The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball franchise based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and are the current champions of the American League. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in 1998, the Rays have played in Tropicana Field and have finished out of last place only twice: once in 2004, when they finished fourth in their division, and again in 2008, when they won their first division title, entered the playoffs for the first time in team history, and qualified for the World Series.

In November 2007, majority owner Stuart Sternberg made significant changes to his franchise's image, changing the club's name from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the "Tampa Bay Rays", which he described as "A beacon that radiates throughout Tampa Bay and across the entire state of Florida." The teams' primary colors were also changed from black, green, and blue to navy blue, Columbia blue, and gold.