Sports Biz: Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore finalizing deal to buy Minnesota Timberwolves, WNBA's Lynx UPDATE: DEAL IS OFF!

[playahaitian]

Sources: Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore finalizing deal to buy Minnesota Timberwolves, WNBA's Lynx

• Adrian WojnarowskiSenior NBA Insider

Former major league slugger Alex Rodriguez and billionaire Marc Lore are finalizing a deal to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx from majority owner Glen Taylor, sources told ESPN on Saturday.

The purchase price in the deal is expected to be in the $1.5 billion range, sources said.

Taylor will continue to hold full control of both teams for two years, before Rodriguez and Lore take over in 2023.

"We look forward to entering this phase of the process with Glen Taylor," Rodriguez and Lore said in a joint statement on Saturday. "Our respect for him and the legacy he has built lays an amazing foundation for what is to come. We are excited by the prospect of getting to know the Timberwolves organization."

Taylor announced in July 2020 he was looking for a buyer. The terms of the sale are similar to talks Taylor had in the past year with billionaire Ryan Smith, who walked away from a potential deal to ultimately purchase the Utah Jazz for $1.66 billion in October.

Taylor, 79, saved NBA basketball in Minnesota when he bought the team for $88 million in 1994 after it nearly moved to New Orleans. But he has had an unspectacular ownership run in the 26 years since, reaching the playoffs only once.

Taylor has had a much more successful tenure owning the WNBA's Lynx, who have won four championships in the past 10 years.

Taylor has discussed keeping the Timberwolves in Minnesota with new ownership, but Rodriguez's ties to Seattle and that city's desire for a return of an NBA franchise could become an issue in the long term.

Rodriguez also was part of a group that bid unsuccessfully for the New York Mets.

 

[playahaitian]

Reports: Alex Rodriguez and businessman Marc Lore finalizing $1.5 billion deal to buy Timberwolves, Lynx

Alex Rodriguez is on the verge of buying an NBA team.

sports.yahoo.com

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[dik cashmere]

Really thought they would sell to KG and the investors he put together

 

[jack walsh13]

Really thought they would sell to KG and the investors he put together

I did too

 

[EchoCrash]

It’s been around for 24 years and only a niche audience cares.
doesn’t matter who buys these teams:

Figure out how to present a more appealing product.

 

[playahaitian]

​

 

[playahaitian]

Really thought they would sell to KG and the investors he put together

I think there is long standing beef involved if I;m not mistaken

 

[playahaitian]

Alex Rodriguez group to purchase Minnesota Timberwolves for $1.5 billion, sources say

Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has reached a verbal agreement on a $1.5 billion sale of the team to former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and e-commerce mogul Marc Lore, sources told ESPN, confirming multiple reports.

NBA approval of the deal was still pending, and neither side has publicly announced an agreement.

The two sides had entered an exclusive 30-day negotiating window April 10 that expired without an agreement, though the sides continued to negotiate in good faith, sources previously told ESPN's Brian Windhorst. Taylor previously said a deal was contingent on Lore and Rodriguez keeping the team in Minnesota. The team has a lease at the Target Center through 2035, but the buyout is $50 million.


Lore and Rodriguez are 50-50 partners. They tried to buy the New York Mets last year but were beaten out for the Major League Baseball club by hedge fund manager Steve Cohen.

Any sale of an NBA club must be approved by the league's board of governors, which could come later Thursday. The Timberwolves would become the second NBA franchise sold this season. Gail Miller and her family struck an agreement in October to sell the Utah Jazz to Ryan Smith, a deal that was finalized after board of governors' approval in December.

Taylor, 80, a lifelong Minnesotan who bought the Timberwolves in 1994 for $88 million to save them from moving to New Orleans, has said he will continue to run the club for two more seasons until a handover in 2023. The Minnesota Lynx WNBA team is included in the sale.

"They've asked that I would be there for any decisions that would need to be made. I would enjoy that. I love teaching people," Taylor said an interview last month. "These are a couple of very bright guys, and I think it could be helpful to the club and I think I could be helpful to them so that they feel confident once they take over 100%."

Lore and Rodriguez met with Timberwolves personnel and toured team facilities in Minneapolis last month.

Rodriguez, 45, hit 696 home runs over 22 major league seasons with the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. His last season on the field was 2016, marking the end of career that was tainted by performance-enhancing drug use he later admitted to. Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season for violating MLB policy.

Lore, 49, became Walmart's e-commerce chief in 2016, when the retail giant bought his Jet.com startup in an attempt to boost online business. Lore notified Walmart on Jan. 31 of his intent to leave the company. He will continue to serve in a consulting role as a strategic adviser through September.

Timberwolves reach deal to sell to A-Rod group

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has agreed to sell the team to former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and e-commerce mogul Marc Lore, with sources telling ESPN the price tag is $1.5 billion.

www.espn.com

 

[Coldchi]

Really thought they would sell to KG and the investors he put together

The league not trying to have too many black owners.
I see A-Rod moving the team back to Seattle

 

[playahaitian]

Sources: A-Rod, Lore eyed cuts to Wolves payroll

As part of a failed bid to assume majority ownership of the Timberwolves, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez submitted projections forecasting a retreat in payroll that Glen Taylor believed would jeopardize the team's ability to vie for a title, sources said.

www.espn.com