Dundon’s franchise’s lease to use the Portland arena ends in 2030.
It seems as if Tom Dundon never read Dale Carniege’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, in his negotiations with Portland and Oregon officials about renovating his Portland Trail Blazers franchise’s home arena. According to Oregonian sportswriter Bill Oram, things are not going well in the talks. “Meetings were canceled. League representatives scrapped plans they’d made to come to Portland to help facilitate a dialogue. The message: Dundon had slammed the door shut on the conversation. He said there’s no reason to meet, one source close to the negotiations told The Oregonian, OregonLive.”
In March, Dundon purchased the controlling interest in the Trail Blazers franchise from the estate of Paul Allen for about $4.25 billion. Dundon immediately fired employees and started negotiations with Portland and Oregon lawmakers about renovating the city arena. Dundon’s arena lease ends after the 2030 season. In June, Dundon told more than 700 people at a Portland Metro Chamber meeting that the Portland City Council should spend to renovate the arena because he’s already made his investment by purchasing the team. There has been some acrimony in the lease negotiations. The public cost of the arena upgrades is around $575 million. Dundon claimed to be committed to Portland. Dundon has four years left on his Portland arena lease. If he wants to relocate, he would have to pay a big relocation fee to his fellow NBA owners. Dundon owns the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes franchise and could move the business to Raleigh, North Carolina but that is too close to Charlotte. Nashville is open but it is too close to Memphis. St. Louis officials are uninterested. Mexico City might be an option. Las Vegas and Seattle might have NBA franchises in 2030. The Portland arena saga continues.
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