Marc Lore now controls the Minnesota Timberwolves. Alex Rodriguez remains governor of the Minnesota Lynx, but not the NBA club. The ownership structure announced this week ends eighteen months of fog around which partner held decision rights on which franchise after the pair's $1.5 billion purchase of both teams from Glen Taylor closed in stages between 2021 and 2023.
Lore takes the controlling economic interest in the Timberwolves and becomes the NBA's governor of record. Rodriguez keeps the same title for the Lynx, the WNBA franchise that shares Target Center but operates under separate league governance. Both men retain minority stakes in the other's primary asset. Taylor, who sold the teams but retained a sliver of equity and keeps a suite, no longer holds veto rights on basketball operations or facility deals.
The significance is league-specific and arrives eleven months before both the NBA and WNBA negotiate new collective bargaining agreements. Lore inherits a Timberwolves roster with $193 million in committed salary for 2025-26, the second year of Anthony Edwards' max extension and the summer Karl-Anthony Towns' $220 million deal enters its final season. Rodriguez inherits a Lynx team coming off a WNBA Finals appearance with Napheesa Collier eligible for a supermax under the league's newly expanded salary structure. Collier's agent met with three ownership groups in January. She now knows Rodriguez signs the check.
Target Center naming rights expire in June 2027. The previous negotiation, handled by Taylor in 2017, delivered $5.4 million annually from Target Corporation. Lore's team has already started conversations with Allianz, 3M, and U.S. Bank about a replacement deal in the $12-15 million range, per two people familiar. The Lynx share arena revenue but the Timberwolves control the lease with the city. Rodriguez's Lynx operate under a separate but parallel naming-rights agreement that pays roughly 18 percent of the NBA figure. If Lore closes a new arena naming deal, Rodriguez's payments adjust automatically under a formula written into the 2021 purchase agreement.
The structure also splits media strategy. Lore holds the NBA local broadcast rights, currently with Bally Sports North through 2029 at $42 million per season. The contract includes an opt-out after 2026 if Diamond Sports exits bankruptcy without a distribution deal that reaches 1.8 million Minnesota households. Rodriguez controls Lynx media, which streams on Amazon locally and aired 23 games on ION last season. WNBA national rights jump from $60 million to $200 million per year starting in 2026 under the league's new deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBC. Local rights remain with team governors. Rodriguez has taken three meetings with Gray Television about a Twin Cities broadcast package for 2026.
Sponsor renewal calendars now diverge. The Timberwolves' jersey patch deal with Fitbit (owned by Google) expires after this season and delivered $8 million annually. Lore's revenue team is in late-stage talks with Mayo Clinic and General Mills for a replacement at $12-14 million. The Lynx jersey patch, currently Xcel Energy at $1.2 million per year, comes up for renewal in December 2025. Rodriguez met with Xcel's CMO in February. The previous deal was signed before the WNBA's national media jump and before Caitlin Clark added $7 million in incremental jersey patch value across the league, per Apex Marketing Group's post-season analysis.
Watch for Lore to replace Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly's front-office structure by July, when luxury-tax bills come due and Minnesota faces a $33 million penalty if the roster stays as constructed. Rodriguez will hire a Lynx general manager by April, before the WNBA draft. Cheryl Reeve remains head coach but has told associates she wants to focus on coaching, not roster construction, after fifteen years doing both. The Target Center naming-rights pitch decks go out in May.
The takeaway
Lore gets NBA economics and luxury-tax decisions; Rodriguez gets WNBA title and a rising media asset before the next CBA.
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