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The owners of the Mets have scored some financial relief.
After a months-long process, team owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz have refinanced $450 million in loans borrowed against cable network SportsNet New York, which airs Mets games, The Post has learned.
While the financial terms could not be learned, some of the proceeds are expected to go toward funding the cash-strapped team’s day-to-day operations.
The Mets declined comment. SNY did not return calls for comment.
Sterling Equities — the sports, real-estate and investment firm owned by Wilpon and Katz — owns about 65 percent of SNY. Time Warner and Comcast are also partners in the channel.
The owners have been working with Bank of America since October to line up the refinancing. By completing it before year-end, they have also avoided higher capital gains taxes on their SNY investment.
The refinancing comes just days after Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit rating for Citi Field to BB — two notches below investment grade — from BB+ with a negative outlook.
The firm is concerned there will be “slight cash flow declines in the near future” before the Mets’ finances stabilize. S&P estimates that stadium revenue fell 6 percent last year, with seat revenue suffering the most significant decline of 13 percent.
Suite sales were the saving grace, rising 11 percent — but S&P said that was due, in large part, to the Mets’ parent, Sterling, now owning “about 20 percent of the suites.” Those Sterling-owned suites are used by minority owners like hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen.
Rival ratings firm Moody’s holds a different view and in November upgraded its outlook on the ballpark.