Report: Minnesota Timberwolves Sale Price Nears $1.5 Billion

As we continue to wait for the latest shoe to drop in the seemingly never-ending debate of “will Glen Taylor actually sell the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx,” a new report surfaced Friday afternoon that provided a few new details about the situation:

According to Mike Ozanian of Forbes, the sales price of the Timberwolves (and possibly the Lynx as well) has been significantly climbing as of late, despite everything going on with the pandemic, the economy, and the league’s very own finances. Ozanian went on to report that there is significant interest from multiple buyers, which supports what local media members like Jon Krawczynski had reported a few months back.

The real “juicy” detail in the story though is this:

According to my sources, who would not reveal the names of the bidders, Taylor has already turned down an offer of $1.45 billion for the Timberwolves. One of the sports bankers told me he expects the team to sell for about $1.5 billion—also about 6.4 times normalized revenue.

Ozanian explained that the recent sale of the Utah Jazz included ownership of the team’s arena; however, with the Timberwolves (who do not actually own Target Center), any possible sale would include operating rights to the arena. The uniqueness of this situation mixed with Taylor’s continued demands that both the Timberwolves and Lynx remain in Minnesota are likely reasons that this entire situation has dragged on as long as it has.

It remains to be seen here if Glen Taylor is truly motivated to sell the team, or if he is once again just gauging the level of interest from potential buyers. While I’m just a lowly blog boy, everything I’ve been told continues to back up the notion that Glen is serious this time about unloading the franchises, but until he can find the right buyer that meets his personal demands just as much as his financial demands, we may find ourselves in a bit of a stalemate.

Regardless of how this eventually plays out, the big picture takeaways is that despite everything going on in our country and specifically in the NBA (i.e. ratings, finances, etc.), the demand to buy into professional sports (especially the NBA) remains as high as ever. Whether it be as an investment tool or simply a platform to boost one’s ego, it remains clear that not even a global pandemic will slow down the desire of the uber wealthy when it comes to purchasing professional sports franchises.