Bloomberg, Seinfeld: We'll Pass On Owning Mets
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- Martin Luther King III, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Long Island businessman Martin Silver have all been linked to the Mets in the weeks since Fred and Jeff Wilpon announced they would explore a partial sale of the franchise.
Famously wealthy NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn't want in on the action. Neither does funny man Jerry Seinfeld.
"I don't think I should own a baseball team," Bloomberg told reporters on Thursday. "I have tickets to the Mets and Yankees for my daughters to go and I enjoy baseball and a beer and a box of popcorn there, but you can rest assured that I'm not going to buy a baseball team or have an interest in it."
The trustee appointed to recover funds for investors burned by Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme has sued the owners of the Mets, claiming they reaped $300 million in false profits from the scheme and used a large chunk of that to run the team.
Bloomberg wouldn't comment on the alleged "fictitious profits."
"I can just tell you that the Wilpons have been a very generous family," said the Mayor. "They've supported an awful lot of things in New York City and you know, they're really nice people and very generous."
On Thursday, a federal bankruptcy judge appointed ex-Governor Mario Cuomo to serve as a mediator in the Madoff dispute.
Mayor Bloomberg said he knew Madoff more than 30 years ago.
"I didn't know that Bernie Madoff was in the money management business," he said. "I knew him actually back in the '70s when the SEC had him, and a guy from Goldman Sachs and me from Solomon Brothers working on market regulation."
Seinfeld told Mike Sielski of the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that he'll take a pass on owning a piece of his favorite team.
"Bloomberg and Seinfeld told WSJ on Friday they had no interest in buying Mets," Sielski tweeted.
So much for "Marble Rye Night" at Citi Field.
Mets fans: Do you want Mayor Bloomberg - or Jerry Seinfeld - to own your team? Sound off in the comments below!
(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
