Martin Luther King III is part of a group interested in purchasing the available shares of the New York Mets. King has called the reports "premature" but has indicated that he is interested in making baseball more diverse. The group also includes Ed Kranepool, Donn Clendenon Jr., and Larry Meli along with several unnamed investors. Mets owner Fred Wilpon has refused to discuss any impending sale.
King is the son of the late civil rights leader and the director of the King Center in Atlanta. Kranepool is a former Mets franchise player who is now in the credit-card processing business and Clendenon is the son of the late Mets first baseman. Meli is a TV executive.
The deal appears to be far from complete. Wilpon has intimated that he "may or not" be willing to sell a 20 to 25 percent share of the team. Meli has publicly stated that the King group wants to buy 50 percent of the team. The team is valued at $858 million by Forbes. The King group claims to have $1 billion in assets.
If the deal is made King would become the first African American owner in baseball. MLB has been combating its lack of support among the African American populace for years and would welcome any owner who could generate interest in that demographic.
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