Financier Charles Dean Metropoulos, who has "long coveted buying a sports team," is "interested in making an offer" for the Marlins, according to a source cited by Josh Kosman of the N.Y. POST. A source said that Metropoulos, whose net worth is $2.4B, met with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the last several weeks about "making a joint offer." A source noted that Metropoulos has the money to "buy the team himself and is interested in buying the Marlins only if he or his sons become the general partner." It is "not known if Bush would accept a minor, nonactive role in the bidding group" (N.Y. POST, 5/4). Meanwhile, in Miami, Barry Jackson cited a source as saying that there "isn’t much of a local presence in Bush’s investor group," with Bush going "outside the market in his search for deep-pocketed partners." Though Bush has "repeatedly told friends, associates and the Marlins that he has the money to complete the purchase, his frantic search for investors suggests otherwise." Real estate developer Armando Codina, a friend of Bush, conveyed through a spokesperson that he "won’t invest in the Marlins." MLB is in the "process of vetting a list of investors" submitted by Bush and Tagg Romney. A source said that the initial belief is that there "might be a bit more confidence in Romney’s investors." But the source cautioned that "won’t be become fully clear until the investors are fully explored and this sale could go either way" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 5/3).
FLAVOR OF THE MONTH? In West Palm Beach, Dave George writes the Marlins are an "attractive prospect for investors because they are the only major league team on the market." There are a couple of investor groups "vying to buy the Marlins" from Owner Jeffrey Loria right now because, "no matter what, they can always flip the franchise for a nice profit in the future." That is the kind of thing that Bush should be telling "potential investors when he calls around in search of partners for this Marlins deal" (PALM BEACH POST, 5/4). In Ft. Lauderdale, Craig Davis writes the next owners of the Marlins will "face a significant task in making their investment pay off." Dallas businessman Frank Zaccanelli "sees similarities in the challenge he undertook" as minority owner of the Mavericks when a group headed by Ross Perot Jr., "took over the then-moribund franchise" from '96-'00. Zaccanelli: "When a team is not doing good over a long period of time the culture becomes bad. It becomes a losing culture" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 5/4).
