Business

Mets seek more time to repay MLB loan

The Mets are seeking at least a four-month extension to pay back the $25 million emergency loan they got last year from Major League Baseball, while they work on closing the sales of minority stakes in the franchise, The Post has learned.

MLB gave the money-losing team co-owned by Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz a one-year loan last November to help it make a revenue-sharing payment.

“An extension has been discussed with the Commissioner and after some dancing, it should be approved,” a source following the situation said, adding that baseball commissioner Bud Selig has been speaking to baseball owners to rally support.

The team in the last few days made its 2011 revenue-sharing payment of $20 million, meeting the Nov. 30 deadline and easing concerns, a Mets spokesman confirmed.

Under revenue sharing, all 30 teams combine 31 percent of their local revenue then split the pot evenly. The wealthier teams, like the Mets and Yankees, often pay more than they get back.

If the Mets had missed the payment, it might have proven difficult to get an extension on the existing loan, or another emergency loan as the team did last year when it could not meet its obligations.

It was one year ago that MLB, after being asked for the emergency loan, pressured Wilpon and Katz to seek a minority investor in the team.

The controlling Wilpon and Katz families had $550 million invested with Ponzi king Bernie Madoff when his funds imploded, putting the Mets in a bind.

The Mets believe they are on track to sell minority stakes in the team by around March, which means they would need at least a four-month extension, a source said, describing the sales process as steady.

The Mets, who lost more than $60 million this year, have been shopping $20 million to $30 million minority stakes. They are willing to pay 3 percent interest annually on the stakes over six years, if an owner elects not to keep the shares at that time.

Part of the plan is to sell more than five stakes at the same time so the Mets can raise enough money to put the team on firm footing for at least a few years.

The Mets and MLB declined comment on the extension.