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As soon as in two weeks, the New York Mets will have new owners, and they might be Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez . The couples group figures among the only seven bidders already pre-approved by the Major League Baseball trying to purchase the baseball team from Fred Wilpon and family.
Wilpon acquired the sole ownership of the Mets in 2002, after paying $391 million for the remaining 50% of the New York City-based team. Eighteen years later, Ken Rosenthal said Rodriguez and Lopez are willing to invest “between $225 million and $300 million” out of their pocket to “control” the organization, as reported by The Athletic. “He does love the game of baseball and cares about it. There are a lot of owners would be better than right now,” a front-office executive said. “He’d have his strengths. He’d have his weaknesses. Would he be the best? Probably not. Would he be the worst? Hell no. I wouldn’t say he doesn’t belong, despite some of the stuff that has gone on. He’s just as deserving as anybody else.”
Although after August 31, the world will know with certainty who’s going to be the owner, the pair’s group are the favorites. The New York Post revealed that Mets COO Jeff Wilpon prefers ARod and JLo‘s group if at the end of the auction they also have the best bid. It is reported that their initial bid was $1.7 billion, however, billionaire Steve Cohen -- who already owns eight percent of the baseball team-- has allegedly surpassed that and any other amount after offering $2 billion.
“Being a former athlete and having a chance to be a part of a group trying to purchase a professional team, it’s pretty cool,” told Brian Urlacher to ESPN, who is also a member of the couple’s team. “It’s especially cool to be involved with Alex. Alex is the man. You’ve got Kelce, Thomas, Murray. It’s great to be in a group with them.” Alongside Rodriguez, Lopez, and Urlacher, other investors like Vitaminwater co-founder Mike Repole and Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola, Travis Kelce, DeMarco Murray, Joe Thomas, Bradley Beal, and Mason Plumlee are part of the collective.
© GettyImages“This is a crazy opportunity. I had a chance to meet Alex Rodriguez a couple of years ago and just told him how much of a fan I was as a kid of him. I’m very thankful for the success that I’ve had in the NFL, to have an opportunity like this come across the table. I couldn’t think of a more unique set of people to be in charge of this,” said Kelce. “Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez are a star-studded couple that has gotten to where they are because they work their tails off. And they’re good human beings. I thank them for letting me be a part of this.”
Back in July, former New York Yankees player and the singer met with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and their “senior bankers” from J.P.Morgan at the Gillette Stadium with the intention of “hammer out a partnership on stadium operations for Citi Field and the development of Willets Point around the ballpark” and also “to show the potential new Mets owners what can be done with a stadium and the undeveloped land around it,” according to the Post.
