OT: Not a bad ROI for Mr. Lore
How did the Timberwolves triple in value in 5 years?
One of the most attention grabbing parts of the reported controlling interest sale of the Timberwolves and Lynx from Marc Lore to Marc Stad is the price: $4.5 billion.
That's the valuation of the portion of the team Lore is selling to Stad, and it's triple the $1.5 billion valuation of the sale of the Wolves and Lynx from Glen Taylor to Lore and Alex Rodriguez that started in 2021 and finally concluded with approval in 2025.
Rather ironically, I explored some of the reasons earlier this week why team valuations are soaring in the context of the Lakers' recent sale at a $12.5 billion (after being sold a little over a year earlier at a $10 billion valuation).
Massive media rights deals and the prestige of major sports team ownership are at the top of the list of things driving team values up.
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Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Prestige, baby.....such a motivator for these billionaires. I've got a toy that you'll never have. They love to try and separate themselves that way. You're going to get all the high end tail you want, so that's not a differentiator....and close in over all net worth. Its the unique 'prestige' items that they care about.
Just a week before the Wolves deal, an ownership transaction valued the Lakers at $12.5 billion, up from a $10 billion valuation just 14 months earlier.
The Wolves’ valuation essentially tripled in five years — from $1.5 billion when Taylor agreed to sell to Lore and Rodriguez in 2021 to $4.5 billion in Friday’s announced deal.
And those values could continue to climb, thanks in large part to soaring media rights deals.
In the NBA, a new seven-year, $77 billion rights deal kicked in during the 2025-26 season. Split evenly between all 30 teams, each franchise’s share jumped from about $103 million in 2024-25 to $143 million last season. With annual increases over the life of the deal, Sports Business Journal reported that each franchise’s share will be about $280 million by its final season in 2035-36.
Some of those gains will be offset by rising player costs and other factors, but it’s still an enormous jump in guaranteed revenue.
WNBA valuations have soared recently as well thanks in large part to media deals. The Lynx were valued at $85 million by Sportico just two years ago but now sit at $405 million according to CNBC.
“We are continuing to see massive valuations in pro sports, with a number of recent transactions breaking records in various leagues and markets,” Clemens said. In addition to lucrative media rights, he pointed to demand for live entertainment, passionate fans, sports betting and real estate opportunities as factors driving that growth.
And unlike stocks, sports franchises are scarce. There are only 30 NBA teams and 15 WNBA teams, and franchises rarely come up for sale, even with the recent run of high-profile transactions.
Sports ownership can also provide benefits that don’t come with an ordinary stock investment. Clemens said owners gain admission to an exclusive group that can open doors to other opportunities in and outside sports. Teams also command a premium as “trophy assets,” offering prestige, community influence and personal enjoyment in addition to possible financial returns.
“Investment returns at the top levels of pro sports are competitive with — and in some cases superior to — where many traditional investments historically have landed,” Clemens said. “The secret on sports as an asset class is more than out.”
Talk about a new arena has persisted, in part because Target Center is the second-oldest venue in the NBA. The arena opened in 1990, though it completed a $145 million overhaul in 2017.
A potential new arena, which Lore and Rodriguez talked in the past about being privately financed, could provide another avenue for growth. Clemens said modern venues can generate more revenue through premium tickets, improved VIP sections, expanded sponsorships and development around the property.
If the teams owned an arena instead of playing in a publicly owned venue such as Target Center, they could also have greater control over concerts and other programming on days when the Wolves and Lynx are not playing.
But those gains would depend on the project’s cost, financing and ownership structure. Sports teams are privately held assets that trade in what researchers behind the Ross-Arctos Sports Franchise Index describe as an “opaque, illiquid market.”
Much of that conversation is still yet to come, but The Athletic reported on Friday that Stad is “all in on building a new arena in Minnesota.”
If that happens, allowing the Wolves and Lynx to thrive in Minnesota for decades to come, fans probably won’t be able to tell that the new owner is an investor from California instead of a businessman from Mankato.
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Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
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