2:13pm: This morning’s report has received quite a bit of pushback. Per a statement from Silver Lake, “Any claim that Silver Lake is making or joining a bid for the NY Mets is entirely false and inaccurate.”
That follows a report from Charles Gasparino of FOX Business (Twitter link), who cites a spokesperson for the proposition that Adelson “has no interest in buying” the Mets, whether or not as part of a group.
10:28am: In a major potential development in the Mets sale process, billionaire Sheldon Adelson has entered the bidding picture, according to a report from Thornton McEnery of the New York Post.
Adelson, a casino magnate and top Republican donor who previously dabbled with the NFL’s Raiders as they moved to Las Vegas, is not launching his own, independent bid. Rather, he and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners are said to be joining the already established bidding group led by the present owners of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
As McEnery details, this represents quite an aggregation of wealth in one outfit. It isn’t clear just what the mix of ownership would be, though it seems Josh Harris and David Blitzer remain the lead prospective owners. Presumably, one of those men would be presented to the league as the would-be control person.
Most of the recent chatter surrounding the Mets sale process has involved the reemergence of Steve Cohen as the leading bidder. He was already trying to hold off a celebrity-laden group that couldn’t challenge him for financial supremacy. Now, Cohen will be vying with an even richer challenger.
Honestly I feel like the Harris group is the worst group standing as his work with the Devils and Sixers speak for themselves and Adelson is richer than Cohen so we might be screwed. I believe Cohen would allow whoever the gm is to sign Betts
oh gracious i hope Betts doesn’t come to the NL East
Although I disagree with you thinking that Betts is a bad signing, I do agree with your opinion on Harris being a terrible owner. He has his hands in too many sports to be able focus on one such as the Mets.
Mets will need pitching first for 2021.
I think you’re right.
Isn’t it crazy that this is the case tho? They seemed to be set for years on pitching not that long ago.
The NFL and the NFL/FBI investigated this guy when he wanted to join the Davis family in joint ventures when the Davis family first brought up the idea of moving to Las Vegas. This is from FOXBusiness. Upon completion of the investigation the NFL was not happy with what they found and Instructed the Davis family to back off.
Charles Gasparino
@CGasparino
·
3m
After a day of chasing lots of rumors on
@Mets
bid, my initial scoop stands: Stevie Cohen –at least for now–remains in the lead for the team w Harris Blitzer No 2 and
@AROD
third and no “mystery bidder” to be found. more now
@FoxBusiness
You’re assuming Betts wants to sign with the Mets
Why wouldn’t he. I don’t think betts winds up a Met. But if the Mets offer him the most he most likely signs with the Mets. Unless he really liked the dodgers. But any other team is probably who offers the most. And if he wants to win he probably could win with the Mets too. So I don’t see why he wouldn’t.
The Adelson group is now denying getting involved which probably means they are. That said with the money Cohen has, he has no worries. If a bidding war erupted, both bidders have sufficient resources to outbid the other. The ego of owning a NY sports team only goes so far. These guys made their wealth arbitraging and looking for undervalued opportunities. Neither will overpay significantly.
Mets fans still be assuming Cohen is going to win for someone unknown reason
Mets fan here. No the f we aren’t. We know our terrible owners will change their mind and keep the team to torment us.
Problem apparently is the loans that have payments maturing. Not sure banks will be easy to work with in this environment and there’s no way the Wilpons put up their personal wealth as collateral.
Jeff Wilpo is the type to pick the worst owner possible bc we didn’t like him. And lose out on a few millions doing so.
ManFred better be leaning on the scale and making sure it’s an owner that is about fielding a competitive team and investing in the guts of an organization so we have a competitive team as well as one that is a pillar of the community. Fuck the Wilpons
I hope that the sale happens soon enough for the new ownership group, whoever it may be, to have a chance at signing Betts or Springer. If it drags on into the winter it might be too late.
Mets will need pitching.
Yes, they do. Unfortunately the pitching at the top of the free agent pool is pretty thin. They have needed an everyday CF for. a while now. Both Mookie and Springer can cover there pretty well. For their fan base, that would be the way to make the biggest splash.(IMHO)
Maybe he can acquire the team as a gift for his EIGHTY SEVENTH birthday…
Sheldon will move the Mets to Tel Aviv.
Awesome! I live there. No more watching games at 2am
Temporary field in Yarkon Park, for exhibitions?
It’s not the best kept field but does the job for the Saturday games
Sheldon Adelson is a despicable human being, and Tel Aviv is a beautiful city.
Mets’ fans reviled Mets’ ownership for not coming to terms with Cohen earlier and predicted ownership would not receive another generous offer. Now Cohen is bidding against others — which drives up the price.
you also forget he owns part of the team currently. Its win win for him. He either drives up the price and has his share worth more or he is getting the team for cheaper than his original bid. He offered 2.6 for just the team and now he is offering 2 for the team and 2 for sny.
Mets move Spring Training to Mar A Lago
Would be hilarious to see happen. All of a sudden a lot of Braves fans become Mets fans overnight.
Whoa.
Cohen could win if he pays favorably for the Mets And SNY.
So if Cohen is top bidder he can win? Thanks for the scoop. Who would have guessed that.
My eyes read Sheldon Adelson but my mind read Sandy Alderson
so did I
Haha me too
He can buy literally anything in the world and yet he skimped on the hair products and embalming fluid.
So he’d be another set of deep pockets to back the people with actual control.
My question is, does that team choose competent leaders for the Sixers and Devils and stay out of their way? I don’t follow NBA or NHL much.
Sheldon Adelson is 86 years old and looks 20 years older than that. MLB shouldn’t allow a guy who will probably be dead before the deal goes through to bid on the Mets. Then again, they allowed the Boston Parking Lot Attendent to buy the Dodgers, Morad try to buy the Padres on layaway and put up with the crooked Wilpons who bought the Mets with Ponzi scheme money.
Age discrimination? He will probably outlive Steve Cohen.
SMH the reason about his age is when he passes which will be soon the team will get divided up and another controversial on who owns it will take over. Read up on him then you would understand instead of believing whatever the media tells you to think.
It is true that we would like to avoid unnecessary political discussions and arguments in the MLBTR comment section.
We think it made sense here to describe Adelson as Jeff did. If George Soros enters the Mets bidding, the word “Democrat” will be in the post.
Understandable call. Had you not mentioned it I’m sure somebody would have in about 2-3 comments, even with the new policy.
lol
Where are the original comments that you are referring to? I don’t see anything here (using the app).
This guy is the one who is funding the Stone Defense fund
Hey Tim, I’ve always loved your work and the site but that statement you made is pure BS and you know it. If you want to keep politics out of the chat then you can start by not injecting it needlessly into articles.
I will not be spending $30 a month on content that I get all over the web.
Protecting his employees. It was bs, but I bet it helped them get more clicks. Come to find out it was all just a lie.
How many clicks did this lie help them get?
Next you will see a post about the Clinton’s buying the Mets.
Why is it I can type “Clinton” and “Bush” and “Obama” but can’t type the name of our current president?
Nope. It’s still definitely the wrong call. You would have come off more professional with a brief acknowledgement and removal. Honestly surprised you didn’t.
I’m also surprised that you took the route to remove the posts critical of the description. That seems like an odd action to take while publicly asking for financial support.
I really hope the ARod/JLo group gets the team. I’d love to see all the celebrities and sports figures come together and bring this team some good luck and prosperity. It would make for great content for years.
I see Adelson is up to his old tricks:
Use his money as leverage in a deal, then back out before it goes through having already extracted a ‘favor’ from his patsy (see: Mark Davis, who owes his ‘Uncle Shelley’ pretty much everything for getting him into Vegas).
who cares who buys the Mets, they all promise the world then they get the team and they the sell-off will begin.
In the grand scheme of things, should make this like the green Bay packers. 2 million fans, $100 a share, there’s the bid. Run it a non profit, use excess earnings on local baseball programs in the rights territory.
Have I made a mistake calculating or would such a bit only raise 10% of Cohen’s alleged offer? I like your idea very much, though.
Gruß,
BSHH
You would think the biggest worry about Adelson would be his connection to casinos…. but noooo….
I guess it doesn’t matter now because it was just Fake News.
Adelson has spent a life commiserating with and supporting toxic individuals, and even HE doesn’t want to go near the Mets.
Do to his Gambling ownership and background he should be excluded. Why has no-one mentioned this!. If this can be considered and discussed, Pete Rose should be allowed in the HALL of fame with a MLB corporate apology.!
As Casey Stengel said Half of this game is 90 percent pitching
Frank Mccourt should buy the Mets!
Yes. Then they can spread Angela’s Ashes all over Shake Shack.