In October 2005, Stuart Sternberg became the managing general partner of the Tampa Bay Rays, after an ownership group led by Sternberg agreed to purchase the team from Vince Naimoli in 2004. Three years later, the Rays found themselves playing for their first World Series title.
In October 2018, Sternberg purchased the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a second-division soccer club playing in the USL Championship, from Bill Edwards. Now, three years after Sternberg and other Rays brass have come in to run the team, the Rowdies find themselves playing for their first USL Championship title tonight in St. Petersburg.