After the collapsed bid to buy the New York Mets by hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and his fiancée, Jennifer Lopez, expressed interest in acquiring the team. The also went down swinging.
However, and according to Variety, there may be other people interested in buying the New York Mets. The publication states that rumors have Josh Harris and David Blitzer “among the suitors” to acquire the team.
Harris and Blitzer are the co-owners of the Philadelphia 76ers, an NBA franchise, and the New Jersey Devils, who play in the NHL. They know their way in the sports world, and could be strong candidates to claim a majority stake of the Mets.
For now, neither Harris nor Allen & Co, which is the company dubbed by the Mets to handle the sale of the team in February — expressed any comments on the situation.
Will they acquire the Mets?
According to Metsmerized Online, Harris and Blitzer successfully bought the Sixers in 2011 and the Devils in 2013. The former is the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, and the latter is a high-ranked executive at private equity firm Blackstone.
Both men have been working together for quite some time. They joined forces to form Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (2017), which, per MMO, also holds an interest in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees Triple-A affiliate) and Crystal Palace FC, a South-London club that plays in the English Premier League.
Steve Cohen would have bought the Mets back in January, especifically an 80 percent stake. However, and due to issues regarding transfer of power, the deal fell through. The pact didn’t include sports network SNY.
Meanwhile, J-Lo and Rodriguez’s attempt to raise capital hit a bump in the road in early May. Don’t discount them just yet, though, as they are, according to the New York Post, “working closely with very senior bankers at JPMorgan Chase on a new bid†— one that reportedly includes SNY.