Craig Carton Goes Off About Mets' Reported Association With Amway
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- The Mets have made an interesting business transaction, and it has nothing to do with players on the field.
CapitalNewYork.com first reported that Amway, a direct seller which uses Independent Business Owners to distribute products, has a home at Citi Field.
The company will reportedly open its first American storefront on 126th St., just a few feet from the ballpark's bullpen gate. Above the storefront is a blue awning with the company's logo on it.
Craig Carton Goes Off About Mets' Reported Association With Amway
Amway said on its website that the Amway Business Center in Queens "is a dynamic, one-of-a-kind facility created to provide all IBOs with a dedicated space to freely connect, learn new valuable insights and share the exciting Amway opportunity with prospects."
But here is where the situation gets dicey.
The company settled a class-action lawsuit in 2010 for a figure in the neighborhood $150 million. The suit was brought on by Quixtar, who accused Amway of engaging in a pyramid scheme.
With all of the financial controversy that has surrounded this franchise, should the Mets be associating themselves with Amway?
WFAN host Craig Carton doesn't think so.
"Here's what I want to know," Carton said. "For a team that went into bed with Bernie Madoff and dealt with the negative repercussions of that -- financial, image and everything else -- why would you accept a business deal, regardless of how much money they're paying you for rent, why would you go into business with a pyramid-scheme company that got sued and settled a lawsuit for $150 million for defrauding people? Does anybody over there think? Ever?"
Amway spokeswoman Anna Bryce said that the new center in Flushing is a "pilot program for Amway North American to test how we might support our independent business owner with physical spaces to help them build their businesses," according to The New York Times.
"What's next -- an Enron left-field pole?" Carton said. "Tyco right-field pole? Could you be stupider? I don't care who it is, whether it's the business director, whether it's the Wilpons. Whoever it is, when you sit down in a room and you have a presentation from a company saying, 'We would like to rent space at Citi Field,' why would you say yes to Amway?"
Do you have a problem with the Mets' reported association with Amway? Sound off in the comments section below...
