Are singer Jennifer Lopez and retired Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez eyeing a bid to buy the New York Mets? If reports are to believed, the power couple seems fixated ton the idea and have retained JPMorgan to help raise capital for the deal.
The couple is working with managing director Eric Menell, JP Morgan's co-head of North American media investment banking, as per a Variety report. While sources, privy to the matter, have confirmed it, there is no official sign from Menell nor from representatives of JLo and A-Rod.
In an interview with 'Tonight Show' host Jimmy Fallon, Rodriguez opened up about his inclination towards launching a future bid for the Mets and also confessed how he grew up a Mets fan before winning a world series with the Yankees. "I will say this, if the opportunity came up [to buy the Mets], I would certainly look at it," he told Fallon. He also went on to say how the 1986 championship-clinching game was one the best nights of his life after the birth of his daughters.
Owned by the Wilpon family since 2002, the franchise was bought at a valuation of $391 million. In December, they decided to let billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen take charge of up to 80 percent of the Major League Baseball team. The deal valued the club at $2.6 billion at that time. The proposed deal still gave control of the franchise to Wilpons for five years but negotiations fell apart due to Cohen's unwillingness to amend the terms.
While Allen & Co’s Steve Greenberg is overseeing the sale process, Wilpon's conditions are not said to be attached to future deals. However, there are a number of obstacles if the couple decided to go ahead with the plan. Firstly, the buyer will have to incur annual losses of at least $50 million and secondly, they may have to find suitable partners to chip in for the purchase.
One of the highest-earning players in MLB history, Rodriguez is said to cumulated over $317 million from his record-breaking contract deals with the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, along with endorsements and broadcasting work for ESPN and Fox Sports. JLo, meanwhile, is still a reputed actress and songstress and is worth $400 million, according to Forbes. Together, their net worth is a little over $700 million. It's a far cry from the sixth most valuable baseball team's $2.4 billion worth.
Moreover, to clinch the deal, A-Rod and J-Lo may have to compromise a small percentage of the ownership group. Are they determined to overcome all the hurdles and still get the ownership of The Mets? Only time will tell. Instead of signing a deal with the Mets in 2000, Rodriguez went on to ink a then-record 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers. Four years down the line, he was traded to the Yankees and won a World Series in 2009.
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