Tom Dundon Acquires the Portland Trail Blazers for Over $4 Billion
Tom Dundon, owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, has reached an agreement to acquire the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, according to sources confirmed.
The transaction, coming from the estate of Paul G. Allen, is valued at over $4 billion.
Dundon intends to keep the team in Portland.
Among the members of the Dundon group are Marc Zahr (co-chairman of Blue Owl Capital) and Sheel Tyle (founder and co-CEO of Collective Global, based in Portland).
The Trail Blazers formally announced their sale in May, with the intention of allocating the proceeds to philanthropic purposes.
Allen died of cancer in 2018, and his will stipulated the sale of the franchise “at some point.” Jody Allen, Paul Allen’s sister, has acted as the team’s governor and executor of Paul Allen’s trust during this time.
The trust has stated that the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, also owned by the estate, would not be part of the sale, nor would the 25% stake in the MLS’s Seattle Sounders.
The decision to sell the Blazers was made after several key events over the past year. The NBA agreed to new 11-year media rights deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon for a total of $77 billion.
In 2024, the Blazers sold their arena, the Moda Center, to the city of Portland for $1 and the land for $7 million. Then, they launched a public-private partnership to renovate the arena and its surroundings, including a new lease agreement until 2030.
The Dundon group plans to discuss a public-private partnership for an arena deal with the city and state.
