Portland Trail Blazers are the latest NBA team to be sold.
image credit: Tony Prato/ Shutterstock.com
The owners of the Portland Trail Blazers confirmed the NBA franchise is officially up for sale on May 13.
Since his passing in 2018, former owner Paul Allen wrote in his will that he wanted the Trail Blazers to be sold “at some point”, according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Jody Allen, Allen’s sister, has presided over the team Chairwoman ever since.
The Paul G. Allen Estate, announced the sale process will proceed into the 2025/26 NBA season and has hired Allen & Co. and law firm Hogan Lovells to assist with a potential deal.
Any acquisition agreement needs to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors.
Within the sale announcement, the Paul G. Allen estate confirmed its other owned sports franchises, the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and MLS’ Seattle Sounders, will not be affected by any sale of the NBA team.
ESPN reported one possible bidder would be Nike Founder Phil Knight, who had already approached the Trail Blazers in 2022 about a potential bid to acquire the team. However, Knight stated today (May 14) that he no longer has intentions to buy the team according to Bloomberg.
Allen acquired the Trail Blazers in 1988 for $70m, overseeing two trips to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. In 2024, the team generated revenues of $335m and had a valuation of $3.5bn, according to Forbes.
Another lucrative NBA sale?
There have been a plethora of factors which have contributed to the Trail Blazers current valuation and what may factor into incumbent bids for the team.
The NBA is set to begin its 11-year media rights deal, worth $77bn, with its broadcast partners ESPN, NBC and Amazon. NBA franchises make considerable percentages of media rights revenue, which also in turn, increases the player salary cap.
The other major factor is the increasing amount of team sales the league has seen over the last several years.
The most valuable NBA team sale in history occurred in March 2025, when the Boston Celtics were acquired by a consortium led by William Chisholm for $6.1bn. Other team sales have seen the Phoenix Suns sold for $4.2bn, the Dallas Mavericks sold for $3.5bn, and the Charlotte Hornets for $3bn.
While the Trail Blazers have not made an NBA Finals since 1992 and only one NBA Championship won in its history, the NBA is growing financially and in popularity, especially internationally.
Furthermore, in November 2022, the NBA announced it was warming to the idea of bringing in foreign investors to the league to support minority investment for its franchises.
“The NBA Board of Governors decided to permit passive, non-controlling, minority investments in NBA teams by institutional investors, including university endowments, foreign and domestic pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds, subject to a set of policy guidelines adopted at that time,” a spokesperson said at the time.
“All such investments require league review, NBA Board approval and compliance with the policy.”
Foreign investment has been non-existent in US sports as a whole, a far cry from the international owners that exist within European football. Additional investment for teams like the Trail Blazers could represent new opportunities to build out franchise infrastructure and support arena and hospitality renovations.
The Trail Blazers finished 12th in the Western Conference during the past NBA season with a 36-46 record. The team most recently (May 12) gained the 11th overall pick in the NBA Lottery for the 2025 NBA Draft.
Since trading away franchise player Damian Lillard in 2023, the team has been in rebuild mode ever since having not made the playoffs since 2021.