Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays

A day removed from the Rays pulling out of the new stadium deal in St. Petersburg, a new candidate has emerged in the race for acquiring the Rays: Orlando.

Through an effort called Orlando Dreamers, an ownership group previously unveiled a stadium design in January 2025, and now that the Rays do not have a clear future in Tampa Bay, the bid has emerged as a serious contender for the franchise, per the Orlando Sentinel:

A source within the Dreamers organization told the Sentinel Thursday night that they have an Orlando-based majority owner ready to buy the team and have financial commitments for more than a billion dollars to help fund a $1.7 billion domed stadium project on a 35.5-acre plot of Orange County land next to the Aquatica water park just across International Drive from SeaWorld.

The location is at the intersection of I-4 and 528, across the highway from the Orlando Convention Center, and indeed right next to the SeaWorld complex.

The Dreamers organization issued a press release today affirming the ownership plan:

Barry Larkin, the MLB Ambassador for the Dreamers, confirmed that an anchor investor for the control ownership group has been identified. “We are thrilled with the commitment made by our investor partner, which accomplishes a key remaining step in our initiative to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to the Orlando area.

[…]

Larkin further stated that a letter of intent for a significant portion of stadium financing has been received, realizing another major milestone in the journey to fully position the unrivaled Orange County parcel targeted by the Dreamers as the top location for the next MLB franchise.

Jim Schnorf, Co-Founder of the Orlando Dreamers, elaborated further […] “We now have a letter of intent towards financing our state-of-the-art, 45,000 capacity domed stadium right in the middle of the tourist corridor, where we will welcome approximately 80 million tourists this year. The financing structure will provide a minimum of approximately $1 billion towards stadium construction costs, under an arrangement that is highly attractive to Orange County government and citizens, team ownership, and Major League Baseball.”

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Governor DeSantis has been told by MLB that the Rays will stay in Florida, but not necessarily in Tampa Bay.

He said he spoke to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred who gave him assurances. “There’s no way they want to leave Florida,” DeSantis said. “They’re committed to it working here, because we have the fastest growing state.”

“I know there’s people that have been interested in buying the team, […] and there’s people that want to bring baseball in other parts of the state”

You can find more renderings of the proposed stadium and location below: