Rumors

Dundon, the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, has reached an exclusivity agreement with Paul Allen’s estate, which means there will be no negotiations with other interested buyers. Dundon’s group is in the process of negotiating documents, but the source close to Dundon says all major points have been agreed upon. The hope is to have a purchase agreement signed in September. A target date of March 31, 2026, has been set for the close of the deal. The estate expressed a desire for the team to stay in Oregon, and the source told The Athletic the team will remain in Portland.

New York Times

Eurohoops: 🤑 Paul Allen bought the Blazers in 1988 for $70 millions. 37 years later the team sold at a valuation of over $4 billions! pic.x.com/A6MqOGPI4e

Twitter

Eben Novy-Williams: Update: Transaction include two different payments, with a blended average of about $4.25 billion, sources say. Would be among highest prices ever paid for NBA team, but nowhere near the top.

Twitter

Shams Charania: NHL Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has agreed to buy the Portland Trail Blazers from the estate of Paul G. Allen for a valuation of over $4 billion, sources tell ESPN.

Twitter

A source familiar with the proceedings said the group “is passionate about basketball and intends to keep the team in Portland, where it belongs.” That assertion comes as a relief after significant angst arose about the franchise’s future when Jody Allen, the sister of longtime owner Paul Allen, announced plans to sell the team in May, seven year’s after her brother died from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Oregonian

Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has reached a tentative agreement to buy the Portland Trail Blazers from Paul Allen’s estate, according to people familiar with the details.

Sportico

Others in the group include Blue Owl Capital co-president Marc Zahr and Portland-based Sheel Tyle, co-CEO of Collective Global, according to the people, who were granted anonymity because the details were private. The new group intends to keep the team in Portland, the people said.

Sportico

Dundon bought the NHL’s Hurricanes in 2018 for $425 million. He is also majority owner of the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball. He will serve as the Trail Blazers governor, the people said.

Sportico

But mostly, they remain unsold because Jody Allen hasn’t wanted to sell them. “She did get a lot of pressure from people to sell soon after Paul passed,” says Bert Kolde, Paul Allen’s college roommate at Washington State, who has worked closely with the family since the mid-1980s. “People just assumed that she would have to sell both teams soon, or in the near future.”

Sports Business Journal

Nike co-founder Phil Knight said Wednesday that he is not interested in buying the Portland Trail Blazers, who are up for sale. Paul Allen's estate said Tuesday that it has begun the process of finding a new owner for the team. Allen, the billionaire cofounder of Microsoft who died in 2018, stipulated the eventual sale of his sports properties in his will. There was speculation that Knight, the chairman emeritus of Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike Inc., might step in to buy the Blazers because he had expressed interest a few years back. "Five years ago, when I was a younger man, I had a great interest in being a part of the Portland Trail Blazers franchise. However, at my current age, I can confirm that I no longer have interest in acquiring the team," Knight, 87, said in a statement via Nike.

ESPN

One day after Paul Allen’s estate announced it has started the process of selling the Portland Trail Blazers, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is advocating to keep Portland’s ties to the National Basketball Association. On Wednesday, Sen. Wyden sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, describing Portland — and Oregon’s — love for the Blazers.

KOIN

“Portland, Oregon and the NBA have proven a winning combination since 1970 – with the city and our entire state teaming up to be a vital part of the NBA’s DNA for the last 55 years,” Wyden wrote to Silver. “With Trail Blazers ownership announcing its formal sale process of the team this week, I write as Oregon’s senior senator proud to represent my fellow Trail Blazers fans to say there is no place in America with a deeper base of hoops support than in Portland and throughout Oregon.”

KOIN

Shams Charania: Estate of Paul G. Allen is starting a formal sales process for the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell ESPN. Allen & Co and law firm Hogan Lovells leads sales process, is estimated to continue into 2025-26, with all Estate proceeds going to philanthropy, per Paul’s wishes.

x.com

Shams Charania: Trail Blazers sales process is beginning with a formal announcement today – and all money from the sale will go to philanthropic efforts as Paul Allen desired.

x.com