According to Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico, the Wilpon family, former owners of the New York Mets, are looking to sell SNY, which is the team’s regional sports network.
The Wilpons completed the sale of the Mets to hedge fund tycoon Steve Cohen back in August of 2020 for 2.42 billion. They are reportedly considering several options regarding the buyers of their majority stake in the network, however, these individuals were granted their anonymity due to the talks being private.
As Sportico went on to note, sources say a deal is not imminent as the Wilpons may still elect to retain a portion or all of SNY.
According to the report, the Mets’ current majority owner Steve Cohen is among those interested in purchasing the network and he is coordinating with RedBird Capital. This investment fund is ran by the former Goldman Sachs partner Gerry Cardinale, who is an investor in YES Network (Yankees RSN) and also recently acquired a stake in NESN, the Boston Red Sox network.
Cohen was initially rumored to be interested in purchasing SNY back in August during the sale of the team. Now, he is once again mulling the possibility of absorbing the Mets’ regional sports network.
SNY launched back in 2006 and has served as the home to over 8 million households in the New York metropolitan area, along with a total of 12 million homes nationwide. Sterling Equities, the investment firm owned by the Wilpons and Saul Katz, holds a 65% majority stake in the network. Charter Communications (a parent of Time Warner) and Comcast share the rest of the stake.
SNY is the official broadcast home for the New York Mets, Jets (excluding live games) and UCONN Women’s Basketball. The Network’s deal expires with the Mets in 2030, per ESPN.
