Apparently the Montreal group led by Stephen Bronfman are set to become minority owners of the Tampa Bay Rays
By Cam Lewis
4 years agoThe return of Major League Baseball to Montreal seems to be getting closer. And no, I don’t mean the Blue Jays’ annual limp-dick exhibition game at Olympic Stadium. I mean the Tampa-Montreal Expo Rays.
According to a post in the Journal De Montreal, the group led by Stephen Bronfman, the guy behind the whole “bring the Expos back to life” movement, are set to become minority owners of the Tampa Bay Rays.
“In a few months, probably three or four, our group from Montreal will become co-owner of the Tampa team with Stuart Sternberg, the current owner of the Rays. The negotiations are very advanced. We are going to become minority shareholders, but that doesn’t bother us at all. Stuart Sternberg is a straight man who is nothing like Jeffrey Loria [former owner of the Expos],” says Bronfman.
We’re going to need to wait for a report out of Tampa Bay that comes in English because the translation of this post provides a lot of confusing details. But, it seems, the Rays are weirdly serious about allowing the Bronfman group to be a part of the organization in order to allow the split custody of the Rays between Tampa and Montreal to become a reality.
Bronfman’s group having part ownership of the Rays will give him more leverage when working with the City of Montreal to build the proposed new stadium for a Major League Baseball team at the Peel Basin. Rob Manfred has already endorsed the proposal for allowing the Rays to have two homes and, whether it matters or not, Mark Shapiro has given his approval as well.
According to the article, the goal is for the Expo Rays to play in Montreal come June of 2024. That’s a lofty goal, but it seems we’re actually moving in the direction of this wild plan actually maybe possibly happening. I’ve never really had much faith in this plan, as I’ve always viewed it as a sham for the Rays to squeeze more public funding out of the State of Florida for a new facility, but this is an interesting development nonetheless.
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