5/12/20

Tony Plate: A-Rod and J-Lo Not Buying Mets

                         
      

The thought of Alex Rodriquez and his fiancĂ© Jennifer Lopez possibly buying the Mets was great. At first, A-Rod confirmed his interest in buying the Mets on The Tonight Show and said “If the opportunity came up, I would certainly look at it.” 

The news of A-Rod’s interest first came in February after the proposed sale of the Mets to Steve Cohen, in which he agreed to purchase eighty percent of the team for 2.6 billion, unfortunately fell through.

A-Rod prepared himself quite well for a business opportunity like this as he attended high-profile investment conferences and has started his own investment firm, A-Rod Corp. He found success as a businessman recently. He has invested in real estate deals and tech startups. A-Rod loves New York City, because he grew up a Mets fan and enjoyed playing in New York as a member of the Yankees.

 So, probably many fans thought that if A-Rod does purchase the team he may turn to free agency to sign a few big-name players to improve the team due to being around the Yankees for years and winning the World Series. Signing free agents would have pleased Met fans, which is what the Mets have not been doing much of in recent years.

When you get your hopes up for something, sometimes things don’t turn out the way you anticipate they would. After all of the hype, A-Rod and J-Lo are no longer interested in buying the Mets due to their money partner, biotech billionaire Wayne Rothbaum, wanting to apply more control over the team than A-Rod and J-Lo was comfortable surrendering. Rothman also wanted to buy the team at a huge discount. This was the second time in two months that a potential deal has fell through.

Trying to find a buyer can be very time consuming, especially now that times are very tough and baseball is shutdown by the corona virus pandemic, which also makes it hard to evaluate the team. Also, the Wilpons’ unwillingness to part with SNY makes it basically impossible for anyone without billions of dollars to afford to be able to purchase the team.

The Wilpons can’t say much due to confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements. They just want to focus on the future and not in the past. They hope to find another potential buyer soon and perhaps they might have to include SNY as part of the deal in the future.



5 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

When uncertainty increases, the price that sellers are willing to receive and buyers are willing to pay typically widen.

Shrewd buyers will know, or have a pretty good idea, how strapped the Wilpons are for cash, and adjust their sights accordingly. A distressed seller typically is a more flexible seller.

Believe me, if it helps the sales price and net incoming cash flow, and if they are strapped, the Wilpons will want to start baseball immediately.

Reese Kaplan said...

I wonder if they fear looking like cowards bailing out to the low bidder during the time there's no income from the sport?

Tony said...

I imagine the Wilpons are a little strapped for cash and they'll want to to start baseball immediately like many businesses are anxious to get going again.

The Wilpons might adjust & reduce their asking price or might even include SNY as part of the deal if there's no income from the sport.

Anonymous said...

According to Forbes aroid and his partner were willing to put up 2% of the asking price but wanted control over the team. The other investors who were putting up the real money in the deal couldnt believe the attitude and walked out. Very typical of the psychotic narcissists

Anonymous said...

I never thought A-Rod was a realistic option. He doesn't have the money, period. Would you loan him a billion? No way on earth.

I don't see how the Wilpons can sell now, because I don't see how a buyer can accurately assess the value. So much is uncertain right now. How do you put a price on a franchise during these uncertain times? You could easily be $500 million off.

Nothing will happen for at least a year.

Jimmy