An article claiming that Disney officially bought the Tampa Bay Rays has many believing the company has made an entry into sports. The question remains, did Disney really diversify its interests so much it owns a sports team now?

Over the years, many rumors have made their way across the internet when it comes to the Walt Disney Company and its events. Be it rumors about the company itself, the Disney theme parks (be that the Walt Disney World Resort or the Disneyland Resort), or movies and TV shows from Disney, some strange rumors have made their presence felt among fans.

Recently, a rumor that Disney officially bought the Tampa Bay Rays has left many fans confused. So what’s the truth? We at Disney Fanatic are here to shed light on this matter with a fact-check.

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Did Disney Buy the Tampa Bay Rays?

Let’s start with answering the question: No, they did not.

The Walt Disney Company has made many investments in their time, including ones that competitors and analysts have thought were controversial (think like Bob Iger-led acquisition of 20th Century Fox). However, this latest rumor is most definitely the strangest of the lot.

An article online claimed that the Mouse House had bought the Tampa Bay Rays and was “getting into baseball a lot more” with this investment. The article also highlighted that Disney had always had “a connection” to baseball with ESPN Wide World of Sports, though it was limited to Spring Training.

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👀 Get ready for a whole new gameday experience. The future home of the Tampa Bay Rays includes a state-of-the-art ballpark and development of the surrounding Historic Gas Plant District, all in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg.  

The article claimed that Disney had purchased the Tampa Bay Rays (known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays until the 2007 season) for $1.5 billion and that, in addition, they would build a $2 billion baseball stadium for the Rays in Disney World. Of course, this might confuse even the most devoted of Disney and Rays fans considering the baseball team just announced their new future home in St. Petersburg.

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However, all this said, fans can rest assured that Disney did not buy the baseball team, especially in light of the fact that the article was from the satire news site Mouse Trap News, which is known for writing entertaining but 100% fake stories about Disney.

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