Tampa is a big market (and wealthy with Orlando). The Rays had a new TV deal with Fox (now Bally) that kicked in during the 2019 season that raised their minimum payout to $50 million from something less than $30 million. That TV deal averages $82 million over 15 seasons, so probably in the $60-$65 million range today.
With revenue sharing also, Tampa can probably more afford a payroll in the $100 million range if they want to. They still can't go much higher with their stadium revenue, but the market is really much better than they have monetized so far.
