Sporticast: Mets Sell Off MLB’s Priciest Roster, Colorado Bolts Pac

On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the New York Mets unloading key parts of the most expensive roster in Major League Baseball history. The team has already traded pitchers Max Scherzer and David Robertson, and is reportedly in talks with teams about others, including Justin Verlander.

Trade deadline selling is a surprising result for the Mets, who spent lavishly in the past 18 months after new owner Steve Cohen bought the team for $2.4 billion. A long-time Mets fan, Cohen’s arrival buoyed optimism in Queens, but the team hasn’t performed up to expectations this season. As of Monday afternoon the Mets were 6 1/2 games out of the second Wild Card spot, with five teams between them and the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Next, the hosts talk about Arctos Sports Partners buying another chunk of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the parent of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. Arctos bought a small passive stake last year, and recently closed on another investment. That happened as a group led by Josh Harris (with David Blitzer as an LP) closed on its $6.05 billion acquisition of the Washington Commanders.

Lastly, the hosts talk about Colorado leaving the Pac-12 to rejoin the Big 12. The Buffaloes are far from the Pac-12’s most successful sports program—Colorado hasn’t played in a New Year’s bowl game since 2001, or a men’s Sweet Sixteen since 1969—but their departure does spur additional questions about the future of the Pac-12. The conference is still yet to sign its next TV deal, and the pressure rises with each day that passes without it.

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