Will attempt No. 2 get Steve Cohen his beloved Mets? (Photo via Fox Business).
If you ask New York Mets fans, they would tell you the club’s biggest issue over the past two decades has been ownership. Despite playing in New York, the team has spent like a mid-market club, especially in recent seasons. In 2018, they ranked 12th in total payroll and in 2019 they ranked 13th. Owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon have owned a majority stake in the Mets since 2003. The duo has alienated fans due to their nature of reportedly meddling in day-to-day operations of the club. Fans would likely be less bothered by this if the Mets had any World Series championships under their belt since 1986.
An executive familiar with the Mets said the following about Jeff, who is more involved in the day-to-day operations currently of the Mets than his father Fred, “Jeff is the problem in that organization, and he is never going to realize that. He cannot help himself. He has to be involved. He will never hire anyone who will not let him have major input. He will not hire anyone who does not run every personnel decision through him.”
Things only got worse under the Wilpons after the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme scandal. The owners lost a fortune when Madoff was arrested and lost even more when they were sued by Irving Picard, a lawyer at the firm Baker & Hostetler. Picard was in charge of salvaging assets to compensate Madoff’s victims. Picard was aware that the Wilpons received large financial gains from what was perceived to be legitimate dividends from Madoff.
As the game of baseball has seen salaries rocket over the last decade with rising television contracts, the Mets have had payrolls in the same range. The team never spent like their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees, but it is puzzling to see a team in New York not in the top 5-10 teams in baseball in player salaries.
Even the players the Mets have invested significant dollars in over the past few seasons such as Robinson Cano, Yoenis Cespedes, Jeurys Familia and Jed Lowrie have all been unable to stay on the field due to injury over the last few seasons. (Photo via Baseball Reference).
Enter Steve Cohen
There have been various reports over the last few years that the Wilpons are in massive debt and may not be able to hold onto the team much longer. In December of 2019, the Wilpons surprisingly announced they would sell majority shares of the team to minority owner Steve Cohen. Cohen would go from owning eight percent of the team to 80 percent in a deal valued at $2.6 billion. Cohen, a lifelong Mets fan would take over the franchise from the Wilpons after a five-year waiting period, but the cash was expected immediately. After the agreement, Cohen believed he could get the Wilpons out ahead of schedule since he would be the one spending the money. The deal fell apart in February 2020 over the five-year waiting period. There was also talk that Cohen wanted the Mets lucrative cable network, SNY, as part of the deal. The Wilpons announced they would begin looking for a new deal with the hopes of selling at least a portion of the team by the end of 2020.
In 2019, the Mets spent money like a mid-market team and as a result, the 2019 revenue was equivalent to a mid-market team. (Photo via Statista).
According to people familiar with the Mets finances, the Mets annually lose $50 million a season, due to declining attendance numbers and $50 million in annual payments used to finance the construction of Citi Field. The Wilpons have been able to stay afloat so far because SNY reportedly brings in $150 million per season. It remains to be seen whether the Wilpons will be able to sell the team that loses money without giving up the cash cow SNY.
One reason a potential new owner may be comfortable purchasing the team without the cable network included, SNY only reportedly owns the Mets media rights until 2030. It’s possible a new owner would create a new network or sell the rights to broadcast games to an existing network at that time.
Despite all of the debt the Mets currently have, there have been numerous candidates interested in buying the team, even if the Wilpons maintain that SNY will not be part of the deal. After a first-round bidding that knocked out a few candidates, three groups have emerged in the next round of bidding. The second round of bidding involves each group looking through the team’s financial books before final offers are submitted, likely next month. Of course, a mystery candidate could always step in and make a large offer but at this moment, there are three groups involved.
The candidates: Steve Cohen
Despite a messy falling out in February, Cohen is reportedly back in the race to buy the club and is the favorite due to his deep pockets and lifelong love of the franchise. Another advantage Cohen has is as a current minority owner, he can see the bids that come in. That means Cohen knows exactly how much he needs to bid to win the team over the other candidates. It has been reported that Cohen’s second bid for the Mets was $2 billion for the team and another $2 billion for SNY.
While Cohen is clearly the fan’s choice, it’s not an easy decision. Cohen has had legal trouble in the past with insider trading. Cohen’s company Point72 was sued by a current employee claiming sexual harassment and pay discrimination based on gender.
Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez and friends
While Alex Rodriguez is the only candidate with a baseball pedigree, it remains to be seen if his group has the money to actually win the bid. Rodriguez has already gotten his wealthy celebrity finance Jennifer Lopez, Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola and BodyArmour founder Mike Repole involved. Like Cohen, Repole is a huge Mets fan from Long Island. Rodriguez has also recruited star athletes like Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The issue is for Rodriguez to remain as the control person (baseball requires every group have one go-to control person), he likely needs to put up the most money amongst the group. Rodriguez continues to add new money to his bid through new investors, reportedly recently asking New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft for an investment. Kraft is interested in redeveloping the land outside of Citi Field to make it a haven for baseball fans, similar to what goes on near Gillette Stadium on Patriots game days. Having said that, the big question here is will the 29 other baseball owners approve of such a large group?
Josh Harris and David Blitzer
Josh Harris and David Blitzer already own the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. The thought here is during the coronavirus pandemic, the team may be available at a discount compared to the $2.6 billion bid Cohen placed last year. Harris and Blitzer are known as bargain hunters, acquiring both the Sixers and Devils as distressed assets in serious debt. It remains to be seen if they are willing to get into a bidding war with Cohen.
The remaining questions
While the Wilpons will decide which bid they want to go forward with, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will also have a major say, as will the other 29 MLB owners who will have to vote the new Mets owner in. After an ugly war with the players this spring over salaries and number of games during this shortened 2020 season, owners are reportedly concerned over Cohen coming in and spending a lot of money on players. As more and more players have been left out in the cold during the recent MLB hot stove seasons, tensions between both sides are high. Cohen coming in and spending big money on free agents and driving prices up, right before the 2021 CBA expires is something that concerns both Manfred and the other owners. Still, during a pandemic, it is likely the other owners and Manfred would want the largest bid to take the team, propping up the values of the other MLB franchises. 
The fans
99 percent of Met fans are salivating at the idea of Cohen coming into Queens and turning the Mets into the New York Yankees. Cohen is not just expected to spend big on players but enhance the team’s analytic and scouting departments.
The Wilpons
After a messy disagreement between the Wilpons and Cohen, the Wilpons reportedly would prefer to sell to another bidder if the bids are close. This time around, the Wilpon’s financial situation is even murkier after having a season without fans at Citi Field. It is expected that the five-year waiting period goes away and the Wilpons will depart the organization after the sale is completed.
It seems pretty clear that if one bid is significantly larger than the others then that bidder will win the team. Having said that, what if the bids are all really close together? In this strange financial time, it remains to be seen if Cohen will simply outbid the other candidates by several hundred million like fans are hoping.
Who will end up owning the Mets in 2021?
The Mets Report 