The Portland Trail Blazers laid off at least three dozen staff members on the business side of the operation Tuesday morning, people familiar with the decision tell WW. The layoffs are the latest signal of deep organizational change at the NBA franchise under its new owner, Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon.
Dewayne Hankins, Blazers president of business operations, confirmed the layoffs to WW in a statement. He did not specify the number of people who lost their jobs.
“Today, as part of our plans to position the organization for the future, we made the difficult decision to restructure several areas of the business,” Hankins wrote. “These changes impacted talented people who have helped shape the Trail Blazers over many years. We are deeply grateful for their contributions, their leadership, and the care they showed every day for our team, our fans, and the Portland community. Our focus now is supporting those affected through the transition and positioning the organization for long-term success.”
People familiar with the layoffs say it’s difficult to pin down how many staffers lost their jobs Tuesday, but it’s likely more than 40 and as many as 70. That number is about 20% of the Blazers business office.
The layoffs reach as high into the organization as a senior vice president, people familiar with the matter tell WW. Casey Holdahl, the team’s in-house beat reporter, confirmed on social media that he had lost his job. Holdahl had been with the team for 18 years.
As of Tuesday morning, the state of Oregon had not posted a WARN notice filed by the Blazers—filing such a notice is a requirement when laying off 10 or more workers.
The layoffs come at a pivotal moment for the Blazers. The team is negotiating with the city and Multnomah County to secure $600 million in public funding for an overhaul of Moda Center. Dundon, whose ownership group paid $4.2 billion for the team, is under national scrutiny for his cost-cutting measures.
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