Tampa Bay Rays minority owners claim they’re getting virtually no benefits of ownership and are taking their case to court — again.

A quintet of owners that collectively own 9.6% of the Rays alleged that principal owner Stuart Sternberg has committed fraud and violated Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.  

In its latest suit, the group says its ownership “has been reduced to a mere shell, with no revenues from baseball-related operations, no cash flow, and no responsibilities … to the Limited Partners.”

• The group claims that the team was transferred into a business entity, Rays Baseball Club, without their knowledge.
• They allege that Sternberg failed to disclose a $376 million payment from regional network Fox Sports Sun.
• The same partners have filed two other suits against Sternberg this year.

The group now wants to remove Sternberg as general partner.

Stadium Bids Tossed

On Wednesday, St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch announced that two proposals for the 86-acre lot that houses Tropicana Field have been tossed out, and the city is reopening the bidding process.

“Our environment has changed in many ways since the initial RFP was issued in July of 2020, and we must ensure the RFP meets our current environment and realities and incorporates the most up-to-date information,” Welch said.

The Rays’ lease at Tropicana Field expires in 2027. 

The team has explored a variety of options, including relocating within or outside Florida. Welch said the city aims to decide on the area’s redevelopment plan by the end of the year.

The USFL announced earlier this week that it would return for the second season in more markets, with the goal of adding more teams in later years.

On Wednesday, the New York Post reported that the Fox-owned entity has hired investment bank Allen & Co. to find investors to assist in the league’s expansion.

Fox’s reported investment goal is to raise between $150 million and $200 million.

• For the first season, all eight teams played in Birmingham, Alabama, where the league’s office is located.
• Next season, the USFL wants to play in two-to-four markets that will each host multiple teams.

Fox will move forward with the second season even without an investor. The media entity, which committed $150 million to the USFL over three years, is using some of Fox’s infrastructure to control costs.

The league will use a similar schedule in its second season. This year, the USFL’s 36 regular-season TV broadcasts averaged around 715,000 viewers across Fox, NBC, FS1, and USA Network. The league’s championship takes place on Sunday.

Big Deals

Allen & Co. recently advised the Denver Broncos on its $4.65 billion sale — a record for a U.S. sports team. The investment bank also represented the Wilpon family on its majority stake sale of the New York Mets for $2.48 billion in 2020. In 2019, Allen & Co. brokered Joe Tsai’s deal to acquire the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center for $3.4 billion.

The NBA is investing in a social media hub for the youngest generation.

The league was part of a $17 million funding round in TikTok-like social media company Zigazoo, which targets kids aged three to 12 and has more than 1 million users.

• The funding round, which valued Zigazoo at around $100 million, was led by Liberty City Ventures.
• NBA Top Shot-creator Dapper Labs, German soccer company OneFootball, and gaming company and venture fund Animoca Brands also participated in the round.
• Previous investors include Serena Williams’s Serena Ventures and Jimmy Kimmel.

The NBA worked with Zigazoo around its All-Star weekend this year, encouraging kids to create basketball-related content. 

Next Generation

The investment pairs the NBA with a company looking to provide a kid-friendly environment while exploring cultural trends.

“We’re planning on using the new capital to become the biggest kids company in the world by expanding our Web3 offerings while building towards becoming the leading social network for kids to interact directly with creators and brands in the kids’ media space,” Zigazoo founder and CEO Zak Ringelstein told CoinDesk.

The company plans to grow into “emerging tech sectors” such as augmented reality and the metaverse — and also seeks partnerships with musicians and music labels.

Sony is expanding its reach within the PC gaming market with the launch of Inzone, a new gaming hardware brand that will debut July 8. 

Inzone arrives after Sony announced in May that it projects to pocket $300 million from PC gaming titles in the coming fiscal year. The tech giant, which reported $80 million in PC net sales in FY2021, forecasts a significant jump thanks to its agreement in January to acquire Bungie — the original creator of “Halo” — in a deal valued at $3.6 billion. 

Sony will kick off Inzone with three gaming headsets retailing between $99 and $299, as well as two 27-inch gaming monitors, one in 4K. 

• Inzone will allow Sony to further take advantage of the $41 billion PC games market.
• It also puts Sony in direct competition with PC hardware giants Lenovo and Razer. 

The new venture will also help alleviate strain on Sony’s gaming business due to the semiconductor shortage plaguing the tech industry, which has hampered PlayStation 5 sales. 

Sony shipped 2 million PS5 consoles in fiscal Q4, bringing its total shipped to 19.3 million. In FY2021, Sony shipped a total of 11.5 million PS5 consoles, missing its target of 14.8 million. 

Self-Investment 

Sony is making an effort to invest in itself.

In May, the company said it will allocate roughly $300 million toward improving its existing software development and expanding its gaming business for the PlayStation 4 and PS5.