trip, they are likely to join in. pic.twitter.com/Spn9yotYYn
Much like the Athletics, the Rays have been struggling with attendance at home games for the last several seasons. In fact, the franchise ranked 28th out of 30 in fan attendance during the 2024 season.
A few months ago when Hurricane Milton came through Florida, it left Tropicana Field damaged to the point the Rays would have to find a new home for the 2025 season. They are currently playing their home games at the New York Yankees' spring training facility, George M. Steinbrenner Field, in Tampa, Fla. Thankfully they did not have to move from their home city but their future plans remain up in the air.
The Rays put a plan in place to build a brand new stadium to replace Tropicana Field and get an updated facility that was much needed even prior to the hurricane. Over the last week, the news broke that Sternberg and the Rays would no longer be moving forward with the proposed stadium plans due to "a series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated". We are unsure of what events he could be refferring to but it was an unpopular opinion to change course in the eyes of Rays fans.
Tampa went on to win their Opening Day game by a score of 3-2 but it is safe to say that the fans still want to see a change in ownership as they do not feel like the future of their franchise is heading in the right direction. It feels like there is a chance being more concered about financial status rather than the success of the franchise is what is driving Sternberg's decisions and that just does not sit well with fans.