Culture

Will the Wolves and Lynx get a new arena? New CEO Matt Caldwell has an update

AnyFans 2025-09-17

By Chris Hine

When new Timberwolves and Lynx CEO Matt Caldwell had the same position with the Florida Panthers in the NHL, he said it took “the first five or six years” for people to recognize him in public. After officially taking the job with the Wolves and Lynx last month, Caldwell said that phenomenon is happening much sooner, like in a department store on Sunday.

“It’s very humbling and it goes to show you how passionate the fans are,” Caldwell said. “It’s an organic fanbase here, and they’ve been coming to games, but we can always deliver a better experience and we can always treat them better.”

Caldwell spoke with the Star Tribune on Monday to talk about his career in sports business, how he got into the industry after attending West Point and serving in the military, and about the Wolves’ plans for a new arena, among other fan-related issues.

Here are some takeaways from the interview:

Caldwell said he attended West Point on the advice of his principal at a Catholic high school where he grew up in New York.

He was in his final year at the academy when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 took place and upon graduating in June 2002, he joined the the 1st Infantry Division in the Army and was deployed initially to Kosovo. Then beginning in 2004, he spent a year serving in Iraq.

That time in combat has shaped the perspectives he carries with him in building a workplace culture wherever he has gone.

“Every company, every sports team … they’re going to say teamwork is important,” Caldwell said. “But when you lived and breathed it in the military, and your life depended on your teammates, it doesn’t matter what their background is, how much money they have or not, who they were raised by, where they came from. When you’re in life and death situations, you just want to be able to depend on someone. It really eliminates all the noise and complexities of life and you realize the power of a team is so much bigger than any individual. And the miliary had really rooted out any ego I had.”