How the Mets Were Sold
On January 24, 1980 the Payson family sold the New York Mets to Nelson Doubleday and his group on minority owners for $21.1 million.
“There are still a lot of National League fans in this town. If you can show them a clean stadium where they can get a beer and a hot dog and have a good time, you’ve got a good thing going.” - Nelson Doubleday
Dateline: November 19, 1979
After weeks of rumors, Lorinda deRoulet made it official: The New York Mets, a franchise her mother created and built into a World Series champion, were for sale.
“Although I hoped with all my heart that my family could keep the Mets, my enthusiasm and optimism were not enough to return the team to its winning ways. So the day has finally come … I am happy to hand the reins over to a new team with fresh vision and ideas.” — Linda deRoulet
The Mets were created in 1961 for $1.8 million (22 player contracts in the expansion draft). Over the first 15 years, the teams profits exceeded $25 million that included one four-year period (1969-1972) that the team drew more than two million fans each season.
But when Mrs. Payson passed away the organization went into a tailspin on and off the field. The 1979 season marked a third consecutive losing season (finishing in last place each year), a record low home attendance (788,000), and $5 million pile of debt.
Still, the news attracted buyers. A lot of them. Twenty-one, in fact.
Charles Shipman Payson was not a baseball fan. He had no interest in building a winning team, and he was fed up with being in the red every year. Payson rallied his few resources and created a trusted committee to manage the sale.
Louis Hoynes Jr., Gerald F. Schanley, William A. Cameron, and Robert M. Riggs led the effort to vet and recommend potential new owners. Hoynes served as legal counsel for the National League. Schanley was an accountant and Cameron, and Riggs were employed as attorneys for the New York Mets.
Riggs, who led the committee, set the tone.
“Everybody was assured a fair chance. The family cherishes the team as a tradition. The decision ultimately rests with the directors and shareholders of the team, not the committee. But we’ve been instructed to deal with everyone equitably and we will make the recommendations.” - Robert M. Riggs
Over the next month the committee assigned to vet the process of the sale, hunkered down and read letters of intent from potential suitors, followed by introductory phone discussions with each person/group.
“We got a flood of letters. One came from a couple of guys who made an extraordinary offer for vast real estate holdings, the team airplane and things like that … People feel a ball club is the depository for tremendous wealth. It just ain’t so, not in this case. There’s a lot of mystery in selling a baseball team. People generally don’t know what the assets of a team are … ” - Robert M. Riggs
According to the New York Times, a second stage was initiated to investigate each bidder, pare down the list and present their recommendations to the Mets board of directors for review.
The group worked diligently and one month after deRoulet announced the team was for sale, applicants submitted their bids.
The list included:
Group #1: Robert Abplanalp (reported to have been the frontrunner because of his wealth and the fact that he was willing to but the franchise without additional partners).
Group #2: Doubleday & Company (Nelson Doubleday) and minority partners City Investing Company (Steve O’Neil), Sterling Equities (Fred Wilpon), Redge Hanes, and Ware Travelstead. The group’s bid was “orchestrated” by John O. Pickett Jr., the one-time chairman for the New York Islanders and a friend of both Doubleday and the Payson family.
Group #3: Allen & Co., a Wall Street broker, bid $14 million. The group dropped out when the bidding hit $19 million.
Group #4: Earl E.T. Smith. A former ambassador to Cuba and mayor of Palm Beach, Florida, was a friend and neighbor to Charles Shipman Payson, the Mets majority stockholder. Smith was rumored to be the “front runner” in the final days.
Group #5: John LeBoutillier, John Alevizos (former Red Sox VP and GM of the Atlanta Braves), Alex Spanos, Jerry Reinsdorf, and Ronald Rosenfeld.
On Friday, January 18, the committee issued a 1 p.m. deadline for final bids. Following the weekend the Mets board of directors met in New York to discuss a short list of suitors and plan to make a final decision.
The meeting was held with a surprise twist: A one-page telegram written and sent to the stockholders. John LeBoutillier, a cousin to the Payson family, asked for permission to make his pitch before the sale was complete.
LeBoutillier, a former congressman and political commentator, told MetsRewind the way in which the Mets were sold was disrespectful to the late Joan Payson.
“She loved that team and its fans. The Mets shouldn’t net worth should not have been determined by dollar and cents alone. You’re not selling an antique car. You are selling a public institution.” - John LeBoutillier
The stockholders convened the following day at the Payson home in Hobe Sound, Florida to vote on the sale. The Mets made a verbal agreement to sell the franchise to Doubleday & Company.
"We believe in New York, and we believe it is the communications and entertainment center of the world,” said Doubleday. “We also feel this city deserves the greatest team in the world.”
Doubleday issued a five-paragraph press release announcing the purchase: The New York Mets were sold for the purchase price of $21.1 million - the highest amount ever paid for an American professional sports franchise.
The purchase agreement included the license of a major league baseball franchise that had finished in last place its three previous seasons before the sale, assumption of the lease of Shea Stadium, 40 MLB player contracts, the Mets AA farm team in Jackson, Mississippi, 100+ player development contracts, television rights to Mets games on WOR-TV, cable television and radio contracts, team equipment and spring training leases.
Doubleday and his partners then cut a $1 million down payment check to make the transaction official and begin the transition of leadership to its new ownership team. The New York Mets ownership team were introduced at a press conference at the Diamond Club at Shea Stadium.