Trail Blazers New Ownership Hopes To Close Sale By April 2026

Tom Dundon, the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, and his investment group last week agreed to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers from the estate of Paul G. Allen for a valuation of just more than $4 billion.

New Trail Blazers Ownership Expects Deal To Close On March 31, 2026

Dundon and members of his group reached an exclusivity agreement with Allen’s estate, meaning there will be no negotiations with other interested buyers.

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, according to The Athletic’s Jason Quick.

Allen’s estate announced in May that it had begun the process of selling the Trail Blazers. Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, died in 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Since then, his sister, Jody Allen, has served as chair of the Trail Blazers and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust, according to NBA.com.

Tom Dundon, Investment Group Bought Blazers For $4.25 Billion

Per ESPN’s report, Dundon teamed with Chicago-based investor Marc Zahr and Sheel Tyle, the co-CEO of Collective Global Management, to buy the NBA franchise from Allen’s estate for $4.25 billion.

Once a purchase agreement is reached, the NBA will set a date for its Board of Governors to vote on the sale. If the sale is approved by the scheduled closing date of March 31, the new owners will take over with six games remaining in the 2025-2026 season.

The future of the Moda Center, where the Blazers have played since 1995, is unclear. The team has signed a lease to continue playing its games in the arena through 2030, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has stated a new arena will likely need to be built.

If Dundon does buy the Blazers, his top priority will be transforming the team into a winning organization.

When he became the sole owner of the Hurricanes in June 2021, Carolina had missed the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons. During his tenure up until this point, the Canes have made the playoffs in all seven seasons, including three trips to the Eastern Conference final.

“He’s a winner,” an unnamed source told Quick. “He’s a straight shooter, and rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. And he’s already talking basketball. He already knows all the salaries of players and employees. He’s really invested in the players — he says you can’t compromise on players.”

Oregon Lawmakers Pushed For Blazers To Remain In Portland

In a letter addressed to Silver in July, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson urged the league to keep the Trail Blazers in Portland and allow the Moda Center to be renovated.

“The Portland Trail Blazers are more than a part of our history — they are part of our future. Blazers are in our DNA, and at the center of what makes this community so special,” Kotek and Wilson wrote.

“We fully support renovating the Moda Center to become a point of pride for the Blazers and for our city. We are prepared to explore the public-private partnerships needed to make it happen.”

If everything goes well, the Trail Blazers’ future will be secured in Portland.