New Owners of Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx Make 2 Promises to Fans

Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore purchased the franchises for $1.5 billion from owner Glen Taylor

Marc Lore (L) and Alex Rodriguez watch as the Minnesota Timberwolves play the Phoenix Suns at Target Center in Minneapolis on April 23, 2024. David Berding/Getty Images

New Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore made two promises to fans after NBA owners voted to approve the sale June 24.

“Alex and I said this from the beginning, we’re never moving the team,” Lore told the Star Tribune on Wednesday.

The owners are also committed to exploring a new venue for the NBA’s Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx. Minneapolis’s Target Center is the second-oldest NBA arena and seats 18,789 for basketball, and Minnesota sports franchises have long been targets for relocation.

“It is a necessary component to any business, especially us who are in a middle market,” Rodriguez told the Star Tribune. “You need the revenue. You need the economic model to be able to generate more revenue and then pull that revenue back in, just like a virtuous kind of flywheel, right?

“The market’s ready for it. Our fans deserve it, but Marc and I have a lot of work to do. We’ve been talking about this for over four years now, but there’s still a lot of wood to chop,” Rodriguez added.

Rodriguez and Lore purchased the franchises for $1.5 billion from owner Glen Taylor, who owned the Wolves from 1994 to this year. Taylor also owned the Lynx from the franchise’s beginning in 1999.

The Timberwolves nearly moved to New Orleans in 1994, but Taylor kept that from happening. The year before, Minnesota lost the North Stars NHL team, which became the Dallas Stars.

Known as the State of Hockey due to its grassroots programs from youth through college, Minnesota soon had an NHL team again in 1997 with the expansion Wild. The team began play in 2000 at the Xcel Energy Center, years after the Stars left the old Met Center in Bloomington.

The Minnesota Twins MLB franchise became a target for moving in 1997 when former owner Carl Pohlad nearly sold the team to Don Beaver in North Carolina. Ultimately, the Twins stayed and spent another 13 years at the old Metrodome in Minneapolis, and the Pohlad family continues ownership of the team. The Twins now play at Target Field, which opened in 2010.

As a former MLB star, Rodriguez played against the Twins in both venues during his career from 1994 to 2016. The 14-time All-Star wants to make his mark as a Minnesota professional sports owner.

“I’ve dedicated my entire life to the world of sports; not just as a game, but as a powerful force that unites people, uplifts communities, and changes lives,” Rodriguez said in a statement  Tuesday. “I’m incredibly honored and energized to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I know what it takes to be a champion, and I’m ready to bring that same commitment and drive to create a winning culture in Minnesota.”

While the ownership tandem hail from New York, it wouldn’t be the first time a Minnesota team has grown with out-of-state ownership. New Jersey billionaires Mark and Zygi Wilf have owned the Minnesota Vikings for the past 20 years.

The Vikings were once a threat to move as the Metrodome aged and no new stadium was built. The Wilfs were able to get that settled, and the Vikings now play in US Bank Stadium where the dome once stood, and the Wilfs had a new practice facility built in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan.

Under the Wilfs, the Vikings have excelled on the field overall. That’s also true of the Wolves and Lynx as Lore and Rodriguez begin their tenure as owners. The Wolves have reached back-to-back Western Conference finals, and the Lynx, winners of four WNBA titles, made the WNBA Finals last year.

“Continuity is going to be a part of our strategy to win,” Lore told the Star Tribune regarding the on-court product.