Early on Monday, it was disclosed that business tycoon, Mike Repole was joining the consortium headed by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez to buy an undisclosed equity position in the New York Mets. Repole, who’s credited with propelling Vitaminwater into one of the world’s top enhanced beverages by sales volume, is a lifelong Mets fan and a product of Queens and St. Johns University.

He recruited David Wright as a spokesman and as heard on WFAN’s Mike Francesa show on Monday, is friendly with a number of Mets players and staff. Repole is also a well-known and respected owner and breeder of thoroughbred race horses.

Mike Repole, 51, began his career at Mistic Beverages before co-founding Glaceau, which produced Smartwater and Vitaminwater. Repole changed the marketing strategy of the company and took Vitaminwater from a company that netted several million in the early 2000s, to sales of over $1 billion in 2007. Coca-Cola bought the company for $4.1 billion in 2007.

Later on Monday it was disclosed that Vincent Viola, a business partner and friend of Repole’s, is also in preliminary talks to join the A-Rod and J-Lo group. The news was first disclosed by Charles Gasparino of FoxBusiness.

Viola, 64, a Brooklyn native, is a self-made billionaire with an estimated net worth of $2.4 billion. He was for several weeks President Donald Trump’s nominee for  United States Secretary of the Army, before withdrawing from consideration. He is the former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange and the founder and chairman of Virtu Financial, a publicly traded company.

Viola is the owner of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. He is also the owner of St. Elias Stables and co-owner of the 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming. He frequents the New York Racing Association (NYRA) tracks (Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga) and has several horses stabled at NYRA’s local facilities.

Viola and Repole own at least one horse together, 2019 Breeders Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso. It is likely this business arrangement has fostered a strong friendship between the two business magnates and it is not surprising they are both interested in the Mets (although Viola champions himself a Yankees fan).

Viola has developed a reputation as a businessman not to be trifled with. Even Gasparino, a hardened Fox business reporter, noted in a tweet:

 

Lou Guttman, the previous chairman at the New York Mercantile Exchange, said Viola “exuded leadership. His personality was amazing. He drew people in. He was a phenomenal speaker. Even if he didn’t know what he was talking about, he sounded like he knew what he was saying. He was an astute businessman and an extreme opportunist.”

As of Monday evening, it is unknown how much of the Mets these new suitors would own. One of the assets they would not own is SNY as according to Tim Healey and Jim Baumbach of Newsday, the regional network is not included in the sale of the team at this time.

Whether the SNY news is a deterrent or a negotiating piece is unclear at this early juncture.

What is clear is that with the addition of Repole and Viola to the ownership group, there can be little doubt the A-Rod and J-Lo are serious players in acquiring the New York Mets. Rodriguez and Lopez have attracted two business tycoons who seem to succeed in most ventures that interest them and work hard (and play hard) to achieve success.

An earlier article on Mike Repole published by MMO is here. An interview with the two men on NBC sports is here.

In the coming days and weeks, much more will be learned of Repole and Viola as talks become more serious. The Mets have been for sale since February, but in light of this latest news, the landscape of the Mets new ownership situation has changed. Whether it has changed for the better is anyone’s guess.

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