On Thursday evening, the Mets released a statement confirming reports that the deal with Steve Cohen to buy a majority stake in the team had fallen through.
"The transaction between Sterling and Steve Cohen was a highly complicated one," the statement read. "Despite the efforts of the parties over the past several months, it became apparent that the transaction as contemplated would have been too difficult to execute.
Sterling intends now to pursue a new transaction and has engaged Allen & Company to manage that process."
Well, according to Bloomberg, that new transaction they are seeking has one major difference.
The report is saying that there will be "no preconditions regarding control of the team," and that would mean whoever purchases would likely have full control once the sale is completed.
In the original deal with Cohen, a five-year transition -- which SNY's Andy Martino said wasn't the root of the deal going sour -- was in it to begin with. However, this is a big change now for any prospective buyers, and it will likely drive up that price as well.
It was reported that Cohen's price tag was $2.6 billion, an MLB-record. But with full autonomy potentially on the table, it's expected to be even more.
"In most cases an immediate sale with control will lead to a higher price than a sale today with a future option of control," sports consultant Marc Ganis told Bloomberg. "Most parties who buy a team want to own and operate it sooner rather than later."
A Bloomberg source said Allen & Company are expected to begin their sales process on Monday.