New York Mets new billionaire mystery bidder has been revealed
By John Buhler
Sheldon Adelson joins the Harris-Blitzer bid to purchase the New York Mets.
One of the bids to purchase the New York Mets just got a whole lot more interesting.
Thornton McEnery of the New York Post reports casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson join the Harris-Blitzer bid for the Mets. Steve Cohen had been seen as the frontrunner to purchase the Mets from Fred Wilpon, but adding Adelson to Josh Harris and David Blitzer’s joint bid makes things even more complicated here.
The Mets are the No. 2 MLB team in town, but happening to be in the No. 1 media market in the United States. A long underperforming franchise, the Mets are seen by billionaires as a team that could become a juggernaut under the right leadership. If Adelson, Harris and Blitzer end up with the Mets, how sure are we it’ll be an improvement over what the Wilpons have done recently?
Does Sheldon Adelson help push the Harris-Blitzer bid over the edge?
Prior to Adelson’s inclusion, it looked to be a three-team race to purchase the Mets. Mike Rosenstein of NJ.com outlined the three potential buyers before the “fourth buyer” was revealed to be Adelson liking up with Harris and Blitzer: The billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, the Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez power couple and of course, Harris and Blitzer.
Cohen was seen as the presumptive favorite to win the bid for the Mets. Lopez and Rodriguez are an interesting play, but may not have had enough capital to compete with Cohen. While Harris and Blitzer own the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, they may have needed some help to get over the top in the Mets bid.
Adelson made his wealth in the casino business in Las Vegas. Though he grew up in Boston, the octogenarian attended City College of New York, but did not graduate. While he was a member of the Democratic Party initially, he switched sides in 1996. Adelson has supported President Trump financially, as he donated $25 million to his 2016 campaign, which was more than anyone.
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Despite never owning a major North American sports franchise, we know Adelson has the capital to help support the joint bid of Harris and Blitzer. Adelson is estimated to have over $37 billion in net worth as the founder, chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands corporation.
Together, Adelson, Harris and Blitzer may end up outbidding Cohen for the Mets franchise.