JPMorgan says it won't give Mets new loan, despite report

The cash-strapped Mets will have to look elsewhere for dough after JPMorgan Chase
shot down reports yesterday that it was lining up banks to loan the team tens of millions of dollars.

"The story is inaccurate," a bank spokesman told amNewYork of the report in the New York Post. "We are not in discussions to syndicate a new loan for the team."

The team, owned by Fred Wilpon and worth about $800 million, reportedly carries more than half a billion dollars in debt, and the Wilpons face a lawsuit of up to $1 billion for their involvement in Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme.

The family has said it wants to unload about 25 percent of the team, and has denied any wrongdoing in the Madoff scheme.

As bad as team's financial woes are, sports business analyst Maury Brown of bizofbaseball.com said they're not bad enough yet for the league to take control of the team as it did with the Texas Rangers last year.

"The Mets would have to get to the point where the club is completely insolvent and under collapse," he said. "They’re just not there yet, and the league would probably lend a hand long before that point."

The Mets declined to comment.