An NBA arbitration panel heard arguments from attorneys for Glen Taylor and attorneys for Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez three months ago. The panel is tasked with deciding who will own the Minnesota Timberwolves-Minnesota Lynx franchises after a dispute between the two sides.
That panel made a decision Monday according to ESPN, and the ownership group of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez will be the new owner of the teams if approved by the league's Board of Governors. Lore and Rodriguez will now be given the right to a 90-day window in which to finish paying Taylor according to league sources.
Attorneys for current majority owner Glen Taylor and attorneys for minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez made their arguments this past November. Taylor originally purchased the team in 1994.
At one point, the Lore-Rodriguez team had an agreement in place to purchase the majority of the franchise from Taylor. But last March, Taylor claimed the team was "no longer for sale". Lore and Rodriguez were trying to take on the final 40% ownership stake from Taylor that would have given them majority ownership.
“Becky and I were disappointed by this 2-1 decision from the panel,” said Glen Taylor, Chairman of Taylor Sports Group, Inc., the general partner of the Timberwolves and Lynx. “We will review the decision thoroughly prior to making any further comment. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Timberwolves and Lynx players, staff, and loyal fans for their support.”
Those arguments came after months of legal posturing over Taylor’s claim in March of last year that the teams were “no longer for sale.” Taylor said at the time that the 90-day "closing" on the purchase of the franchise by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez had expired without a purchase agreement being fulfilled.
Rodriguez and Lore quickly followed that, releasing a statement saying they were disappointed but contending they fulfilled all their obligations to purchase the team. The arbitrators ruled in favor of Lore-Rodriguez' interpretation of the purchase agreement.
Since that point, they have fortified their investors even more with former New York City Michael Bloomberg coming on as a minority investor.
NBA Franchises See Increased Value Due To TV Deal
Since announcing an agreement to sell the franchise to Lore-Rodriguez, the value of the team has increased up to $1 billion from the initial purchase in 2021 of $1.5 billion. The NBA has a new TV and media contract that significantly increases revenue for teams which in turn increases the value of the individual teams.
The NBA’s 11-year, $76 billion contract package would kick in with the 2025-26 season. The deals with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime Video will average $6.9 billion per season.
For players and teams, it means a lot more money across the board. The league’s salary cap will see an annual 10% increase. Get ready for the possibility that the top players may be earning somewhere near $100 million per season by the mid-2030s.
It also means increases for the WNBA which is part of this media deal. All three partners will carry games. ESPN/ABC and Prime Video already have games while NBC will return to carrying the WNBA after doing the first six seasons (1997 through 2002). It is possible the WNBA could still add more partners like it has in recent seasons.