Anthony Edwards & Timberwolves Saved Alex Rodriguez From $30 Million MLB Embarrassment

In a twist of fate, former MLB superstar Alex Rodriguez has found salvation in the Minnesota Timberwolves and the NBA, after his efforts to acquire ownership of the New York Mets did not pan out. Rodriguez and then-fiance Jennifer Lopez were outbid for the Mets by billionaire Steve Cohen, who closed the acquisition in October 2020 for $2.4 billion. His misfortune then seems to have worked out in his favour now.

In 2021, Rodriguez, along with entrepreneur Marc Lore, acquired the Minnesota Timberwolves for $1.5 billion. Anthony Edwards and the Wolves may have saved him from the plummeting industry of Major League Baseball.

MLB’s decline and why Alex Rodriguez & Anthony Edwards won’t suffer the same fate at NBA

On the Colin Cowherd podcast, Cowherd discussed the MLB’s current financial standing. He talked about the significant disparity in the financial and cultural status of the NBA and MLB. MLB recently signed to Roku, a streaming service, on a contract of $30 million, which roughly amounts to a mere $1 million per team. By comparison, the NBA is expected to make billions of dollars a year from its television deals. According to Cowherd, the MLB lacks two things that the NBA currently has; star-driven marketing and dynamic energy.

“Baseball’s increasingly over the last 20 years has lost its social currency in America,” Cowherd said. He continued, “The NBA will never become baseball. They know how to Market. It’s a star-driven League. In the NBA it’s like Luka, Giannis, Jokic. It’s like Pele, Messi, Ronaldo. There’s a star ingredient.” Colin feels that a sign that the NBA has become an international phenomenon is the fact that the big stars are all one-word names that everyone is familiar with. He cites the example of the football Big 3; Pele, Messi and Ronaldo.

Jason Timpf contributed to the conversation by drawing attention to the disparity between the revenue generated by individual NBA games compared to MLB’s Roku agreement. “Didn’t the Liberty Fever game get over a million dollars just in ticket sales from that one game?” Timpf said. “And Major League Baseball teams are getting a million for a contract with Roku. That’s flat-out embarrassing.”

Rodriguez’s shift to the NBA has spelt luck for him amidst the MLB’s woes. The Timberwolves and their rising star Anthony Edwards, the face of the new generation, have a promising future. ANT possesses the dynamic energy and the it-factor that Cowherd feels is integral to the NBA’s success. A-Rod’s transition to the NBA might have saved him but trouble still lingers for the Wolves owner and his present contract.

Alex Rodriguez’s ownership fight at Minnesota Timberwolves

A-Rod and Marc Lore are currently engaged in a long-drawn legal dispute against the team’s owner, Glen Taylor. The closing date for the acquisition agreement between Marc Lore, Alex Rodriguez, and the Minnesota Timberwolves was set for March. Through this deal, Rodriguez and Lore were set to acquire a 40% minority ownership stake in the team. But come March, Glen Taylor declared on the team website that he was pulling out of the arrangement, citing Rodriguez and Lore’s failure to adhere to the requirements by the deadline.

The Timberwolves’ worth has exponentially increased since the initial contract. As of last October, Forbes estimated the team’s valuation to be around $2.5 billion, up roughly $2 billion from $625 million a decade earlier and 50% from $1.7 billion in 2022. The potential purchasers are reportedly getting ready for arbitration after an unsuccessful round of mediation earlier this month, per sources from The Athletic and The Star Tribune.

Regardless, NBA has been a savior for A-Rod. As the Wolves make their way into the finals, the decision on Rodriguez’s ownership remains unclear. Although notably, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore seem to have an open-and-shut case. Until then, fans can watch them play against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 on May 22.