The Ishbias’ interest is a big deal for a lot of reasons, but what will strike a cord with Twins fans most, is their willingness to invest into the Suns, while simultaneously saving money for Phoenix fans.

Minnesota Twins prospective buyers are for the people

Right after purchasing the Suns, at the end of December, 2022, they turned around and traded for Kevin Durant, lifting Phoenix immediately into NBA Finals conversations among league talking heads. Since then, the Suns have consistently been near the top of the NBA in roster salary and luxury tax penalties paid.

This season, Ishbia is projected (according to Spotrac.com) to pay $409 million total, between salaries and tax penalties. That’s $110 million more than the 2nd highest total, $299 million by our own Minnesota Timberwolves

Meanwhile, sick of dealing with outdated regional sports network, Bally Sports Arizona, Mat Ishbia announced in May 2023 that the Phoenix Suns were done holding their fans hostage with RSN fees. Instead, they were taking games over the air… where fans could watch them for free.

Related: Minnesota Twins Sale Suddenly on an Expedited Timeline

That’s right, if you can reach local TV towers with your bunny ears in Arizona (or if your cable/satellite package includes local news channels), you can watch Phoenix Suns basketball games. But RSNs aren’t the only anti-fan problem with professional sports today, according to the Ishbias.

Ishbia Brothers: ‘Down with absurd concession costs!’

On Wednesday, Mat Ishbia announced that you no longer have to be a billionaire to afford concession costs at Phoenix Suns games. From here on out, those attending Footprint Center in Phoenix for Suns games will be able to buy popcorn, fountain pop, bottled water, chips and hot dogs for $2 each, down 70%+ for all of those basic concession items.

Winning starts with our fans. When I walk the concourse at games there aren’t food options for families who don’t want to spend a lot of money. That needs to change, so today we’re rolling out our $2 value menu for all home @Suns games. pic.twitter.com/BsluNoKD5P

— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) December 18, 2024

This is what it looks like when an ownership group gets it. Instead of alienating your fanbase by making your team more difficult to watch, or charging them hundreds and hundreds of dollars to attend and enjoy a game, if they come to the stadium may help boost profit margins in the short-term, but it does nothing for the longevity of your business plan.

Owning a sports franchise in 2024-25 is about growing the popularity of your team. The NBA, NFL and MLB are printing money. Teams are worth 1000x more than they were three decades ago, and that is because of fan interest. Lose that, and you lose everything.

Related: Veteran Infielder Named as Realistic Free Agent Target for Minnesota Twins

So what’s more important? It’s pleasing fans. The Ishbias understand that. So let us pray they get to rain some of these good owner practices down on Minnesota Twins fans, in the near future. No fanbase deserves good ownership more.

But any good PR gained by the Pohlads over the near fifteen years since Target Field was built — whether it was the Joe Mauer extension right before, the Carlos Correa free agent signing more recently or the deepest playoff run since 2004, in 2023 — it all evaporated with one offseason of $30 million in payroll cuts between the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Combine those budget cuts with one of the worst 2nd half collapses in franchise history, this last fall, and a fanbase growing more and more apathetic with every season they can’t watch, thanks to a TV broadcast partnership that went bankrupt… let’s just say relations between fans and ownership was at a breaking point, entering this offseason.

Pohlads, Minnesota Twins mutually agree to part ways

It got so bad, at the end of the season, that fans were being detained and kicked out of Target Field for bringing “Fire the Pohlads” signs to home games. That was yet another PR disaster, for a team that had negative trust built up with a fed up fanbase.

This is insane! My new hero @bailbino proudly displayed these signs at Target Field on Friday night, where he was subsequently ARRESTED and BANNED from the stadium for a year.

I'm probably not tweeting this for an article that's about to get 1 million pageviews. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/nUQ7MP5yJo

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 28, 2024

In October, the Pohlads finally threw up their hands. They put a “For Sale” sign on the MLB franchise that it has owned for 40 years. And the fans cheered. Since then, multiple reports have surfaced with rumored interest coming from mostly local rich people.

This week, however, another wave of insider reports hit the rumor mill suggesting the Pohlads were not getting offers in the price range of what they were asking, which is believed to be $1.7 million. As recently as Thursday, Derek Falvey told reporters at the MLB Winter Meetings that the sale of the Minnesota Twins was not expected to happen imminently.

Related: Minnesota Twins Select Pitcher in 2024 Rule 5 Draft

The Twins’ new president went as far as to say that the Twins were still on phase one of the selling process, which is gathering all the information needed to move to phase two, which is exploring interested buyers. not yet to the phase where they were taking offers.

“There is a phase one of the process, which is gathering a ton of information. Our lawyers and our finance people, and everyone else who needs to get everything into order, they’ve been working like crazy to get it that way. Then there’s the next phase to the process when potential buyers are starting to look into this. We’re not in that phase yet.”

Derek Falvey at the MLB Winter Meetings this week

Again, just to be clear, these quotes came out of Derek Falvey’s mouth within the past couple of days and hit the news cycle in the last 36 hours. Why is that noteworthy? Because it turns out Falvey was lying.

On Friday, news broke that a new interested party was exploring a purchase of the Minnesota Twin. And it isn’t just any parth. It’s the Ishbia brothers, current owners of the Phoenix Suns. We aren’t talking about mild interest, either.

According to The Athletic, Justin Ishbia has already been in town. Why? He has “held several meetings with local leaders” to investigate the business viability of the Twins and the Twin Cities baseball market.

Minnesota Twins sale timeline has been expedited

Not only have talks evolved far enough to where the Ishbias are in town, ingratiating themselves with people that matter locally. But the timeline of the sale, itself, seems to have been expedited exponentially. We’ve gone from struggling through “phase one”, just a day or two ago, to an expected resolution within six months, per The Athletic’s latest reporting.

Earlier this year, Forbes and Sportico estimated the Twins to be worth $1.46 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively. The most recent Major League Baseball team to sell is the Baltimore Orioles, who fetched $1.725 billion in March.

Several parties briefed on the matter expect the Twins’ sale process to take six months, which means a new ownership group is unlikely to be in place before Opening Day.

Dan Hayes, Sam Amick and Dennis Lin – The Athletic

To recap: One day after we were told to prepare ourselves for a long, drawn-out sales process, MLB insiders now believe it’s possible the Minnesota Twins have new owners by Opening Day. Even if it’s still “unlikely”, that’s a lot different than what Falvey propagated earlier this week.

Think about it. Six months from today, which is the new reported timeline, would land us on June 13. That’s more than a month before the 2025 All-Star break… and a month and half before the trade deadline. Of note: The Phoenix Suns traded for Kevin Durant just three days later. Talk about a fun deadline…

Related: Minnesota Twins Still Near Top of 2025 AL Central Odds

So, what did we learn today? We learned that the grass may very well be greener on the other side. More importantly, we once again learned that any words falling out of Derek Falvey’s mouth cannot be trusted. That man will say anything to anyone, depending on the situation.

Either our team president was in the dark (doubtful) or he was lying (most likely). I wouldn’t shed a tear if Falvey was not in the Ishbia brothers’ long-term plan, either. That has very much been confirmed for me this week, too.

That doesn’t sit well with Twins fans who are watching a now disinterested Pohlad family completely pull the financial rug from underneath the Major League Baseball organization they no longer have any interest investing into. But on Friday, we got some potentially groundbreaking news that could very well shift the narrative.

Ishbia brothers are interested in the Minnesota Twins

If you could create a major professional sports owner that combined Steve Cohen and Mark Cuban, you’d come up with something close to Mat (and Justin) Ishbia, who purchased the Phoenix Suns and Mercury (WNBA) in December, 2022.

In just two short years, the Ishbias have established themselves as one of the most competitive, spend-happy ownership groups, not just in the NBA… but in the entire professional sports world. And on Sunday, multiple MLB insiders have come out with reports that Mat and Justin Ishbia are interested in purchasing the Minnesota Twins.

A source briefed on the situation confirmed that Suns owner Mat Ishbia and his brother Justin are interested in buying the Twins from the Pohlad family, which began exploring a sale in October after 40 years of ownership. Mat Ishbia, whom Forbes estimated has a net worth of $10.1 billion, purchased the Suns in December 2022.

Dan Hayes on the interest in Minnesota from Ishbia brothers (The Athletic)

Mat is just 44 years old and has shown an affinity to be present around his teams. Justin is 47 years old and just made a $10 million NIL donation to Michigan State dedicated to baseball and basketball payments. Justin knows the Midwest well with his Shore Capital Partners investing firm, located in Chicago.

How excited should Twins fans get over this news?

How serious are the Ishbias? Serious enough that they have already been “meeting with local community leaders across the state” in order to learn more about the organization, and whether or not a massive ~$1.5 billion investment in the Northstar State would be worth it.

“The 47-year-old [Justin Ishbia] has been meeting with local community leaders across the state to learn more about the community and the opportunity to carry on the Twins legacy, one person said.”

Bloomberg report on Justin Ishbia’s interest in the Twins

From my experience covering and aggregating news stories like this, the fact that we are hearing about the Ishbias’ interest in the Twins, means their preliminary investigation is either wrapping up, or already complete.

Related: Minnesota Twins Sale Attracting Interest but Asking Price is a Problem

Just months after acquiring the NBA team, new ownership went out and landed Kevin Durant. They also have experience dealing with Diamond Sports Group, and left Bally Sports Network in order to air games on local channels. An early Suns giveaway included a free cable antenna for all fans in the stadium.

The Ishbias would immediately inject life into apathetic Minnesota Twins fanbase

Ishbia generated his wealth as the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. Should he buy the Twins, he would be the third richest owner in the sport trailing only Steve Cohen and Edward S. Rogers. His brother Justin, who would be the controlling partner, is worth $4.9 billion.

What little I know about Mat and Justin Ishbia:

– They've made aggressive moves and spent big money on the Suns.

– They donated over $40 million to fund Michigan State's basketball and baseball programs.

– Mat played basketball for MSU's title-winning 2000 team under Tom Izzo.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) December 13, 2024

Related: Minnesota Twins Still Near Top of 2025 AL Central Odds; White Sox Prove Life Could Be Worse

Even at the currently inflated price point of $1.7 billion, Ishbia could cover the deal. Minnesota will seek an arrangement near the $1.725 billion Baltimore sold for. Whether they get that remains to be seen. An independently wealthy billionaire is who fans should want to take over, but someone with personal interest is important as well.

The possibility of an owner with a net worth two-and-a-half times as much as the Pohlad family is exciting. Of course no one needs to spend to the New York Mets level in Minnesota, but it would seem to remove self-imposed payroll restrictions.

No matter what, after 40 years of owning the Twins, Minnesota will feel different when out of the Pohlad’s grasp. How different depends to whose hands they move.