March 28, 2024

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Just as the Timberwolves are in the midst of their best season in 20 years and the Lynx are part of the historic surge for the WNBA, owner Glen Taylor is pulling the teams off the market and ending a planned sale to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. … The Chiefs are ‘cautiously optimistic’ about obtaining voter approval of funds for a renovation to Arrowhead Stadium. … Three MLB clubs solidify their local broadcast plans for 2024, just in time for the start of the season. … Plus: More on Caitlin Clark, Jimmer Fredette, MLB rainouts, and Welsh soccer club Wrexham.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Planned T-Wolves, Lynx Sale Turns Bitter As Teams Pulled Off Market [[link removed]]

Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

One of the more complex team sales in recent sports history is now turning combative as Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor (above, left) abruptly called off Thursday a planned transfer of controlling interest in the teams to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, prompting a sharp rebuke from the prospective buyers that suggests the matter could be headed to litigation.

Taylor, who has owned a majority stake in the Timberwolves since 1994, plus the Lynx since its ’99 debut, took [[link removed]] the teams off the market after claiming Rodriguez and Lore failed to meet a Wednesday deadline to buy a 40% equity stake in the teams, adding to a separate 40% the former MLB star and his business partner already own. The 82-year-old Taylor added that “under certain circumstances, the buyer[s] could have been entitled to a limited extension. However, those circumstances did not occur.”

Rodriguez and Lore quickly responded, accusing Taylor of “seller’s remorse.”

“We have fulfilled our obligations, have all the necessary funding, and are fully committed to closing our purchase of the team as soon as the NBA completes its approval process,” the pair said, adding that Taylor’s statement is “short-sighted and disruptive to the team and the fans during a historic winning season.”

The Timberwolves, currently just a half game off the best record in the Western Conference, are enjoying their best season since 2004, in which they reached the conference finals. That on-court success has fueled a surge in team attendance and local television ratings.

The NBA has yet to comment on the matter, specifically whether there is still an active approval process in this deal. Before this latest episode, multiple reports suggested there has been a deteriorating relationship between Taylor and the pair.

Long Road

Rodriguez, who has long sought to be a majority pro team owner, and Lore have been working on this deal since 2021. And given continually escalating team values, the $1.5 billion price set at the deal’s inception now represents a significant bargain. The Timberwolves are estimated [[link removed]] to be now worth $2.5 billion, with more growth widely anticipated once the next set of national TV deals are completed. Values of every WNBA team, meanwhile, are soaring given that league’s rapid rise, and the Seattle Storm were valued last year at $151 million in a minority stake sale of that franchise.

Most recently, there were concerns about Rodriguez and Lore being able to secure the needed financing to acquire this third tranche of equity. Just last week, those worries appeared to be fading [[link removed]]; it was strongly expected the pair would complete the deal and become the teams’ new controlling owners. For now, Rodriguez and Lore will remain minority team owners with the equity they already have.

With Taylor offering a very different accounting of events than Rodriguez and Lore, the saga appears far from over.

Chiefs’ President: Team Keeping ‘All Options’ Open If Stadium Vote Fails [[link removed]]

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Chiefs president Mark Donovan (above) described himself as “cautiously optimistic” that a scheduled April 2 public vote [[link removed]] would pass on a ⅜-cent sales tax for 40 years, which would help fund $2 billion for the renovation of Arrowhead Stadium and a new downtown Royals stadium. But, speaking to a small group of national reporters over Zoom on Thursday, he reiterated that “all options” are on the table if the voters turn the tax down.

Asked whether that meant relocation elsewhere in Missouri or farther afield, Donovan declined to delineate what he meant by “all options.” If the public money falls through, he said, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt is unwilling to sell a slice of the team to raise capital for the renovation. Wearing a Royals sweater to celebrate Opening Day (Chiefs coach Andy Reid is throwing out the first pitch), Donovan also did not rule out severing the long-term venues partnership with the baseball team.

The Royals and Chiefs have worked together since the early 1970s when their respective stadiums were built in the same complex.

“We’d have to look at all of our options, and that may include, you know, separate paths. We’ll see,” Donovan said.

Donovan says the Chiefs are making progress in convincing voters of the merits of the tax, which he described as investments in the community, more favorable leases for the municipalities, and the teams’ economic impact.

“And the reality is last year, just last year, this organization, the Chiefs’ organization, had a $993 million economic impact on this region,” Donovan said. (Economists often dispute economic impact estimates from leagues and teams.) “So we’ve been good partners; for a long, long time this partnership has worked. We have a massive economic impact. We have a really bright future. And we’ve just negotiated deals [[link removed]] [the leases] that are unprecedented. We’re hopeful that it gets across the finish line. That’s what we’re focused on. That’s all we’ve been focused on. If that doesn’t happen, then we can look at our options and see exactly where we stand.”

The package would tie the Chiefs to Arrowhead through at least 2050, and possibly through ’65, depending on a series of five-year options.

While many new and renovated venues are part of mixed-use development projects, that is not the plan for the Chiefs (it is, however, for the Royals’ downtown prospects). In fact, business entities in the city of Independence, where the Chiefs and Royals currently play, don’t want the football team to develop the areas adjacent to Arrowhead, Donovan said.

“The former mayor of Independence and the Chamber [of Commerce] has come to us and asked us not to develop it, around it right now,” Donovan said. “They want to focus their time on downtown Independence and really growing that. And they feel like if we develop it competes with that.”

Asked about a letter [[link removed]] sent Monday that complained about Jackson County executive Frank White to the county legislature, Donovan described the politician as disengaged.

“Unfortunately, a lot of our time delays, a lot of the deadlines missed in the process, more so on the Royals’ side than on the Chiefs’ side but affected both of us, were due to just a lack of engagement,” he said. “You know, honestly, we had multiple meetings with Frank’s team. … I literally only had, I think, two meetings in this whole process where Frank was in the room. So … it’s been a little frustrating … it’s been very eye-opening for me.”

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Late Rush Keeps Three MLB Teams on TV, but Revenue Issues Linger [[link removed]]

Arizona Republic

The Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies are back on local TV, just in time for Thursday’s full start of the 2024 MLB season. But doing so required a last-minute scramble by the league and the trio of clubs, leaving plenty of long-term questions regarding the critical source of team revenue, and they could be joined by additional teams.

The three clubs are on the front lines of historic disruption unfolding all across sports media, as they are each without a traditional regional sports network home. The Padres [[link removed]] and Diamondbacks [[link removed]] were dropped last year by the bankrupt Diamond Sports Group, while the closure last year of AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain in Denver left the Rockies [[link removed]] in need of a new local broadcast plan.

Following a series of distribution deals, some completed just this week, the teams’ 2024 local broadcast plan includes:

Arizona: Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Fubo, and MLB.TV streaming Colorado: Comcast, DirecTV, Spectrum, Fubo, and MLB.TV streaming San Diego: AT&T U-verse, Cox, DirecTV, Spectrum, Fubo, and MLB.TV streaming

MLB, which is handling game production duties, has developed online channel finders for each of the three teams to help fans find the games.

Broadly speaking, the patchwork of distribution deals is similar to what the Padres and Diamondbacks offered last year. But, in the future, they could be joined by additional teams—as well as teams in other sports—particularly depending on what ultimately happens with DSG’s efforts [[link removed]] to emerge from bankruptcy and which team rights that company retains. DSG is currently set through the current MLB, NHL, and NBA seasons, but questions remain after that.

Revenue Worries

The financial terms of the newly struck MLB deals were not disclosed. But they are not believed to match the large-scale, lucrative, and multiyear RSN deals the teams previously enjoyed.

“If you’re a fan of the Diamondbacks, it was pretty seamless. What we end up doing this year, I think, will be the same for fans,” team owner Ken Kendrick said last month. “The challenges on our side of the table [are] the economics of what the revenue streams that [local] television will create for us, which is not an insignificant part of our [overall] revenue.”

Despite that concern, the Diamondbacks are heading into the 2024 season with a record payroll of nearly $170 million following last year’s unexpected trip to the World Series. On the other hand, the club has less than half that figure in future salary commitments in any season beyond the current one.

Meanwhile, the in-market MLB.TV streaming of the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies also is serving as something of a test case for a far larger offering involving more teams that league commissioner Rob Manfred is seeking to develop and introduce as soon as next year.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, One Down, One Push

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Caitlin Clark ⬆ Yet another win for the Iowa women’s basketball star: ESPN is producing a 96-page Clark tribute print magazine, set to hit newsstands Friday, before the top-seeded Hawkeyes face Colorado in the Sweet 16.

Jimmer Fredette ⬆ The former BYU standout (above) and 2011 NCAA Player of the Year, now 35, has been selected to compete on Team USA’s first 3×3 basketball men’s national team at the Paris Olympics.

Rainouts ⬇ Inclement weather in the Northeast postponed home openers Thursday for the Phillies, who were set to host the Braves, and Mets, who were scheduled to play the Brewers. Both games were moved to Friday, which was a scheduled off day for all teams involved.

Wrexham finances ⬆⬇ A new financial report from the 2022–23 season shows that the Welsh soccer team owes $11.33 million to celebrity owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. However, financial losses are not expected to continue for the club, which was promoted to the fourth tier of English soccer last year and is in position to be promoted again. In its report, the club stated income is now sufficient to meet operational costs.

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Conversation Starters This season, Twins fans can enjoy [[link removed]] “The Dock,” an exclusive boat-themed section beyond the right field wall, which offers 12 tickets per group, a $30 food/drink credit, and a lakeside-themed menu, with packages starting at $1,200. A friendly reminder to baseball fans in South Florida: The Marlins are offering [[link removed]] “All-You-Can-Eat Seats” for as low as $52. Through a new deal [[link removed]] with Oatly, all 120 Minor League Baseball teams will play one game in rebranded uniforms as the Malmö Oat Milkers. Editors’ Picks The Pac-12 Built a Women’s Basketball Powerhouse. Then Realignment Hit [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The breakup is happening at the worst time for the sport. The NFLPA Report Card Is Doing Exactly What It Was Intended For [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Robert Kraft hasn’t gone to school in nearly 60 years, but on Tuesday the Patriots’ owner found himself talking about his report card. NFL Executive Questions Logic Behind Streaming Giants’ Alliance [[link removed]]by Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]]The ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox alliance is expected to launch this fall. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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