SNY, the broadcast home of the Mets, is “exploring potential deals including an outright sale,” according to Lauren Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. Mets owner Steve Cohen could emerge as a buyer.
The WSJ reported that the network, which is still controlled by the Mets’ former owners, the Wilpon and Katz families, has “hired bankers at Moelis to conduct a process to find new financial backers.”
The process is expected to generate interest from other regional sports networks and private equity forms, according to the newspaper. Cohen, the WSJ, reported, would “also likely be interested.”
Cohen bought the Mets in 2020 in a deal that valued the team at $2.5 billion, which, at the time, was the most ever paid for a North American professional sports franchise. The Wilpon’s and Katz’s kept the network, which is majority-owned by Sterling Equities, an investment firm run by the families. Charter Communications and Comcast are part owners.
SNY has an “exclusive, long-term rights partnership with the Mets that lasts through 2035,” sources told the WSJ.
The deal would be intended to “help position SNY for the future and capitalize on a promising first-place Mets season,” the WSJ reported. Many consumers have been cutting cable in favor of streaming services in recent years.
