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For T-Wolves and Lynx, a practice multiplex

The Mayo Clinic runs a sports medicine clinic that shares a lobby with the practice facility.
Photo by: DON MURET / STAFF
The gleaming new practice facility for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx has every amenity players need to compete at basketball’s highest level. But it also has the potential to generate significant revenue as the ownership group takes the next step for developing such a facility into a profit center.

The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square opened in June in downtown Minneapolis. The 107,000-square-foot space, a retrofit of a movie theater complex, is double the size of most NBA practice facilities.

It sits on prime real estate across the street from Target Center in the heart of the city’s business, sports and entertainment district. The new digs consolidate basketball and business operations into one venue the Timberwolves operate on their own, unlike the city-owned arena, managed by AEG.

Glen Taylor, owner of both teams, privately financed the $25 million development, an investment offset by Mayo Clinic’s naming-rights deal for the facility. Financial terms have not been disclosed, but the deal runs between five and 10 years, said Ted Johnson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer. In exchange, the hospital runs a 20,000-square-foot sports medicine clinic across the lobby from the practice facility. It serves both players and the public.

Other NBA teams have practice facilities named for medical institutions, such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls. But this is the first time a hospital has activated its sponsorship by operating a clinic at the training complex, Johnson said.

It’s one point of differentiation as the Timberwolves and Lynx developed a strategy to produce revenue. Since the practice facility opened, they have signed deals with team sponsors U.S. Bank and Cambria for the new venue, Johnson said.

Top to bottom: Practice court, lobby waiting area with displays, an open floor plan for office space.
Photos by: DON MURET / STAFF
The location is obviously a big draw. Every day, 10,000 to 12,000 people walk through the skyway connecting the arena to the practice facility, part of an extensive indoor walkway system downtown, and the number swells considerably for events at Target Center and Target Field, home of the Twins. The arena and ballpark alone attract 4 million visitors annually, and a large portion of them use the skyway, providing valuable exposure for team partners and potential new sponsors, Johnson said.

In addition, the Timberwolves and Lynx can now expand the number of pregame events tied to ticket promotions by using a 100-seat theater remaining from the old layout and renovated as part of the practice facility. Both teams face restrictions for what they can do with pregame hospitality at Target Center, which opened in 1990 but is on the cusp of a $130 million renovation.

“For example, we may do a speaker series promotion,” Johnson said. “If all five rooms are filled up over there [at Target Center], we now have a theater and can do a sixth pregame promotion, expanding our footprint of what was already the smallest for an NBA arena.”

The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square also bring more assets to the Academy, the team’s youth basketball programs. For those activities, the two new courts join Target Center’s main court and two courts at Lifetime Fitness, the health club beneath the arena that served as the old practice facility.

As ownership completes the final design of Target Center upgrades, which are to be made public this fall, the practice facility will serve as a preview center to sell new premium seat products. Officials have reserved a 3,500-square-foot room for that purpose, one floor below the team offices.

The practice facility, designed by Dimensional Innovations and AECOM, speaks to ownership’s desire for greater transparency. The two basketball courts are fully visible to visitors and Mayo Clinic patrons waiting in the lobby. Curtains come down when the teams are practicing, but individual players have used the courts on occasion without feeling the need to use the curtains, Johnson said.

Inside the teams’ office space, which for the most part is an open floor plan, meeting rooms are named for old ABA teams in Minnesota. Men’s and women’s restroom signs contain the NBA and WNBA logos. Those “easter eggs” are intended to surprise and delight visitors to the facility, Johnson said.

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