Steve Cohen’s purchase of the Mets is approved, and The Ringer loses two of its most popular personalities.
Cohen Completes Mets Purchase
Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets’ sale to billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen was approved by the other 29 MLB owners, as well as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. It is expected to close within 10 days.
In his first statement as team owner, Cohen said that all Mets employees will have their pre-pandemic salaries reinstituted as of Nov. 1, reversing the 5-30% salary cuts implemented in March through a total commitment of more than $7 million. He also plans to donate $17.5 million to local small businesses, and “dramatically increase the giving of the Mets Foundation in the coming years.”
MyFitnessPal has grown from 80 million users to over 200 million in the five years since Under Armour acquired the health tracking app for $475 million. Under Armour also acquired Endomondo in 2015, a once-popular fitness tracking app in Europe, for $85 million — the company will be discontinuing Endomondo’s operations at the end of 2020.
However, Under Armour will continue on with the MapMyFitness platform — which includes MapMyRun and MapMyRide. It acquired the platform in 2013 and integrates it with a line of connected footwear.
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Jason Concepcion, a multi-platform talent at The Ringer known for his podcast appearances and digital show “NBA Desktop,” is leaving the company. Concepcion first joined Bill Simmons’ media companies as a staff writer for ESPN’s Grantland in 2013.
As host of “NBA Desktop” — a digital show about NBA Twitter — Concepcion was part of The Ringer’s team that won the 2019 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Digital Innovation.
Hours after Concepcion’s announcement, popular NBA writer and podcaster Haley O’Shaughnessy announced that she would also be leaving The Ringer after about four years on staff.
The Ringer was acquired by Spotify for roughly $200 million in February.
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