Tom Dundon, owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, has reached an agreement to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers from the Paul G. Allen estate in a transaction valuing the NBA franchise at a little more than $4 billion, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.
People familiar with the deal said Dundon intends to keep the team in Portland. His investment group includes Marc Zahr, co-president of Blue Owl Capital, and Sheel Tyle, the Portland-based founder and co-CEO of Collective Global.
Sportico first reported the agreement.
The franchise was officially placed on the market in May, with proceeds earmarked for philanthropic initiatives outlined in Allen’s estate plan. Paul G. Allen died of cancer in 2018, and his will stipulated that the Trail Blazers be sold “at some point.” Since Allen’s death, his sister Jody Allen has served as the team’s governor and executor of the Paul Allen Trust.
The estate’s other major sports holdings—the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and a 25 percent stake in Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders—are not included in the sale.
The decision to sell followed several key developments. In July, the NBA approved new 11-year media rights agreements with ESPN, NBC and Amazon worth a combined $77 billion. Earlier, in 2024, the Blazers sold the Moda Center to the City of Portland for $1 and the land beneath it for $7 million, launching a public-private partnership to renovate the arena and surrounding area and extending the team’s lease through 2030.
Sources said Dundon’s group plans to discuss another public-private partnership with city and state officials to address future arena needs.
ESPN reporters Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst contributed to this story.
Source: ESPN
