Will the New York Mets have to be sold?

The Wilpon family, who own the New York Mets, are in a real mess. They got caught up in the Bernie Madoof scandal and it looks like the government is going after them for a ton of money. It seems that Madoof may have given them money that was from other investors. This kind of action is known as a claw back lawsuit where the government is looking to get money back that was improperly earned. It does not matter if the Wilpon’s knew that the money was from an illegal source, at some point they are going to have to pay a large chunk of it back.

They have announced that they are looking for minority investors in the Mets. The Mets are a very valuable property and we have only seen minority owner’s work for one team, the Miami Dolphins. In the baseball world this is usually the start of a sale of controlling interest in a team. Remember Tom Hicks tried for a long while to get investors for his Texas Rangers and that turned into a real mess.

The Mets have a new stadium, a large cash flow, and are located in a city with many fans. They are in an ideal place to sell, and buying a minority share of a non public property isn’t as attractive as having a controlling share. A new owner may be able to turn this team around as they would not have the distraction of a federal lawsuit.

To be frank the Mets have a lot of value, and the current ownership is in financial trouble. All of that makes this a great opportunity for someone not named Mark Cuban,

Related Links:

• New York Mets news and notes
• The Business of Major League Baseball
• Joshua Lobdell.com