NBA approves Portland Trail Blazers’ sale to Tom Dundon at $4.25 billion valuation: Source
The NBA Board of Governors has authorised the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers to a gaggle led by Dallas businessman Tom Dundon, the league introduced Monday.
The transaction, valued at roughly $4.25 billion, will mark the primary time since 1988 that the Blazers haven’t been owned by Paul Allen or his sister, Jody. The sale might be a two-part deal: 80.1 % is being purchased at a $4 billion valuation and can shut March 31. The extra 19.9 % is being purchased at a $4.5 billion valuation and can shut no later than Sept. 1, 2028. During the interim interval between March 31, 2026, and the second closing, Bert Kolde, chairman of the Blazers below Allen, will observe board conferences however can have no involvement or governance, in accordance to a supply with data of the transaction.
Dundon, who can also be the bulk proprietor of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, heads a buying group that features Portland’s Sheel Tyle, CEO of funding agency Collective Global; Chicago’s Marc Zahr, co-president of funding agency Blue Owl; the Cherng household of Las Vegas, who owns Panda Express; and Stanley Middleman, founder and CEO of Freedom Mortgage. Middleman, who’s from Philadelphia however lives in Ocean Ridge, Fla., additionally owns a part of the Philadelphia Phillies.
As a sports activities proprietor, Dundon is thought for spending the vast majority of his assets on gamers; he took the Hurricanes from one of many NHL’s lowest rosters to the sixth highest. His selections are sometimes pushed by analytics, and he’s a fierce negotiator, ultimately securing $300 million in public funding to renovate the Hurricanes’ hockey area, which led to him signing a 20-year lease.
In Portland, the Blazers are searching for $600 million in funding to renovate the Moda Center, a city-owned constructing that has had minimal upgrades because it opened 31 years in the past. In March, the Oregon Legislature pledged $365 million towards area renovation. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that the $365 million might be funded with earnings tax revenues paid by the Blazers, employers and performers at the Moda Center and building employees employed to perform area renovations. OPB additionally reported that Multnomah County and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson have pledged funds to assist with the renovation, which incorporates plans to tax rental vehicles and shift cash from the Portland Clean Energy Fund. Both the county and metropolis funding want to be voted on by metropolis councilors; no date has been set for a vote.
Earlier this month, Dundon bought 12.5 % of his stake within the Hurricanes at a $2.66 billion valuation to three buyers. He will stay the bulk proprietor. He purchased the Hurricanes in 2018 for $420 million and have become the only real proprietor in 2021. Since he took over, the Hurricanes have made the playoffs eight consecutive seasons, together with reaching the Eastern Conference finals final 12 months. This season, the Hurricanes lead the East’s Metropolitan Division.
The Blazers had been based in 1970 by Portlander Harry Glickman, who secured the $3.7 million growth charge from buyers Robert Schmertz (New Jersey), Larry Weinberg (Los Angeles) and Herman Sarkowsky (Seattle). Weinberg turned majority proprietor in 1975 and bought the workforce to Allen in 1988 for $70 million. When Allen died in 2018 at age 65 from issues from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, his sister Jody took over as governor.
In May 2025, the Allen property put the workforce up for sale and introduced that each one proceeds from the sale could be donated to charity.
