The NBA Board of Governors has approved the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers to a group led by Dallas businessman Tom Dundon, the league announced Monday.
The transaction, valued at approximately $4.25 billion, will mark the first time since 1988 that the Blazers have not been owned by Paul Allen or his sister, Jody. The sale will be a two-part deal: 80.1 percent is being bought at a $4 billion valuation and will close March 31. The additional 19.9 percent is being bought at a $4.5 billion valuation and will close no later than Sept. 1, 2028. During the interim period between March 31, 2026, and the second closing, Bert Kolde, chairman of the Blazers under Allen, will observe board meetings but will have no involvement or governance, according to a source with knowledge of the transaction.
Dundon, who is also the majority owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, heads a purchasing group that includes Portland’s Sheel Tyle, CEO of investment firm Collective Global; Chicago’s Marc Zahr, co-president of investment firm Blue Owl; the Cherng family of Las Vegas, who owns Panda Express; and Stanley Middleman, founder and CEO of Freedom Mortgage. Middleman, who is from Philadelphia but lives in Ocean Ridge, Fla., also owns part of the Philadelphia Phillies.
As a sports owner, Dundon is known for spending the majority of his resources on players; he took the Hurricanes from one of the NHL’s lowest payrolls to the sixth highest. His decisions are often driven by analytics, and he is a fierce negotiator, eventually securing $300 million in public funding to renovate the Hurricanes’ hockey arena, which led to him signing a 20-year lease.
In Portland, the Blazers are seeking $600 million in funding to renovate the Moda Center, a city-owned building that has had minimal upgrades since it opened 31 years ago. In March, the Oregon Legislature pledged $365 million toward arena renovation. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that the $365 million will be funded with income tax revenues paid by the Blazers, employers and performers at the Moda Center and construction workers hired to carry out arena renovations. OPB also reported that Multnomah County and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson have pledged funds to help with the renovation, which includes plans to tax rental cars and shift money from the Portland Clean Energy Fund. Both the county and city funding need to be voted on by city councilors; no date has been set for a vote.
Earlier this month, Dundon sold 12.5 percent of his stake in the Hurricanes at a $2.66 billion valuation to three investors. He will remain the majority owner. He bought the Hurricanes in 2018 for $420 million and became the sole owner in 2021. Since he took over, the Hurricanes have made the playoffs eight consecutive seasons, including reaching the Eastern Conference finals last year. This season, the Hurricanes lead the East’s Metropolitan Division.
The Blazers were founded in 1970 by Portlander Harry Glickman, who secured the $3.7 million expansion fee from investors Robert Schmertz (New Jersey), Larry Weinberg (Los Angeles) and Herman Sarkowsky (Seattle). Weinberg became majority owner in 1975 and sold the team to Allen in 1988 for $70 million. When Allen died in 2018 at age 65 from complications from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, his sister Jody took over as governor.
In May 2025, the Allen estate put the team up for sale and announced that all proceeds from the sale would be donated to charity.
