The estate of Paul G. Allen on Tuesday announced plans to sell the Portland Trail Blazers franchise.
Natalie King, Blazers senior vice president of communications and public affairs, sent an email to the media stating:
“Today the Estate of Paul G. Allen is announcing the start of a formal process to sell the Portland Trail Blazers. This is an expected milestone following Paul’s death, who had directed his sports holdings to be sold with all Estate proceeds being directed to philanthropy. Please find below a statement from the Estate.”
The following is a statement from Allen’s estate:
The Estate of Paul G. Allen today announced it has commenced a formal sales process for the Portland Trail Blazers NBA franchise, consistent with Allen’s directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all Estate proceeds to philanthropy.
The Estate has selected investment bank Allen & Company and law firm Hogan Lovells to lead the sales process, which is estimated to continue into the 2025-26 basketball season. The NBA Board of Governors must then ratify a final purchase agreement.
This news does not affect the Seattle Seahawks NFL franchise or the Estate’s 25% interest in the Seattle Sounders MLS, and neither is for sale.
>> Read more: Trail Blazers hitting the market raises expectations, potential concerns
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Allen, who purchased the Blazers in 1988 for $70 million, died in 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.. His sister Jody Allen has acted as the franchise chair, as well as the NFL’s Seattle Seahakws, and is the trustee of the Paul G. Allen trust
In 2022, Nike co-founder Phil Knight reportedly offered to purchase the franchise for just north of $2 billion, which Jody Allen rejected.
It’s unclear if Knight remains interested in buying the team. He could not immediately be reached by The Oregonian/OregonLive for comment.
The Knight family’s wealth, which Forbes estimates at $30.4 billion, is funding redevelopment work near the Moda Center, where the Blazers play.
In 2023, the Knight family pledged $400 million to the 1803 Fund, which is working to rebuild the Albina neighborhood, the historic center of Portland’s Black community, through investments in a variety of organizations.
The nonprofit Albina Vision Trust also last year announced a partnership with the Blazers to reinvigorate the area. Both groups would likely seek to work with the new owners of the Blazers, if the team remains in Portland.
“I expect there will be a lot of interest in the team, and whomever wins the auction, we look forward to engaging them in the ennobling work to Rebuild Albina,” 1803 Fund CEO Rukaiyah Adams said in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
A February report from CNBC valued the franchise at $3.65 billion, ranked 22nd in the 30-team league.
The Boston Celtics, one of the league’s famed franchises, sold for $6.1 billion in March. That’s the largest franchise sale in U.S. professional sports history.
In 2023, less than a year after Allen turned down Knight’s offer, the Phoenix Suns were sold for $4 billion. That same year, former NBA star Michael Jordan sold the Charlotte Hornets for $3 billion.
The team’s sale will occur following its worst four-year losing stretch (117-211) since the Blazers’ first four seasons from 1970-74 (95-233).
The Blazers entered rebuilding mode when superstar Damian Lillard was injured during the 2021-22 season and new general manager Joe Cronin took over.
In 2023, Lillard demanded a trade, ending his 11-year run with the franchise.
The Blazers just concluded their fourth consecutive losing season (36-46). On Monday night, the Blazers finished 11th in the NBA draft lottery.
The team’s chances of winning the lottery were damaged by going 23-18 in the second half of the season, reducing their lottery odds to 3.7%.
That run, however, led to contract extensions for Cronin and coach Chauncey Billups.
Matthew Kish of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)
