Report: Update On Alex Rodriguez’s Purchase Of NBA Team

Alex Rodriguez really wants to become the owner of a professional sports franchise. He and now-former fiancée Jennifer Lopez had a failed bid to buy the New York Mets last year, and now he’s testing the NBA waters, attempting to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves with tech entrepreneur Marc Lore.

Last month, the team signed a Letter of Intent to buy the team, and entered a month of exclusive negotiations to try and reach a deal with current owner Glen Taylor. That 30-day window has now closed.

There’s still a very good chance that the A-Rod-helmed team will ultimately buy the Timberwolves. It does sound like they’d hit some snags in a deal believed to be worth $1.5 billion.

“Part of the talks over the last month have been centered on a guarantee that Taylor would transfer controlling ownership by a certain date,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports. He also mentions that Taylor insists that new ownership keeps the team in Minnesota. It is unclear if that is a bone of contention for Rodriguez and Lore.

“Both sides are continuing to negotiate in good faith in an attempt to reach an agreement and it is possible extension to the window could be worked, out but one isn’t currently in place,” Windhorst says.

The deal is also expected to include the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, one of the league’s most successful teams. The Lynx have won four WNBA titles since 2011.

Alex Rodriguez made over $450 million during his impressive baseball career, and has launched a very successful business career in the years since his retirement, on top of his work in sports media. Marc Lore is best known for founding Jet.com, an online retailer that was acquired by Walmart for $3.3 billion. He also sold the company Quidsi to Amazon for $545 million. He has an estimated net worth of around $4 billion.

[ESPN]

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