The Tampa Bay Rays are set to be sold by current owner Stu Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski, the CEO and founder of Dream Finders Homes, for approximately $1.7 billion.

The deal for the Major League Baseball franchise has been agreed to in principle and could be finalized as early as September, a source who was not authorized to speak publicly told the The Athletic on Monday.

Zalupski, whose company is based in Jacksonville, Florida, plans to keep the team in the Tampa Bay area, with a preference for Tampa over St. Petersburg, the source said.

Sportico reported in June that the group had entered advanced talks and signed a letter of intent. The Rays said in a statement last month that they were in exclusive negotiations with Zalupski’s group, which includes Bill Cosgrove and Ken Babby.

Cosgrove is the owner and CEO of Union Home Mortgage (UHM) and Babby owns two minor-league teams.

Dream Finders Homes acquired Alliant National Title Insurance Co. at the tail end of 2024. And in March 2025, its mortgage arm, Jet HomeLoans, acquired Cherry Creek Mortgage LLC.

Jet HomeLoans, founded in 2017 as a joint venture with Dream Finders, did roughly $2.3 billion in mortgage origination volume in 2024.

Cosgrove’s Union Home Mortgage, an independent mortgage bank based in Strongsville, Ohio, produced $5.3 billion in volume across its 200-plus branches in 2024, according to Modex data.

UHM most recently extended its footprint into the Cincinnati market, appointing Ravi Patel and Justin Allen as area branch managers. In early 2025, the company acquired Houston-based Nations Reliable Lending, aka NRL Mortgage.

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