Alex Rodriguez will not be the majority owner of Minnesota’s NBA (Timberwolves) and WNBA (Lynx) franchises.

Alex Rodriguez played for the Yankees for 12 seasons.ASSOCIATED PRESS

Owner Glen Taylor announced Thursday in a news release that Rodriguez and partner Marc Lore missed a deadline Wednesday to acquire controlling interest (80%) in the teams. The two agreed to buy a majority stake in the franchises worth $1.5 billion in 2021, according to The Athletic. Both are not for sale anymore, Taylor said Thursday.

Under terms of the purchase agreement, the closing was required to occur within 90 days following the exercise notice issued by Lore and Rodriguez. That 90-day period expired on March 27, 2024.

Under certain circumstances, the buyer could have been entitled to a limited extension. However, those circumstances did not occur.

“I will continue to work with Marc, Alex and the rest of the ownership group to ensure our teams have the necessary resources to compete at the highest levels on and off the court,” said Taylor. “The Timberwolves and Lynx are no longer for sale.”

The odds of Rodriguez and Lore gaining ownership of the Timberwolves and Lynx took a hit less than two weeks ago when they lost the backing of the Carlyle Group, which would have given them a $300 million investment, according to reports. Then, on March 19, a spokesman for Rodriguez told the Daily Mail that the deadline would be met because the two had other funding options. It appears they were not able to find alternatives in the days since.

Rodriguez and Lore hold a 40% ownership stake in the teams. Taylor owns 60% with his limited partners.

It was, by design, a drawn-out acquisition process in part so Taylor could mentor Lore and Rodriguez on what’s involved in ownership of NBA and WNBA franchises. It was also an unusual process, with Lore and Rodriguez making payments in installments — the most recent known payment was a $290 million one, for roughly the second 20%, in March 2023.

Taylor, a lifelong Minnesotan, purchased the team in 1994 for $88 million, doing so at the time in part to keep the franchise from relocating to New Orleans or elsewhere.

Rodriguez said he and Lore — who unsuccessfully tried to purchase the New York Mets before striking the deal with Taylor — also were committed to Minnesota. In an interview with The Associated Press in 2022, Rodriguez said the NBA had welcomed him into the ownership world with open arms.

“It’s all about the fans in Minnesota. I think they deserve a winner,” Rodriguez said in that interview.

The Associated Press contributed to this report