Report: 'Growing Concern' Within MLB Regarding Mets' Finances
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Mets owners Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz could soon feel the pinch -- from Major League Baseball.
According to John Harper of the New York Daily News, there's a "growing concern" within MLB about the state of the Mets' finances.
It was disclosed Monday night that the team recently got a $40 million "bridge loan" -- reportedly from Bank of America -- to help with cash flow. This just a year after receiving a $25 million loan from MLB.
The new loan should aid the Mets as they attempt to sell minority shares for $20 million apiece. A $200 million deal for minority ownership with hedge funder David Einhorn fell apart over the summer.
"They need some things to happen fairly soon," an MLB official told Harper. "They're sort of at the end here with the banks and everything else."
The Mets, plagued by anemic attendance and the Bernard Madoff mess, haven't yet repaid the loan from MLB.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said the team's bridge loan hasn't affected any of his offseason decisions. Matter of fact, he didn't even know about it.
"I wasn't even aware of the loan until (Monday), so it couldn't have had any impact on what I've done," said Alderson. "On the other hand, I'm not surprised. With the losses that we sustained last year, they have to be funded somehow."
Alderson recently disclosed the team had lost $70 million, though he didn't specify a time frame for the losses.
Last March, Forbes reported the Mets had lost 13 percent of their worth amid legal and debt problems. Listed by the publication at $858 million in 2010, the franchise was valued at $747 million in 2011.
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