How Could Tampa Bay Rays Ballpark Saga Impact A's Plans?

Sep 19, 2023; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg talks with media as the Tampa Bay Rays announced today that a historic agreement has been reached with the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County to move forward with a new state-of-the-art ballpark at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Athletics owner John Fisher seems pretty confident that the team will break ground on their new ballpark in Las Vegas around mid-year, but is there a chance that the future of the Tampa Bay Rays could have an impact on Fisher's plans?

On Thursday, Rays owner Stu Sternberg released a statement saying that the team is backing out of a $1.3 billion deal to build a ballpark in St. Petersburg. Sensing this was coming, there was a report that came out that MLB was pressuring Sternberg to sell his franchise. He insists that the team is not for sale.

With all of this news being very fresh, it's impossible to tell how the Rays' ownership saga will play out, but if Sternberg is forced to sell, that could become interesting for potential investors in the Athletics franchise.

According to Forbes, the A's and Rays are similarly valued, and both are attempting to get a new ballpark built. The pieces aren't an exact fit, but it's certainly a good way for those that are potentially interested in buying a portion of the A's to see what kind of valuation a similar team would get on the open market.

Forbes has the A's at $1.2 billion, and the Rays at $1.25 billion.

Could this give potential investors pause, to make sure that they're not overpaying? It's certainly possible. The one big caveat here is that any negotiations have likely included where to place the A's valuation--before or after a new ballpark is built.

The Rays, if they were to be sold in the coming months, would be valued before the ballpark is built, which would provide some useful insight for a potential investor. Were they sold above or below their public valuation?

However, if the terms that Fisher is looking for are post-ballpark, then the sale of the Rays could either increase or decrease the number that Fisher is after.

The reason that this is a big factor is because there is only so much control that Fisher can seemingly give up without having the "flip tax" applied. He would still need to control the majority of the team in order to avoid that tax.

If Fisher were to sell at the pre-ballpark valuation, which is when the investor would be buying a stake in the club, then if the Rays were to sell below the Forbes valuation, the A's owner may be in a little trouble. He's looking for $500 million to help finance the ballpark in Las Vegas.

$500 million is 41.67% of $1.2 billion. The lower that $1.2 billion figure drops, the closer the stake he'd give up would be to 50%. If the franchise were to be valued a little higher, say $1.4 billion, then the $500 million ask would account for a 35.7% stake in the club. While that may not seem like a huge difference, those percentages can make or break a deal for an investor.

This isn't to say that the Rays recent news is going to sink the A's plans in Las Vegas at all. But how things play out in Florida could have an impact on the final numbers Fisher is able to get with a potential investor.

In this specific case, the timing could be everything for Fisher and company. If he were to find agreeable terms before a potential Rays sale, then he wouldn't have to worry about that valuation at all.