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MN Timberwolves ownership dispute: ARod, Lore win arbitration battle

By and
Published  February 10, 2025 5:44pm EST
Minnesota Timberwolves
FOX 9

Jim Rich goes 1-on-1 with Glen Taylor (FULL INTERVIEW)

FOX 9 Sports Director Jim Rich went to Mankato this week to sit down with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor as the team is the No. 3 seed for the Western Conference Playoffs.

The Brief

    • A dispute over a final payment for the sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx between longtime owner Glen Taylor and investors Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore has come to a resolution.
    • The arbitrators have sided with Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore over Glen Taylor.
    • Lore and Rodriguez agreed to purchase the Timberwolves and Lynx from Taylor in 2021 for $1.5 billion, but Taylor contended a final payment was missed in March 2024, and that the teams would no longer be for sale at that point.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Timberwolves will likely have new owners after an arbitration ruling over a dispute stemming from a final payment has sided with Alex Rodriguez (ARod) and Marc Lore.

Minnesota Timberwolves new ownership

What we know:

Rodriguez and Lore agreed to purchase the Timberwolves and Lynx from Taylor in 2021 for $1.5 billion, a process that would happen in steps through three transactions, and result in Lore and Rodriguez claiming 60 percent ownership, and leaving Taylor with a remaining 20%.

But arguments arose in March 2024, when Taylor claimed the deadline for a final payment had been missed, and as a result, the sale would no longer happen.

Glen Taylor not selling Timberwolves to ARod

Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx Owner Glen Taylor said Thursday the teams are "no longer for sale" after a 90-day window to close the sale expired on Wednesday.

Taylor says Timberwolves ‘no longer for sale’

The backstory:

The disagreement stemmed from a final payment by Lore and Rodriguez to secure their stake in the team.

On March 28, 2024, longtime Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor said the teams were "no longer for sale" after a 90-day window to close the deal had expired.

As part of the initial agreement, Rodriguez and Lore had until March 27, 2024, to make a final payment of around $600 million to take over majority ownership from Taylor.

Under the terms of the purchase agreement, closing of the transaction was to take place the previous day, but didn’t. Circumstances could’ve been granted for a limited extension, but criteria for that were not met, Taylor said.

Rodriguez and Lore contend they had submitted signed documents on March 20 to the NBA that needed approval from the league’s Board of Governors to go through, which caused the delay in the process.

Lawyers for both Taylor and minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez made their arguments in front of a three-member arbitration panel in November in Minneapolis.

If Taylor won, he would keep his ownership stake, but if arbitrators ruled in favor of Lore and Rodriguez, they would be given the right to a 90-day window to finish paying Taylor for control of the franchise.

Since then, both groups, and fans, have waited for a decision.

Final ownership decision

Dig deeper:

In an announcement on Monday, Rodriguez and Lore said the arbitrators had ruled in their favor, according to reports.

Kathleen Blatz, Thomas Fraser and Joseph R. Slights III comprised the three-member arbitration panel.

The change of ownership still needs final approval by the NBA Board of Governors before Rodriguez and Lore become official majority owners.

The Source: Press releases from Glen Taylor, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, as well as previous FOX 9 reporting.

Minnesota TimberwolvesSports