Last week, the New York Mets sale to billionaire hedge funder Steve Cohen fell through. Perhaps you heard, but don’t know all the details.
Of course the Mets are for sale again, and Bloomberg News has all the details.
After hedge fund titan Steve Cohen's MLB record-$2.6 billion bid for the New York Mets fell through, the team is back on sale again… with a catch.
Find out what the catch is via @business: https://t.co/vDFZyM9AhA pic.twitter.com/rYFe0obshY
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) February 9, 2020
The biggest news – and new caveat to the sale – is that no preconditions regarding control of the team will be attached to the upcoming sale. This means the buyer of the Mets will assume control immediately from the Wilpon family directly.
By comparison, Cohen was willing to pay $2.6 billion for the Mets last week; but would still have needed to allow Wilpon family control. It is said that Cohen’s ownership stake was going to increase from 8 percent to 80 percent with his funding.
In last week’s scenario, Fred Wilpon would have remained team owner for at least five years. Then at that point, Cohen would have been able to assume control of the team. The Wilpon family will reap a massive profit, because in 2002 they bought the Mets for just $392 million.
One key component of the upcoming sale: SNY is the broadcast network of the Mets. It will not be included in the sale, and it will affect profits for whomever takes over. This is from Bloomberg:
Unlike the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose new owners were immediately able to sell the team’s local broadcast rights upon buying the team in 2012, no such opportunity exists for whoever takes over the Mets, whose rights are locked up for another decade.
Obviously, buying a New York sports based franchise is going to be an opportunity to print money hand over fist. Still, it’s a complicated process; especially when dealing with the Wilpon family. The Mets should field a competitive and interesting team in Flushing in 2020.
