The arbitration panel deliberating over the sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx has ruled in favor of Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, a significant step toward the duo completing their acquisition of the NBA and WNBA franchises.
The three-person panel ruled that the pair did not violate the terms of their 2021 purchase agreement, which Taylor claimed when he called off the final two payments, and should be allowed to continue with the acquisition, according to a spokesperson for the Rodriguez and Lore group. The 2-1 decision comes following arbitration hearings that started at the beginning of November and continued into the new year.
The ruling likely clears the way for Rodriguez and Lore to continue with their purchase of the Timberwolves and Lynx. The pair owe Taylor about $942 million to acquire the roughly 60% stake still outstanding, and that money was put aside in escrow last year, Sportico reported in October. The next major step before that money can be transferred is full approval from the NBA—the pair were already approved as minority owners years ago—which would come via a review of their finances and ultimately, a league-wide owners vote.
Should they be approved, it would put to rest one of the more unique and messy transactions in modern U.S. sports. The original purchase agreement allowed Rodriguez and Lore to buy the teams over four years in four stages—20%, 20%, 40%, then 20%. The valuation on the deal was $1.5 billion for the first payment, with small increases at each successive stage. The Timberwolves are now worth $3.29 billion, including the Lynx at $85 million, according to Sportico, a significantly higher total than the deal itself.
Taylor could also petition a federal judge to vacate the arbitration award. He said Monday in a statement that while he was “disappointed” with the decision, he would “review the decision thoroughly prior to making any further comment.”
The arbitration ruling is vindication of sorts for the buyers, who have been adamant over the past year that Taylor was delaying the inevitable.
“We’re going to be the owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves,” Lore told Sportico in March 2024. “It’s just a matter of time, and how much pain Glen wants to put the fans, the players, the town and community through. It’s his choice. It didn’t have to be this way.”
The Lore and Rodriguez group successfully purchased about 40% of the teams in the deal’s first two payments, but Taylor called the rest of the deal off last March, around the time the third payment was due, claiming the buyers had breached their contract. That led to an unsuccessful mediation session seven months ago, and the arbitration that began during the first week of November. The buyers’ backers include billionaires Mike Bloomberg and Eric Schmidt, plus private equity giant Blue Owl.
If he were to seek to challenge the ruling, Taylor would face difficult, but not insurmountable, odds. Federal law requires that courts accord high deference to arbitration awards on the idea that if the parties have contracted to arbitrate their dispute, courts should honor that decision and only intervene in exceptional circumstances.
While arbitration as a method of dispute resolution is sometimes regarded as unfair when the parties have unequal bargaining power—such as a big company and an ordinary consumer—that concern doesn’t apply to Taylor, Lore and Rodriguez. All of them are very wealthy, experienced businesspersons with access to top attorneys and can draw from the advice of sophisticated voices. Another hurdle for Taylor in petitioning a court would be that the three arbitrators are all seasoned and respected experts, and likely to draw deference from a judge.
That said, if Taylor could identify an established rationale for vacating an arbitration award, his odds would jump. For instance, if the panel allowed testimony or evidence precluded under their arbitration rules to sway their decision, a court might regard the arbitration as defective. The panel’s reliance on improper evidence, including evidence drawn from trade secrets and confidential materials, would also serve as a persuasive reason for a court to scrutinize the arbitration award. If Taylor succeeded in convincing a court to vacate the award, Lore and Rodriguez could then petition an appeals court to review the matter—meaning the ownership dispute could remain in court for many months, if not longer.
The NBA, which was subpoenaed in the process, has largely stayed on the sidelines. That said, commissioner Adam Silver told reporters in April that the structure of the deal, with its delayed path to control and the lack of up-front cash, was “not ideal” and may influence future processes.
“I think once the dust clears on this deal, it may cause us to reassess what sort of transactions we should allow,” Silver said. “It met our rules from that standpoint, and it’s what Glen Taylor wanted and what [the buyers] were willing to agree to at the time.”
In December, Silver confirmed to Sportico that the NBA’s approval process for the control stake hadn’t yet begun.
Taylor bought the Timberwolves in 1995 for about $88.5 million. The team went to the conference finals last season for the first time since 2004. The Lynx joined the WNBA in 1999 and were runners-up in the WNBA Finals last season. The 40% stake in dispute includes general partnership interests and all of the non-Taylor LP interests, according to a lawsuit filed after the agreement by the largest outside shareholder in the teams. The final payment, originally supposed to be the final 20%, is all equity from Taylor.
(This story has been updated with more details on the arbitration decision and analysis of a potential challenge from Taylor.)