Kurt Rappaport reportedly bidding to buy New York Mets

Co-founder and CEO of Westside Estate Agency has assembled a group of investors; his competition includes A-Rod and JLo

Kurt Rappaport and Citi Field, home of the New York Mets (Getty, Wikimedia Commons)
Kurt Rappaport and Citi Field, home of the New York Mets (Getty, Wikimedia Commons)

West Coast luxury broker and developer Kurt Rappaport is taking a swing at owning an East Coast baseball team.

The co-founder and CEO of Los Angeles’ Westside Estate Agency is reportedly leading a group of investors looking to purchase the New York Mets, according to the New York Daily News. Their competition includes A-Rod and JLo, among others.

The move by one of L.A.’s top brokers comes as the Major League Baseball season gets ready to start on July 23, on a coronavirus-abbreviated schedule.

Mets owners Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff want to cut a deal by the end of the year, according to the report. Shares of the team have been on the market since 2018.

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Ownership has openly shopped the team since February, when a $2.6 billion deal to sell to billionaire hedge fund mogul Steve Cohen fell through. The Mets were valued at $2.4 billion as of April.

There are now at least seven possible groups of buyers for the team that have been approved by Major League Baseball. They include one group led former Yankees all-star Alex Rodriguez and pop star Jennifer Lopez; the power couple got engaged last year. They hired JPMorgan Chase to raise money for their bid, according to the report, and have teamed up with the co-founder of Vitaminwater and the owner of the Florida Panthers. Rodriguez has been growing his multifamily real estate portfolio since he founded Miami-based A-Rod Corp more than 15 years ago.

Jeff Wilpon has been running a stadium development firm for 10 years and is expected to carry on with that company after a sale. [NYDN] — Dennis Lynch