Is there a hostile takeover going on in Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez’s ownership group? How could it change the sale of the New York Mets?
Thornton McEnery and Josh Kosman of the New York Post are reporting that Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez are being pushed out of their bid to purchase the New York Mets. The power couple has maintained that they don’t want to be like Derek Jeter. They want to be the principal owners as well as the controlling owners, but that doesn’t seem likely anymore.
With J-Rod’s ownership group lacking financial backing, the couple can’t maintain its lead role, so partners Mike Repole and Vincent Viola are pushing to take over as the leaders of the bid.
Repole, a lifelong Mets fan in his own right, is expected to be the head of the bid. There are contrasting reports in regard to his worth, but it can be assumed it’s somewhere between $1-3 billion. Viola, the principal owner of the Florida Panthers, is also expected to financially throw his weight around behind the scenes. Viola is worth somewhere between $2.5-5 billion.
If Repole and Viola take over as the principal owners, it would allow them to funnel more money into the bid. The expectation is that it would let J-Rod’s ownership group stay in the fight with Steve Cohen along with Harris and Blitzer.
In this plan, Rodriguez would be named the team’s CEO. That means he would be allowed to make the primary decisions on all baseball matters despite being a minority owner. Thus, he’d essentially have the same role that Jeter has with the Miami Marlins.
Even with Repole and Viola taking over, J-Rod’s group would still be the least wealthy. It’s hard to imagine them posing a serious challenge to the two favorites at this point.
The expectation continues to be that Cohen will outbid everyone and walk away with the team, and it would take a massive upset for any other outcome to occur.
