BleedGopher
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Per Chris:
“When you spend so much time together, you really get tight for that time … There’s established trust,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell said he wasn’t looking for a job, but after nine years with the Panthers and overseeing the team become a title winner, he was ready for a new challenge and signed a 10-year contract with the Wolves and Lynx.
“We finally got the brand turned around … I don’t want to come off the wrong way, but what else more could we do with the Panthers? It was exciting and if this was just like another monstrous turnaround, worst team on and off the court, I don’t know if I’d want to go through all that again, but meeting [President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly], seeing how great the basketball side is, the ownership, a new arena pursuit is exciting and a great thing to work on.”
Since taking over control of the teams in June, Lore and Rodriguez have been outspoken about their desire for a new arena in Minneapolis. It is a venture they said they are prepared to fund privately.
Caldwell outlined what the timeline of finding a new home could be.
To illustrate how long that might take, Caldwell said he would explain by “working backwards,” first in discussing how long it would take an arena to be built once there was “shovel to ground.”
“It typically is about two and a half to three years to build. So at a minimum, even if we were ready to start construction today, you’re talking, let’s call it three years.”
Then backtracking from that, Caldwell said it could take “two to four years” when it comes to getting to that point, depending on things like relationships with local government and scouting different sites.
“Even if you get to a handshake agreement on location and how the economics are going to work, you have to work through getting a whole operating agreement in place. Papering that can take six months to a year.
“There’s permitting that’s involved, zoning, architects, whether or not we’re going to have a development partner. That could all be within a two to four year process. You’re probably looking at least five years to have it open, but it’s a huge priority for us. But I want to set the stage that it’s going to be a massive operation.”
As for the current arena in Target Center, Caldwell said for next season the team is going to have theater-style lighting, similar to what the Knicks have at Madison Square Garden and the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. The lights over the crowd will be dimmed to amplify and center the lighting on the floor.
“Every ownership group has different ways to run a business. This was definitely not ‘the team’s in financial trouble and we’re trying to cut costs’. We’re trying to run a very efficient, profitable business.”
Caldwell said his philosophy is more to pay higher salaries to people who can take on a lot of responsibilities than parsing those out over a few positions.
“I’d rather have one person doing two or three jobs than three mediocre players. It’s all about evaluating people on a day-to-day basis and making sure people are completely bought in, passionate and ready to go.”
Caldwell said that dynamic is different with the Wolves because Connelly has been so successful both in Denver and Minnesota and has established relationships with Lore and Rodriguez.
“They’ve already established their rhythm, so I’m just here to support that,” Caldwell said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Tim this summer. My comfort level and relationship with Tim has been one of the biggest reasons why my family and I decided to move here. … We’re all in this together at the end of the day and, we’ll all be reporting into the ownership and just running in the same direction. I’m happy that’s already established because it took us [time to establish in Florida].”
He hopes that by building an “elite” culture on the business side, it can have a rollover effect to the rest of the organization.
“When people look up to your leadership, you want to make sure that it’s not fake, it’s not forced. I’m working very hard to be visible, to be around and just make sure that the culture of the whole franchise is a culture of excellence.”
www.startribune.com
Howl Wolves!!
How he came to Minnesota
Viola had a relationship with current Wolves and Lynx owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, and together they were part of a group attempting to purchase the New York Mets in 2020, Caldwell said. That’s where his relationship began with Lore and Rodriguez, so when they called about the Wolves job, he was open to hearing them out based on their previous experience working together.“When you spend so much time together, you really get tight for that time … There’s established trust,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell said he wasn’t looking for a job, but after nine years with the Panthers and overseeing the team become a title winner, he was ready for a new challenge and signed a 10-year contract with the Wolves and Lynx.
“We finally got the brand turned around … I don’t want to come off the wrong way, but what else more could we do with the Panthers? It was exciting and if this was just like another monstrous turnaround, worst team on and off the court, I don’t know if I’d want to go through all that again, but meeting [President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly], seeing how great the basketball side is, the ownership, a new arena pursuit is exciting and a great thing to work on.”
About that new arena … and a little about the current one
Caldwell worked on trying to find a new home for the Panthers before the team decided to renovate its current home, Amerant Bank Arena, for over $1 billion.Since taking over control of the teams in June, Lore and Rodriguez have been outspoken about their desire for a new arena in Minneapolis. It is a venture they said they are prepared to fund privately.
Caldwell outlined what the timeline of finding a new home could be.
To illustrate how long that might take, Caldwell said he would explain by “working backwards,” first in discussing how long it would take an arena to be built once there was “shovel to ground.”
“It typically is about two and a half to three years to build. So at a minimum, even if we were ready to start construction today, you’re talking, let’s call it three years.”
Then backtracking from that, Caldwell said it could take “two to four years” when it comes to getting to that point, depending on things like relationships with local government and scouting different sites.
“Even if you get to a handshake agreement on location and how the economics are going to work, you have to work through getting a whole operating agreement in place. Papering that can take six months to a year.
“There’s permitting that’s involved, zoning, architects, whether or not we’re going to have a development partner. That could all be within a two to four year process. You’re probably looking at least five years to have it open, but it’s a huge priority for us. But I want to set the stage that it’s going to be a massive operation.”
As for the current arena in Target Center, Caldwell said for next season the team is going to have theater-style lighting, similar to what the Knicks have at Madison Square Garden and the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. The lights over the crowd will be dimmed to amplify and center the lighting on the floor.
On recent layoffs
Right around the time Caldwell accepted the job, the team laid off roughly 35 employees (less than 10% of its workforce). Caldwell said these layoffs were “100% restructuring” and not an indication of any financial issues on the part of the organization.“Every ownership group has different ways to run a business. This was definitely not ‘the team’s in financial trouble and we’re trying to cut costs’. We’re trying to run a very efficient, profitable business.”
Caldwell said his philosophy is more to pay higher salaries to people who can take on a lot of responsibilities than parsing those out over a few positions.
“I’d rather have one person doing two or three jobs than three mediocre players. It’s all about evaluating people on a day-to-day basis and making sure people are completely bought in, passionate and ready to go.”
How the business and basketball departments will intersect
With the Panthers, ownership and the business side required that the hockey operations department keep in constant contact with them in the desire to achieve organizational alignment.Caldwell said that dynamic is different with the Wolves because Connelly has been so successful both in Denver and Minnesota and has established relationships with Lore and Rodriguez.
“They’ve already established their rhythm, so I’m just here to support that,” Caldwell said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Tim this summer. My comfort level and relationship with Tim has been one of the biggest reasons why my family and I decided to move here. … We’re all in this together at the end of the day and, we’ll all be reporting into the ownership and just running in the same direction. I’m happy that’s already established because it took us [time to establish in Florida].”
He hopes that by building an “elite” culture on the business side, it can have a rollover effect to the rest of the organization.
“When people look up to your leadership, you want to make sure that it’s not fake, it’s not forced. I’m working very hard to be visible, to be around and just make sure that the culture of the whole franchise is a culture of excellence.”
In an exclusive interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, new Wolves/Lynx CEO has an update on Target Center
After winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships as Florida Panthers CEO, Matt Caldwell was named the next chief executive of the Timberwolves and Lynx.
www.startribune.com
Howl Wolves!!
