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The New York Mets have an interesting new business partner

Mike Oz

You know that kid who goes from house to house trying to sell you magazine subscriptions?

The way things are going for the New York Mets these days, there's a good chance he'll be starting in right at Citi Field soon.

The latest head-shaker out of Metsville: The team has forged a partnership with Amway, the multilevel marketing company, to set up a storefront outside of Citi Field. Keep in mind the Mets potentially boondoggled $162 million after getting too cozy with notorious ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.

So it makes perfect sense to jump back in bed with a company that paid out $150 million in a settlement to pyramid scheme victims not too long ago.

From Capital:

[T]he cash-strapped Mets, who only recently contemplated putting a casino next to their stadium, seem to have made the calculation that whatever money they're getting from the deal trumps any cosmetic problems that might stem from the association.

The Citi Field outpost is Amway's first storefront in America. On Saturday, Amway staged a grand opening (or "grand opening": it got no coverage, as far as I can tell) with the Amway sign just a few feet away from a Mets ticket booth.

Amway is a multilevel marketing opportunity, to use the euphemism, or a pyramid scheme, to use the terminology of its critics. Individuals sign up as "Independent Business Owners", or I.B.O.s, to sell an array of Amway products, buying them up front while simultaneously recruiting others to join Amway as well.

Can't help but wonder what's next for the Mets. Are players going to be required to pick up a side hustle to help with the team's financial woes?

Will we see Johan Santana selling Tupperware? Is David Wright going to be hosting Avon parties? Does Zack Wheeler need to sell a certain number of knife sets door-to-door before he gets called up?

Will Bobby Bonilla now have to accept his yearly payout from the Mets in skin-care cream and vitamins?

BLS H/N: Deadspin

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