A report from the Wall Street Journal surfaced late Tuesday that SportsNet New York (SNY), the regional sports network that televises New York Mets live game broadcasts, is reportedly exploring deals for new financial backers, which could include an outright sale. The network is reportedly working with bankers at Moelis on executing the process.
Meanwhile, Mets owner Steven A. Cohen is reported as someone who would likely be interested as well. The network is still controlled by the Wilpon and Katz families, who had previous majority ownership of the Mets under the Sterling Equities investment firm.
In response, former baseball executive David Samson discussed the potential sale of SNY on his Nothing Personal with David Samson podcast Wednesday and said that Major League Baseball should get into the bidding for the broadcast rights of the New York Mets.
“The reality is that baseball wants the rights that the Mets have because baseball wants to go to the national model for broadcast deals,” said Samson. “Baseball wants to get the Mets in house.”
Currently, MLB has taken over the production and distribution rights of six Major League Baseball teams, including the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, and San Diego Padres. Furthermore, Samson explained why MLB makes more sense for the Wilpon family to sell to instead of Cohen.
“Will baseball be an entity that offers to buy SNY? If you are the other owners in MLB, you very much want SNY the way you want the YES Network, the way you want NESN, the way you want control of 29 teams,” said Samson. “You want control of 29 teams because that will enable you to try to address the payroll problems that exist.”
Additionally, Samson noted the Wilpon family history with the commissioner being very close and said this will be a big business deal for the future of the sport. Cohen purchased the Mets from Sterling Equities at a valuation of about $2.5 billion five years ago.
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