Stuart Sternberg

{{Infobox person

| name = Stuart L. Sternberg

| image =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|8|8}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

| occupation = Investor

| known for = Owner of the Tampa Bay Rays

| alma_mater = St. John's University (B.A.)

| website =

| parents = Beverly Tartell Sternberg
Samuel Sternberg

| nationality = American

| spouse = Lisa Kampfmann Sternberg

| children = 4

| signature =

}}

Stuart L. Sternberg (born August 8, 1959) is an American Wall Street investor. He is the principal shareholder of the ownership group that owns the Tampa Bay Rays and acts as the team's Managing General Partner since November 2005.

Early life

The youngest of three children, Sternberg was born on August 8, 1959,{{cite web |last1=Topkin |first1=Marc |title=Owner: Deal hard, necessary |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2014/08/10/owner-deal-hard-necessary/ |website=Tampa Bay Times |access-date=June 18, 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Urban |first1=Mychael |title=Rays owner leads team to top |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/postseason/traces.jsp?loc=traces_sternberg |website=MLB.com}} and raised in a Jewish family{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_Si5OP6cjkC&pg=PA98|title=Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII|last=Mendelsohn|first=Ezra|date=March 31, 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199724796|pages=98|language=en}} on Avenue M in the Canarsie neighborhood of New York's Brooklyn borough{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/sports/baseball/12rays.html|title=Sternberg Leaves Wall Street, and Rays Have Profited|last=Schwarz|first=Alan|date=October 11, 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 20, 2017|issn=0362-4331}} He is the son of Beverly (née Tartell) and Samuel Sternberg and his parents owned a pillow shop on Flatbush Avenue.[https://nypost.com/2008/10/25/rays-owner-has-brooklyn-in-blood/ Rays' Owner Has Brooklyn In Blood | New York Post]{{Cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html |title=Paid Notice: Deaths - Sternberg, Beverly |date=January 30, 2007 |access-date=May 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209030954/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html |archive-date=February 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |issn=0362-4331 |newspaper=The New York Times }} His passion for baseball developed in his childhood while playing the game in the streets and playgrounds of his neighborhood. One of Sternberg's most cherished memories is when he saw Sandy Koufax pitch while attending his first Major League game with his father at Shea Stadium in 1965. Sternberg has played in various organized baseball leagues over his lifetime and coached his two sons' Little League teams for five years. He attended yeshiva through third grade, wearing a kippah every day and went to Canarsie High School.[https://books.google.com/books?id=_28pDwAAQBAJ&dq=Stuart+Sternberg+synagogue&pg=PA443 American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball – Larry Ruttman – Google Books]

Career in the financial services industry

In 1978, Sternberg began his professional career trading equity options part-time at the American Stock Exchange while attending St. John's University earning a degree in finance. After college Sternberg was hired by investment group Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, and he eventually became a partner in the firm before he moved to Goldman Sachs. In 2002 he retired from the company as a partner. He has served on several committees and advisory boards in the financial securities industry.

Major League Baseball

=Purchasing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays=

Sternberg purchased a 48% plurality-share in the previously named Devil Rays (now known as the Tampa Bay Rays) in May 2004 from Vince Naimoli and took over operations becoming a managing general partner in October 2005.{{Cite web|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/|title=Cot's Baseball Contracts|website=Baseball Prospectus|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107183029/http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/|archive-date=2012-01-07|url-status=dead|access-date=May 20, 2017}} He structured his bid for controlling interest in the team with fellow Goldman Sachs partner Matthew Silverman whom he hired as the team's president.

=Frustration with the Rays in St. Petersburg=

Remarkably, between 2019 and 2023, the Rays qualified for the playoffs every season despite the fact that they play in the same East Division as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, who perennially have amongst the highest player payrolls in the major leagues. Yet attendance for home games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg has been among the lowest in the big leagues over the years. In a June 2011 Tampa Tribune interview, Sternberg remarked, "I know we can't sustain ourselves like this. It hasn't gotten better. If anything, it's worse. To run a payroll like we do now, basically the second-lowest in baseball, and barely keep our nose above water, we can't sustain that. Baseball is just not going to stand for it anymore. And they'll find a place for me. They won't find a place here though."{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/12730/rays-need-to-get-out-of-tampa-bay|title=Rays need to get out of Tampa Bay|last=Berthiaume|first=Steve|date=June 23, 2011|website=ESPN|access-date=May 20, 2017}} He reiterated his stance and raised the specter of relocation after the Rays were eliminated from the playoffs that season.{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2011/10/05/rays-owner-says-team-could-move-anywhere/|title=Rays owner says team could move anywhere|last=Kernan|first=Kevin|date=October 5, 2011|website=New York Post|access-date=May 21, 2016}} However he has stated several times that he is staying with the team and they are not moving anywhere within the coming years.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

In October 2014, it was reported that Sternberg frustrated with efforts to build a new stadium in the Tampa Bay area, had discussions with Wall Street associates about moving the Rays to Montreal, which has not had an MLB franchise since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C. in 2005 to become the Washington Nationals.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/madden-rays-rocked-frustrated-joe-maddon-opts-walk-article-1.1986150|title=Madden's World Series Confidential: Bud Selig nightmare is Cubs dream as manager Joe Maddon leaves Rays|last=Madden|first=Bill|date=October 25, 2014|website=New York Daily News|access-date=May 20, 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tsn.ca/report-rays-owner-discussed-move-to-montreal-1.116444|title=Report: Rays owner discussed move to Montreal|last=Staff|date=October 26, 2014|website=TSN|access-date=May 20, 2017}}

In March 2025, the Tampa Bay Rays announced the organization would be pulling out of its deal to build a stadium in St. Petersburg, resulting in pressure from local officials and fans for Sternberg to sell the team.

Personal life

Sternberg currently resides in Rye, New York{{Cite web|url=http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/team/exe_bios/sternberg_stuart.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319234951/http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/team/exe_bios/sternberg_stuart.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 19, 2008|title=Rays Executives|publisher=Tampa Bay Rays|access-date=May 21, 2016}} with his wife, Lisa, and four children, Sanford, Jake, Natalie, and Ella.

References

Sources

[https://web.archive.org/web/20070206002453/http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=tb Front Office Directory]
[http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/07/Rays/Team_s_new_boss___Bas.shtml Team's new boss: 'Baseball junkie' with business savvy]
[http://www.baselinereport.com/baselineblog/?p=74 An Open Letter to Stuart Sternberg from BaseLine Report: Why There is Hope for the Rays]
[https://www.tampabay.com/sports/2025/03/13/rays-sternberg-sell-mlb-trop-welch-st-petersburg-tampa-hagan-fans]