A-Rod and J-Lo (J-Rod? A-Lo?) apparently have a third wheel in their bid to buy the New York Mets.
According to Darren Rovell, Queens native Mike Repole, the co-founder of Glaceau – the makers of VitaminWater and SmartWater – has joined the Rodriguez/Lopez bid to purchase the team.
Repole, 51, is estimated to be worth roughly $1 billion – and owns a stable of race horses that has already brought home more than $700K this season – and is also a close friend of David Wright, per SNY, so he has both the financial clout and the inside cache for the bid. He also has long-time interest, having told the New York Times in 2011 that he was looking to buy a share of the Mets.
A-Rod and J-Lo's bid had been on thin ice after previous attempts to find investment partners was fruitless, and other suitors have emerged since, including Josh Harris, who is the principal owner of the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers, and minority Sixers owner David Blitzer.
And, of course, this all comes months after billionaire hedge fund owner Steve Cohen announced in February that his bid to buy the Mets fell apart at the eleventh hour.
On June 11, current Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said during a panel for the UJA-Federation of New York that "we're working towards a transaction, and there's four or five suitors that are out there to do something with and a bunch of philanthropic planning and family planning that my dad and my uncle want to do. When we have something to truly announce and tell you about, we'll do that. Not going to play the speculation game or get in any kind of competition with Page Six or Variety Magazine."
The Wilpons have held at least an ownership stake in the Mets since 1980, and Fred Wilpon has been the majority owner since buying out Nelson Doubleday in 2002.
