Viola may elect to grow his sports portfolio. Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Report: Panthers owner Vincent Viola considering joining A-Rod’s Mets bid

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 6/22/20

Alex Rodriguez’s bid to purchase the New York Mets continues to add juice.

Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola is considering joining A-Rod’s group that is trying to make a bid to purchase the Mets, FOX Business’ Charles Gasparino reported on Monday.

SCOOP: @FoxBusiness has learned that former NY Mercantile Exchange chairman and current @FlaPanthers owner Vincent Viola is seriously considering joining the @AROD group to buy the @Mets. Preliminary discussions have begun; no money commitment yet. Story developing

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) June 22, 2020

Rodriguez and his fiancee Jennifer Lopez have been working hard to put together an offer for the Mets. They have been working with JP Morgan Chase to find potential investors from the bank’s high net worth clients. They also reportedly are working with a sports investment bank to find investors, which could be where Viola came into play.

Earlier on Monday, we learned that billionaire beverage magnate Mike Repole was joining the bid.

Rodriguez’s team would very likely have to come up with a total investment offer of at least $1 billion for the Mets owners to consider a sale. The team’s original sale to Steve Cohen that fell through in February was at a valuation of $2.6 billion.

In addition to the Panthers, Viola owns St. Elias Stables.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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