PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) — The Portland Trail Blazers will be sold to a group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon.
ESPN reported Dundon bought the team for just over $4 billion and he intends to keep the team in Portland.
Mike Sundheim, Vice President of Communications for the Hurricanes, confirmed that Dundon is in the process of buying the Blazers.
“[He] is excited about the opportunity. This will not impact the Carolina Hurricanes, and Tom still wants to bring Major League Baseball to North Carolina,” Sundheim said in a statement.
ESPN reports that other members in Dundon’s group include Marc Zahr (co-president of Blue Owl Capital) and Sheel Tyle (Portland-based founder and co-CEO of Collective Global).
The NBA Board of Governors must ratify any final purchase agreement.
The reported sale of the Portland Trail Blazers has fans excited after many months of an uncertain future. But some are wondering what the change will mean.
As Portland fans wait to see how the chance of ownership will impact the team, John Canzano, host of the Bald-Faced Truth radio show, said he believes the Blazers belong in Portland.
“I think it’s a market that has proven it will show up, sell out for a couple of decades, proves that the Moda Center’s got good bones,” Canzano said. “Of course, it needs some improvements, but this to me seems like an ownership group that’s buying the team, saying it wants to keep the team here, has some proof of performance in the past that suggest they will keep the team in Portland.”
Canzano said it is important for any new owner to understand and appreciate the Blazers’ connection to the city’s history.
“Portland’s a quirky and provincial place,” Canzano said. ”If you’re Tom Dundon and you’re coming in, you need to know the history of 1977. You need to know about Harry Glickman’s raincoat, you need to know about Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas. You need to know about Bill Shonley, the pipes he had and what caused it to be Rip City.”
Dave joins to talk about the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers, Tom Dundon’s track record as an owner of the Carolina Hurricanes and the team’s future.
It was announced back in May that Paul G. Allen’s estate had begun the process of selling the team. All money from the sale will go to philanthropic efforts.
Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft, bought the Blazers in 1988 for $70 million.
In 2009, Allen was diagnosed with cancer and later passed away in 2018 at the age of 65. Since then, the team has been run by his estate and headed by his sister Jody.
Allen’s will called for the Blazers to be sold “at some point.”
Details of the deal have not yet been released by the team.
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