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- Sale reportedly values Trail Blazers at around US$4.25bn
- Group also includes Blue Capital’s Marc Zahr, Collective Global’s Sheel Tyle and Cherng Family Trust
Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has entered into a formal agreement to buy the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Portland Trail Blazers.
Billionaire businessman Dundon, who has owned the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Hurricanes since 2018, is leading a group of investors that includes Blue Owl Capital co-president Marc Zahr; Collective Global co-chief executive Sheel Tyle; and the Cherng Family Trust, the family office and investment firm of the co-founders of Panda Express.
Financial terms were not officially disclosed, but it was reported Dundon’s group had reached a tentative deal last month to acquire the Trail Blazers at a valuation of roughly US$4.25 billion.
The NBA Board of Governors needs to ratify any final purchase agreement. The sale is expected to close by the end of this year.
Dundon, chairman and managing partner of Dallas-based Dundon Capital Partners, and his group will purchase the Trail Blazers from the estate of late owner Paul Allen, which formally put the team up for sale in May.
Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, passed away in 2018. He bought the Trail Blazers for US$70 million in 1988.
Nike founder Phil Knight was among the names initially touted as a potential bidder for the franchise.
A sale at a valuation of US$4.25 billion would be among the highest ever paid for control of an NBA team, though it would still be dwarfed by the impending sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter at a record sports team valuation of US$10 billion.
It would also be lower than the US$6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics to a group led by William Chisholm this year.
The prospective new owners reportedly plan to keep the Trail Blazers in Portland.
The Allen estate still owns the National Football League’s (NFL) Seattle Seahawks and is a co-owner of Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Seattle Sounders. Paul Allen stipulated in his will the eventual sale of his teams, with the proceeds to be given to philanthropic endeavours.
The Allen estate is yet to announce plans for the sale of the Seahawks or its 25 per cent stake in the Sounders. The franchises were valued by Forbes in 2025 at US$6.7 billion and US$800 million, respectively.
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