If Alex Rodríguez and Jennifer López end up owning the Mets, they will have help learning how to run a sports franchise from the people who operate one of the most successful sports in any sport.
According to multiple sources who witnessed the visit, J-Rod flew to Foxborough, Massachusetts, on July 9 to meet Bob and Jonathan Kraft, owners of the father and son of the New England Patriots, to forge a partnership on stadium operations. . for Citi Field and the development of Willets Point around the stadium.
Sources inside the meeting tell The Post that J-Rod was accompanied on his trip by bankers from JPMorgan Chase’s private wealth group, including Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of the bank’s asset and wealth management group.
Erdoes, 52, is considered the most powerful woman in finance and a possible successor to JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon. He joined Erdoes and J-Rod Vincent La Padula, head of global lending for JPMorgan Private Bank, who regards Rodriguez, Lopez and Krafts as clients and, as The Post has reported, has been working closely with J-Rod on their Mets offer.
La Padula was a senior staff member in the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations and has spent the past two decades at JPMorgan working with the bank’s ultra-wealthy clients.
According to experts, the visit lasted five hours, during which the Krafts showed J-Rod the surroundings of Gillette Stadium and its adjacent entertainment, retail and hospitality complex, Patriot Place. The tour was meant to show potential new Mets owners what to do with a stadium and the undeveloped land around it.
The Krafts’ Foxborough complex is approximately a 40-minute drive from downtown Boston, and Patriot Place, containing a movie theater, hotel, and restaurants, is designed to keep Patriots fans entertained and spend money before and after of the games.
As The Post has reported, J-Rod’s vision of Mets ownership involves making Willets Point a destination, leveraging Lopez’s brand as an entertainer to book concerts and keep fans in the area after bar games. , restaurants and shops. The next Mets owner would be entitled to reinvent Willets, and the revenue generated by the new development would also be key to J-Rod’s plans for the franchise.
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While the discussions were aimed at outlining a “partnership” between J-Rod and the Krafts, sources made it clear to The Post that the Krafts are not interested in owning the Mets and would not join the offer of J-Rod as a limited partner.
JPMorgan declined to comment on the visit.
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