Capital City Country Club members voted this week to sell an undisclosed stake to Stuart Sternberg, the Tampa Bay Rays principal owner, marking his first known move into golf hospitality while his $1.3 billion stadium project in St. Petersburg remains in limbo.
The Tallahassee club, a semi-private facility built in 1959 with 27 holes across 230 acres, sits 265 miles northwest of Tropicana Field. The transaction size was not disclosed. Members approved the sale at a special meeting. Sternberg's investment vehicle was not named in public filings. The club's current ownership structure was private; Florida corporate records show Capital City operating as a member-owned entity since the 1990s. Sternberg did not respond to requests for comment. The Rays declined to comment.
The timing is clean. Pinellas County commissioners delayed the $312 million public financing vote for the Rays' new stadium in November, pushing the project timeline past Sternberg's preferred 2028 opening. The club purchase gives Sternberg a second Florida assetbase while stadium negotiations reset. It also shifts his capital deployment away from baseball infrastructure—where public partners control timing—into real estate he can operate directly. Worth noting: Tallahassee is the state capital. The club's membership includes lobbyists, legislative staff, and agency heads. Sternberg now owns the bar where some of those stadium votes get shaped.
The club is not distressed. Annual dues run $8,000 to $12,000 depending on membership tier. The facility hosts corporate outings, legislative fundraisers, and family events. Revenue per member is steady. The sale suggests Sternberg sees hospitality real estate as a hedge, not a pivot. He retains his 50% stake in the Rays, acquired in 2005 for roughly $65 million in a leveraged buyout structure. The team is now valued near $1.4 billion per Forbes, though zero offers have surfaced publicly. The stadium delay complicates exit planning; no buyer pays full price without a long-term lease.
The Capital City move fits a pattern among mid-market MLB owners: buy the team, hold it through local stadium fights, then diversify into adjacent real estate with faster closing timelines. Sternberg's base in New York makes the Tallahassee play unusual—most owners buy near their franchise city or their primary residence. The Florida legislature meets 60 days per year in Tallahassee. Sternberg now owns the ninth hole.
Watch the Pinellas County bond vote, rescheduled for early 2025. If the stadium financing stalls again, Sternberg's next move is either a second Florida real estate purchase or a public acknowledgment that the Rays will play in Tampa Bay without a new facility. Either way, he now has a second clubhouse in the state.