Zalupski wouldn’t be first Jacksonville businessman to buy a Tampa team

Tax attorney Hugh Culverhouse was the first owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

  • By Mark Basch
  • | 12:05 a.m. June 26, 2025
  • | 0 Free Articles Remaining!
Patrick Zalupski, CEO of Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes Inc., is nearing a deal to buy the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. They play at the New York Yankees’ spring training stadium in Tampa after Tropicana Field was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton in October 2024.
Patrick Zalupski, CEO of Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes Inc., is nearing a deal to buy the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. They play at the New York Yankees’ spring training stadium in Tampa after Tropicana Field was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton in October 2024.
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You might be surprised that a Jacksonville businessman is interested in buying a major league sports franchise in the Tampa area, but you shouldn’t be. It’s happened before.

The Tampa Bay Rays said June 18 that Dream Finders Homes Inc. CEO Patrick Zalupski is leading a group negotiating to buy the baseball team.

This news comes more than 50 years after Jacksonville tax attorney Hugh Culverhouse became the first owner of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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