Martin Luther King III is expected to meet with Mets owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon later this week to discuss purchasing 50 percent ownership of the team, according to Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. Other interested investors include former Mets first baseman Ed Kranepool, TV executive Larry Meli and entrepreneur Donn Clendenon Jr. and several others. Donn Clendenon Jr. is the son of the 1969 Mets World Series MVP.
The effort comes a week after the Wilpons announced plans to sell up to 25 percent of the team based on the financial woes caused by investments made with Bernard Madoff.
“It’s fitting with the legacy of Jackie Robinson essentially transferring to the Mets; what better place to have African American ownership than with the Mets,” Meli stated.
Currently, there are no African American owners of a Major League Baseball team.
According to Forbes magazine, the Mets are worth $858 million and the King group claims to have more than $1 billion in assets.
King has not commented on the particulars of the deal. –torrance stephens
