The Portland Trail Blazers will soon be under new management, as the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes has submitted the winning bid.
The Portland Trail Blazers are about to be rocked—or at least run by—a (Carolina) Hurricane.
Per Eben Novy-Williams and Scott Soshnick of Sportico, Dallas-based billionaire Tom Dundon and his partners are set to purchase the Trail Blazers organization from the estate of the late Paul Allen at a valuation of $4 billion. Dundon is also the sole owner of the Carolina Hurricanes franchise in the National Hockey League.
In addition to dual-ownership of the Blazers and Hurricanes, the 53-year-old Dundon is the chairman of Pickleball.com and also served on the board of the defunct Alliance of American Football.
Currently at the helm of Dundon Capital Partners, Dundon purchased a majority stake in the Hurricanes in 2017 from original owner Peter Karmanos Jr., who had been with the team since its days as the Hartford Whalers.
Dundon became the sole owner at $425 million four years later and was valued at $1.3 billion in 2024, per CNBC. Since the 2021-22 season, no team in the NHL has earned more points in the regular season than the Hurricanes, who advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in seven seasons last spring.
Trail Blazers To Stay in Portland Under New Ownership
The Allen estate put the Blazers franchise up for sale in May. Allen, who passed away in 2018, had purchased the franchise from Larry Weinberg in 1988. Portland reached the NBA Finals twice under his watch and, since his takeover, has earned the eighth-best win percentage in the NBA.
With Blazer ownership duties mostly overseen by Allen’s surviving sister Jody, the estate will still retain its stakes in both the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer.
Dundon takes over a Blazers squad looking to end a four-year playoff drought, though there’s been enough hope over the last few seasons to extend the contract of head coach Chauncey Billups. The Blazers have several young veterans on the uptick, including Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. Notable offseason acquisitions include Deni Avdija and seven-foot first-round pick Yang Hansen, while the team also brought back former franchise face Damian Lillard after he was waived by the Milwaukee Bucks.
In a report for ESPN, Shams Charania stated that Dundon and Co. plan to keep the franchise in Portland. The team sold ownership of its arena, Moda Center, to the city last year but they currently own a lease to play there through at least 2030.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
