維京人隊老闆有可能買下同州的灰狼隊 - 美式足球

Sources: Wilf family emerges as top candidate to buy Timberwolves
https://tinyurl.com/y3uhkpxh

原文作者:Adam Schefter, ESPN Senior Writer

The Wilf family that owns the Minnesota Vikings has emerged as a serious
candidate to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves, NFL sources told ESPN.

有不少NFL消息源透漏ESPN︰明尼蘇達維京人隊主要持有者Wilf家族，正在進行
一場最近在運動圈廣受矚目的競標案，也就是購買同州的NBA籃球隊灰狼。

Only recently did the Wilfs emerge as one of the groups bidding to buy the
NBA team in their city from billionaire Glen Taylor, sources said. There are
several bidders for the team, including metropolitan New York real estate
developer Meyer Orbach, who bought a minority stake in the Timberwolves in
2016. Former Timberwolves standout Kevin Garnett also said he is forming a
group to try to purchase the team.

Wilf家族儘管最近才被爆料，是想要買下同州另一位億萬富翁Glen Taylor旗下
球隊的財團，但事實上想要買下灰狼隊的競標者並不少，甚至還包括大紐約起家
但曾於2016年買下灰狼少數股份的地產開發商Meyer Orbach。此外，灰狼隊退役
傳奇球星Kevin Garnett也讚本周公開宣稱願意組團購買他的前東家隊。

But the Wilfs appear to be in a prime spot at this time to buy the
Timberwolves, though a decision on the sale might not be made until
September, sources said.

不過，Wilf家族看起來明顯就是最有可能買下灰狼隊的富翁；但有不少消息
源也指出︰這項資產拍賣最快要到9月才能確定得標者。

Taylor has owned the team since 1994, when he bought it for about $88
million. He has retained The Raine Group to sell the franchise.
He is seeking at least $1.2 billion for the team that has been valued
at close to $1.4 billion.

Taylor在1994年以超過8千萬美金的價碼收購後，就持有灰狼隊至今。他在最近
宣布︰會維持多媒體創投公司「The Raine Group」的持股，並藉以拍賣球隊。
泰勒爺爺希望成交時能賣出12億美金的價格—因為先前有媒體評估灰狼隊的
市場價值將近14億鎂。

Taylor told the Athletic he will not sell the team to a group that wants
to move it out of Minneapolis.

"People have inquired who are interested but they want to move the team,"
he said. "They are not a candidate. We've made that very clear."

泰勒爺爺在接受知名付費網站「運動家報」訪問時曾表態︰不會將球隊賣給想要
趁機將球隊搬離明尼蘇達的財團；以下是他的發言「我旗下的助理已經詢問過
那些(對購買球隊)有興趣的人，但我們也要把話說清楚—那些在買進球隊後想要
搬家的人，他們都不會未來的潛在候選人。」

The Wilfs bought the Vikings from Red McCombs in 2005 for $600 million. The
NFL franchise's value now likely would be well over $3 billion. Zygi Wilf is
the Vikings' principal owner, Mark Wilf is the president and co-owner, and
Leonard Wilf is co-owner and vice chairman. They have been active in
Minnesota, getting U.S. Bank Stadium built, building a state-of-the-art
training facility for the Vikings and then just last month donating $5
million to various social justice causes -- on top of the $5 million they
donated to COVID-19 relief.

在這裡也科普維京人隊目前持有者Wilf家族的相關資訊︰
1.他們在2005年以6億美金的價碼，從德州富商Red McCombs買進球隊
2.維京人隊的市值如今已超過30億美金
3.此家族的老大是Zygi Wilf，接著是同時掛名總裁的Mark，以及副董Leonard

4.他們三兄弟在明尼蘇達頗有貢獻，除了協助興建U.S. Bank Stadium讓維京人
有了新家，維京人近期新蓋的訓練場地更是以先進技術獲得好評

5.在最近捐了至少5百萬美金作為社會正義的用途，其中包括新冠肺炎的相關救濟

Now their scope and power in Minnesota could be expanding. They are in
pursuit of a Timberwolves team that would give their family a sports
empire in Minnesota.

如今，Wilf家族在明尼蘇達的範圍與力量可能更為擴大。這一回他們對於灰狼隊
的追逐，有可能給予這個家族一個在明州領域更廣的體育帝國。

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心得︰我最近翻外電或找資料似乎都跟猶太裔老闆有關，XD
因為沒錯，Wilf家族也有猶太血統，不過Zygi Wilf從名字到外型都很有趣，
看他外型，感覺也有幾分德國的影子–事實上他也是德國移民，
但更戲劇化的是他的爸媽原籍其實是波蘭–
所以是的，他的爸媽曾經接受納粹政府的統治

跟不少美籍猶太人的背景類似，Wilf家族早年也是在大紐約地區紮根，
不過在購買維京人隊後，卻也奇蹟似的能與明尼蘇達接地氣，
但實際探究仍然有幾個合理因素存在
1.Wilf家族的歐洲成長背景，正好與隊名的歐系特色契合
2.敢作一些話題性簽約，特別是2009年挖角包裝工傳奇QB Brett Favre，
儘管Favre已經先在AFC過水一年，但對於掀起明州人的仇包意識相當有用

所以假如Wilf家族買進灰狼隊，應該是不用擔心先前
超音速被奧克拉荷馬商人Clay Bennett惡意遷隊的烏龍風坡啦，
畢竟Wilf家族在明州要比Glen Taylor受歡迎多了

當然，我也覺得Glen Taylor要經營一隻不容易打進季後賽的球隊還蠻辛苦的，
我也相信他是真心願意為明尼蘇達的運動產業付出，
也藉此希望換了老闆的明尼蘇達灰狼隊(無論是不是Wilf)，都能有更好的發展

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