The sale of the Portland Trail Blazers for more than 4,000 million dollars to businessman Tom Dundon is the last of the wave of operations that shook the NBA in recent months, in which franchises such as Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics changed hands for dizzying figures, in full golden fever of American basketball.
The heirs of Paul Allen, the co -founder of Microsoft who acquired the franchise in 1988 for “only” 70 million dollars, announced last week the agreement with a group of investors led by Dundon, owner of the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL. The group includes investors Sheel Tyle and Marc Zahr, as well as the Cherg Family Trust, examples of an increasingly common profile in sports franchise acquisitions.
Allen, who was also the owner of the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, died in 2018 of cancer. His sister Jody has managed the two franchises since then complying with the provisions of his will.
Owners dance
Bill Gates’ heirs in Microsoft decided to take advantage of the NBA bubble to sell the franchise. The Blazers operation occurs three months after the Buss family sold to businessman Mark Walter a majority participation of the Lakers for an assessment of 10,000 million dollars, an absolute record in American sport.
Patriarch Jerry Buss had bought the Lakers in 1979 for 67.5 million dollars in a package that included Los Angeles Kings of the NHL and the old stadium, Los Angeles Forum.
The operation of the Lakers sprayed the record they had marked just three months before the Grourusbeck family and businessman Bill Chisholm with the sale of the Boston Celtics for 6,100 million dollars. The Grousbeck had made the franchise in 2002 for 360 million dollars. A huge business for those who had controlled two of the great NBA franchises.
Both Walter and Chisholm embody the new owner profile in the NBA: in front of consortiums supported by investment funds, they symbolize the passage of the classic model of the single owner towards the corporatization of franchises.
In addition to Blazers, Lakers and Celtics, this 2025 was completed the sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves – and the Lynx – after a legal battle initiated by the previous owner, Glen Taylor, who considered that the 1,500 million agreed in 2021 with Marc Lore and Alex Rodríguez had fallen short.
Other franchises that changed the owner in recent times include the Phoenix Suns for an assessment of 4,000 million in 2023, the Dallas Mavericks (3.8 billion) or the Charlotte Hornets (3,000 million).
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Hard rules and television revenues for the NBA
Behind this avalanche of multimillionaire sales there is not a single cause, but a combination of factors that generated a perfect cultivation broth: from the new global television rights contract to the imminent expansion of the league.
On the one hand, the contract signed with giants such as Amazon, Disney and NBC for 76,000 million dollars fired the value of franchises and unleashed the appetite of investors.
On the other, the new collective agreement hardened the financial restrictions – especially with the introduction of the “Second APON” – making much more expensive and risky for owners to bet on templates full of stars or maintain competitive dynasties for many years. This leads to some prefer to sell now, taking advantage of the bubble.
In addition, the possible expansion of the NBA – with Las Vegas and Seattle in the quiniela – will involve an extraordinary future income for all the current owners thanks to the entry fees that will be distributed among the existing franchises.
With EFE information
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