October 24, 2024

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The Timberwolves sale saga is years old and has included more than its share of twists and turns. Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, who own 40% of the team and had an agreement to purchase the rest from Glen Taylor, are doing what they can to close the deal despite Taylor backing out this spring. The latest statement of intent: Nearly a billion dollars deposited in escrow, just ahead of a hearing in the sale’s arbitration process.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

A-Rod, Lore Deposit $940M As Wolves Ownership Hearing Nears [[link removed]]

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The long-running ownership drama surrounding the Timberwolves may be inching closer to resolution, as part-owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore have made a large escrow deposit in advance of a key upcoming hearing. Regardless of who ultimately owns the team, though, another big bill is now on the way.

Rodriguez and Lore, who have been battling with current majority owner Glen Taylor over control of the team, recently made a deposit of more than $940 million into an escrow account, according to industry sources and multiple reports. The outlay is designed to show they have the financial wherewithal to complete the original $1.5 billion deal. The two have already made two prior payments to amass a 40% minority stake in the Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx.

The dispute has been in arbitration for months after conventional dealmaking, and then mediation, failed after Taylor abruptly pulled the team off the market in March [[link removed]]. Rodriguez and Lore intended to complete a multistage acquisition of team majority control, but Taylor contended the pair did not meet key deadlines originally set in 2021—setting off the still-active conflict.

A hearing in that arbitration process is set for Nov. 4. If Rodriguez and Lore prevail there, the purchase would then be subject to approval by the NBA Board of Governors, where at least 23 of 30 teams would need to support the deal.

Rodriguez is currently in Los Angeles and set to be part of Fox’s on-air broadcast team for the high-profile World Series [[link removed]]. He and Lore also have received financial support for their efforts from former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg [[link removed]], among others.

Should the deal be finalized, Rodriguez and Lore would be receiving a significant discount on current team values. The Timberwolves in particular carry an estimated valuation of $2.5 billion [[link removed]], and both NBA and WNBA team values are still rising amid new domestic media deals for both leagues.

Big Signing

The ultimate majority owner of the Timberwolves, meanwhile, will be responsible for big payments to center and franchise cornerstone Rudy Gobert. The 32-year-old Gobert, last season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a four-time winner of that honor, has agreed to a three-year, $110 million extension [[link removed]], according to an ESPN report.

The pact, foregoing a $46.6 million player option for next season, keeps Gobert in place through the 2027–2028 campaign, a key move in Minnesota’s title aspirations after reaching the Western Conference finals this past spring, falling to Dallas. Gobert is now an even more critical piece to the Timberwolves’ roster after the team recently traded away star big Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks, showcasing the large role of salary-cap management [[link removed]] in the NBA’s current labor deal.

MLS, Apple Ready to Cash In on Messi’s First Playoffs [[link removed]]

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Lionel Messi’s postseason debut is putting Major League Soccer’s intricate media-rights deal in the spotlight.

Inter Miami hosts Atlanta United on Friday night to kick off the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. The game will be free to stream on Apple TV, which is in the second season of a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with MLS. So will every other Game 1 of the eight best-of-three series in Round 1 (six of them will be simulcast on FS1), as part of a push to gain more viewers.

Typically, games are available only behind the MLS Season Pass paywall, but Apple will sometimes make big matches free. The streamer doesn’t release traditional TV ratings, but it reportedly surpassed 2 million subscribers [[link removed]] last season.

The MLS Cup final in December will be simulcast on Fox, and so will other select matches throughout the playoffs. But as evidenced by the strategy for Round 1, Apple may want to use Messi and Inter Miami—should they advance—to draw as many fans as possible straight to its streaming service.

Messi Mania

Beyond the traditional match coverage, a “Messi Cam” will follow the superstar and be livestreamed on the TikTok accounts of MLS and Inter Miami. It will mark the first time TikTok has streamed an entire live soccer match with a single-player focus. (In February, Peacock had a “ Caitlin Clark Cam [[link removed]]” for an Iowa game.)

Atlanta United, which advanced out of the single-elimination wild-card round Monday night, will get to host Inter Miami in Game 2 next weekend. In September, nearly 68,000 fans turned out to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to watch Messi, who played only the final third of the game.

Inter Miami is the betting favorite to win the championship, and Apple lead soccer analyst Taylor Twellman thinks Messi is taking the opportunity more seriously than some of his former international counterparts.

“[When] other European global stars came into this league, they always said something about Major League Soccer with a smirk,” Twellman said on a preview call with reporters.

But Messi has acknowledged the goal at hand, despite Inter Miami already winning the Supporters’ Shield after finishing the regular season with the most points. “He’s different,” Twellman said. “It’s all about winning. It’s only about winning.”

Gaining Steam

The playoffs begin after another landmark regular season for MLS [[link removed]]. The league’s final attendance tally was 11.4 million, up from 10.9 million in 2023, and another new record alongside the 23,234 per game average.

MLS also reported the league office and clubs each raked in 13% more revenue from sponsorships than they did a year ago.

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Roommates With Lakers No More, Clippers Debut Shiny $2B Home [[link removed]]

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The Clippers have played second fiddle to the Lakers in Los Angeles for decades, and the gap continues to exist despite continued efforts by the Clippers to distinguish themselves since Steve Ballmer acquired the team in 2014.

Through two eras—one with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, another with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George—the Clippers have changed their on-court perception from cellar dwellers to consistent winners over the last decade. But the Clippers have failed to accomplish much in games that truly matter, outside of a 30–9 record against the Lakers.

And they’ve had to play kid roommate to the Lakers in sharing the iconic former Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena, in downtown Los Angeles with the Lakers for the last 25 years.

Now the Clippers have moved out.

The team finally has a home of their own, as they play their first regular-season game at the Intuit Dome: a state-of-the-art, $2 billion arena in Inglewood, where The Forum, home of the Lakers until 1999, used to sit.

“The entire building focus is all about creating a home-court advantage for our team,” Gillian Zucker, CEO of Halo Sports and Entertainment, parent company of the Clippers and Intuit Dome, tells Front Office Sports.

The Clippers taking a piece of Lakers history to launch a new chapter is fitting, as the Intuit Dome symbolizes the team’s modern approach to attracting a fan base in Los Angeles—a direct contrast to the Purple and Gold, a family-owned franchise that lives and breathes history and legacy.

Crypto.com Arena, originally named Staples Center, was built in 1999, and does not have close to the number of bells and whistles of the Intuit Dome. Still, a Laker game remains a spectacle [[link removed]], with A-List celebrities and fans from all over the world lining up to see the franchise.

But as the Clippers continue to try to build a championship team on the court—which Zucker says is “inevitable” despite the team’s track record—the Intuit Dome’s pageantry can serve as its own spectacle.

Zucker says the team is too busy with its arena launch to focus on their crosstown rivals. But she admits the Intuit Dome, which comes just months after the team announced a full rebrand [[link removed]], is the beginning of a new chapter for the Clippers.

“People think of today as being the end of something. We think of today as being the start of something,” Zucker said.

Los Angeles Grandeur

As the arena waited on Tuesday for its big regular-season coming out party, its gaudy technological features were on full display. The stadium is so high-tech that AT&T CEO John Stankey boasted on a podcast [[link removed]] over the summer, “We’ve taken some of the most robust fiber infrastructure in Los Angeles that AT&T has and… we put seven and a half miles of fiber in.”

[link removed]

Some of the most intriguing tech elements include facial recognition used in team stores and concession areas, and video-game buttons on chairs for fans to participate in games played on a one-acre halo board.

The tech may not be perfect by Wednesday, as the facial recognition system created massive delays during a Bruno Mars concert in August [[link removed]]. But it’s just one part of the growing pains of grandiose attempts at development.

“I’ve checked on everyone with the team. There’s tremendous confidence around here and a lot of excitement. With anything like this, there can be things that surprise you along the way, but we’ve got the best of the best, and I think we’re ready to take any challenge that comes our way,” Zucker said.

Ballmer told ESPN [[link removed]] while he doesn’t see any glitches happening, he’s a little nervous. “I’ll probably hold my breath a little,” he said.

The venue also features a massive plaza with a full-sized, public basketball court, and decked-out amenities in the visitors’ locker rooms and referees’ holding room.

Will the Clippers have a season on the court that matches the new opulence around it? If they don’t, the jokes will come quickly: that the new arena is the only exciting thing the team has going for it. But Ballmer has spared no expense.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Caitlin Clark Could Get ‘Messi-Like’ Offer From Unrivaled

FOS illustration

The Unrivaled women’s 3-on-3 basketball league is preparing a “Messi-Like” offer for Caitlin Clark before its inaugural season in January, according to Front Office Sports columnist Michael McCarthy. He joins the show to explain how Clark could get more than a salary from the league.

Plus, Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard joins to discuss this NFL season, playing in the Super Bowl, and being on the field for Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury.

Also, NIL (name, image, and likeness) payments for college basketball players are reaching new heights, ESPN had a massive Monday Night Football fail, and a 45-year-old soccer legend plays his first professional tennis match.

Watch, listen, and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

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Conversation Starters Adidas released a new ad for the AE1 signature shoe of Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Bronny James has had more bets placed on him for Rookie of the Year than any other player, despite some extremely long odds to win the award [[link removed]]. Standing-room-only tickets for the World Series will cost you at least a grand. Take a look at the prices [[link removed]] in Los Angeles and New York. Editors’ Picks Chicago’s RSN Standoff Has No End in Sight As NBA Season Begins [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The Bulls still don’t have a Comcast carriage deal on opening night. Judge Allows Reworked $375 Million Settlement for UFC Fighters to Move Forward [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Hundreds of fighters could start to see six-figure payouts next year. NBA to Investigate Sixers for Joel Embiid Plan Before They Play a Game [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]He is expected to miss the first three games of the season. Question of the Day

Do you plan to watch Inter Miami and Lionel Messi in the MLS playoffs?

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Wednesday’s result: 79% of respondents think the NBA should retain its 65-game threshold for regular-season awards.

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