The way Alex Rodriguez and his business partner Marc Lore were showing up at Minnesota Lynx and Minnesota Timberwolves games, you’d have thought they had already closed the deal to acquire majority ownership of these franchises.
There was a lot of talk and excitement buzzing around the “Twin Cities, also some concern that A-Rod would relocate the team once the purchase was finalized.
Now it seems that continually being late on payments on the nearly $2 billion deal owed played a massive role in owner Glen Taylor pulling out of the deal.
On Thursday it was announced that a planned sale had fallen through because the 90-day period for Rodriguez and Lore to complete the purchase agreement they had reached in December had expired.
“I will continue to work with Marc, Alex and the rest of the ownership group to ensure our teams have the necessary resources to compete at the highest levels on and off the court,” general partner Glen Taylor said in a statement. “The Timberwolves and Lynx are no longer for sale.”
It was a bombshell in the sports world and seemed to surprise everyone, including Rodriguez.
Rodriguez Team Already Purchased 40 Percent
In April of 2021 Taylor agreed to sell the NBA franchise to former Rodriguez and former Wal-Mart e-commerce chief executive Marc Lore. The tandem signed an agreement to partial ownership with a pathway to controlling ownership of both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA.
Taylor would stay on until 2023, and then Rodriguez’s group would assume the controlling role. One key stipulation of the current agreement for ownership is that the team remains in Minneapolis. But Taylor only mentioned that publicly and didn’t make it a requirement for sale, leaving the door open for a possible relocation.
Rumors swirled at the time that the new ownership team had plans of relocating to Seattle, which probably lingered in the back of Taylor’s mind.
In a statement from Rodriguez and Lore, they said, “We are disappointed in Glen Taylor’s public statement today. We have fulfilled our obligations, have all necessary funding and are fully committed to closing our purchase of the team as soon as the NBA completes its approval process. Glen Taylor’s statement is an unfortunate case of seller’s remorse that is short sighted and disruptive to the team and the fans during a historic winning season.”
Did A-Rod and Lore Have The Funds?
There is evidence that the Lore-Rodriguez team was scrambling for some last-minute cash.
Axios reported last week that the NBA rejected a $300 million investment from the Carlyle Group. After that, Dyal Capital Partners joined the Lore-Rodriguez group to provide the necessary funding. Dyal Capital Partners, a division of Neuberger Berman, is a company that seeks to acquire minority equity interests in institutional alternative asset management businesses worldwide.
It was established in 2011 and currently has 41 minority partnerships. Venturing Into NBA ownership was a no brainer for a company who set a record in 2019 with $9 billion in funding. It was expected NBA owners would vote on approval of the sale in April.
Why Did Glen Taylor Pull Back On Majority Ownership Sale To Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore?
According to anonymous sources at USA Today, Taylor’s faith in the deal was shaken due to several missed payments deadlines, including the most recent one to close the deal by providing the remaining 40 percent of funding to acquire 80 percent and majority ownership.
In the original agreement, Lore and Rodriguez agreed to pay in three installments of 20 percent, 20 percent and 40 percent. The tandem currently own 40% of the team and Taylor and his limited partners own 60 percent.
The original agreement looked rock-solid, but reportedly it started to crumble when the money was slow. It also was reported that Taylor didn’t like the way Rodriguez and Lore didn’t go all in on being embraced by the fan base. The relationship has reportedly declined over time, and for some reason Taylor doesn’t want to do any further business or relinquish his majority portion of the team.
A-Rod Trying To Make History
The deal would have made Alex Rodriguez the first MLB player to become majority owner of a major pro sports team. An historical accomplishment that apparently won’t happen because of personality differences and more than anything the fact that the market is always shifting.
Taylor says he will continue to support his minority owners, while remaining visible and the most powerful voice in both franchises. Deals that are made to sell companies never seem to pan out when there is a long process for transferring power. The old regime is always going to be critical of the new regime, because with a change at the top comes a culture and power shift that might not exactly coincide with the previous ownership.
Major Sports Teams Rising In Value Quickly
Taylor went from loving the deal, to hating the prospective buyers, if what we are hearing is true. He also probably had some of his majority ownership team hating on the sale. With Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards rising to Jordanesque heights in front of our eyes and the WNBA getting a boost from the well-branded stars currently in women’s college hoops, and the way pro sports franchises are skyrocketing in value, maybe Taylor was getting pushback not to sell everything off too soon.
So the easiest way to renege on a deal is to find a flaw in the money exchange. Lack of funding or failure to provide funding promised is always a deal breaker. Taylor decided to be very stringent on the timeline, and that was a personal decision.
Rodriguez and Lore said they had the funding, but it did not leave the NBA enough time to vet the financial investment from other potential partners, USA Today reports its insider said.
So for now A-Rod, who smashed 696 homers in a majestic career somewhat tainted by PED allegations and a lengthy suspension, will have to live with the 40 percent ownership in addition to all of his other investments and deal with owning the largest percentage of a major pro sports team of all former pro athletes.
It’s impressive when a player can come from a modest background and use sports as a vehicle towards acquiring fame and generational wealth and connections needed to excel in the corporate world. But it’s never easy to cross over into the exclusive ownership billionaire boys club. Who are never eager to break bread with a “civilian” in the mega-capitalist playground.
Tom Brady is about as loved and respected a sports icon that there is and represents the perfect All-American.
His attempt to buy 10 percent of the Las Vegas Raiders was quashed by the NFL’s financial oversight committee and other owners, who felt Mark Davis was undervaluing the team’s worth in order to make a special deal for Brady, who was buying the 10 percent for just $175 million when the team is valued at more than $6.5 billion.
A-Rod remains in some exclusive company. Magic Johnson co-owns MLB’s Dodgers, WNBA’s Sparks and MLS’ LAFC. In 2023, he invested $240 million in a group that purchased the Washington Commanders. Serena Williams has owned a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins with her sister Venus since 2009. New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers purchased a minority stake in the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks in 2018.
Pat Mahomes has stake in the Kansas City Royals and Giannis Antetokounmpo owns part of the Brewers. Three-time NBA Champion Dwyane Wade purchased an ownership stake in the Utah Jazz in 2021, and former Falcons star Warrick Dunn purchased a minority stake in the Atlanta Falcons in 2009 — one year after he retired.
