Tom Dundon, the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, has an agreement in place to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers for roughly $4 billion from the estate of the late Paul G. Allen, according to sources who spoke to ESPN. Additionally, Dundon said that he does not intend to relocate the team.
Others involved in Dundon’s ownership group include Blue Owl Capital co-president Marc Zahr and Collective Global founder and co-CEO Sheel Tyle. Sources said that Dundon’s ownership group is planning to discuss a public/private arena partnership deal with Portland and the state of Oregon.
In an email, Dundon wrote, “We are excited.” Allen’s estate declined to comment when contacted by Sportico.
Tom Dundon has long been involved in sports franchise ownership. In 2017, he first expressed an interest in acquiring the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes from then-owner Peter Karmanos Jr. On January 11th, 2018, Dundon purchased a 52% ownership stake in the Hurricanes from Karmanos, as well as the operating rights to PNC Arena for $425 million. Three years later, he acquired all remaining minority stakes in the franchise, making him the Hurricanes’ sole owner.
The Trail Blazers’ former owner, Paul G. Allen, rose to fame as the co-founder of Microsoft alongside billionaire tech icon Bill Gates. In 1988, Allen purchased the Portland Trail Blazers for $70 million from California real estate developer Larry Weinberg. Allen remained the team’s owner until his passing, when ownership was transferred to his estate.
This past May, Allen’s estate formally put the team up for sale with the intention of donating all proceeds to philanthropic causes. Allen, who passed away in 2018, wrote in his will that he wanted the franchise to be sold “at some point.”
The Trail Blazers have not been nearly as good as they once were ever since Paul Allen passed away one day before the start of the 2018-19 season. Since then, Portland has accumulated just 247 regular-season wins, the eighth-worst mark in the NBA over the last seven years.
The opposite has been true for the Carolina Hurricanes under Tom Dundon. Since the 2018-2019 season, the Hurricanes have the second-most regular-season wins in the NHL behind only the Tampa Bay Lightning. They also have the sixth-most playoff wins in the league during that period (47).
