T-Wolves exec, Minneapolis mayor float using public money to replace one downtown arena with another

The current Wolves arena is only two blocks from the struggling Nicollet Mall that has been floated as a new arena site, but sure, maybe a new arena will cause restaurants, retail, and housing to spring up because this one will be different. (Studies have found “no evidence of any effect, positive or negative, of new sports facilities on new businesses around these facilities,” but there’s a first time for everything, right?)

Frey’s office had said last year that the mayor held that “any new arena for the Timberwolves must be built without relying on taxpayer dollars,” and Lore and Rodriguez said at the time that they were ready to fund an arena privately, but as we’ve seen time and again, promising to pay for construction of a stadium or arena almost never means promising to do so without asking for any tax breaks, or free land, or infrastructure money, or something else on the public tab. The teams’ lease on the arena — which was just renovated with the help of $74 million in city money in 2017 — doesn’t expire until 2035, but Lore and A-Rod can buy their way out for just $50 million, so this issue could easily start to heat up sooner than later.