Tag: Ryan Tanke

Tanke also acknowledged there has been …

Tanke also acknowledged there has been hesitancy among some fans to come back for a game to downtown Minneapolis out of safety concerns. The Wolves have tried to alleviate those with added staff and security presence in the blocks around Target Center. But regardless of added security, some fans have still stayed away because they perceive downtown as a dangerous place. “That part [the perception issue] is also a very real thing,” Tanke said. “There’s people that haven’t had an opportunity to go back downtown in a couple of years or haven’t felt comfortable going back downtown. We’ve got to work with the Minneapolis Downtown Council, the Chamber of Commerce and all those groups — how do we sort of reanimate and reopen Minneapolis.”

The Timberwolves and Lynx opened the …

The Timberwolves and Lynx opened the doors of Target Center to the public on Thursday for one of the first times since the NBA postponed its season, but instead of a basketball court and hoops on the floor of the arena, there were chairs and places for people to give blood. In concert with the Red Cross and Anheuser-Busch, the teams held a blood drive for 250 people, Wolves and Lynx COO Ryan Tanke said.

From a business side, in terms of …

From a business side, in terms of selling tickets or anything like that, can you make any plans? Where does that stand? Ryan Tanke: No different than a lot of businesses and industries right now, the amount of contingency planning that you do and the amount of work you put in that in the end never sees the light of day is really significant because you have to be prepared for a whole bunch of different scenarios. Initially were we going to be included in the restart of the season? Were we not going to be included? From a basketball standpoint, we obviously would’ve loved the opportunity to compete, loved the opportunity to see our guys together in competition, from a business standpoint, there is a little bit of an opportunity right now for us to turn the page and start to look forward to 2021. We know it’s going to start late.

How much do you want issues of social …

How much do you want issues of social justice to be a part of the identity of this franchise? Ryan Tanke: I’ve never been more proud of where I work than I have been in the last five, six weeks since the murder of George Floyd — the way in which organizationally we have leaned into this as not just opportunity to use our voices but an obligation to use our voices. I think I’ve always known the impact sports could have on a community but I think I’ve gotten a deeper appreciation through both COVID-19 and now the social injustice in our society today, the voice we have and the collective voice and individual voices through our players and front office that we have to make a change and our commitment from day one has been we want to be a part of the sustainable change of what this looks like in our community and across the country.