The asking price to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers reportedly could be a billion more than recent evaluations of the franchise’s value.
Since the end of the 2021-2022 regular season, it has been mostly quiet when it comes to NBA basketball in the great northwest. The region’s lone team had a disappointing 27-55 season filled with injuries to key players and the beginning stages of a major roster overhaul.
However, that all changed in May when a report from Seattle sports journalist and radio host John Canzano claimed that instructions left by deceased team owner Paul Allen called for the organization’s current wardens — the Paul G. Allen Trust — to sell off all his assets within the next year-and-a-half. This includes the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
With that news came a surprise $2 billion offer to purchase the team from Nike founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky. However, that offer was quickly dismissed by Portland’s current management.
Well, it seems that the dollar amount was quickly shot down because it was nowhere near what the asking price for the franchise is expected to be.
NBA TV rights revenue behind Portland Trail Blazers’ massive asking price
On Wednesday, Canzano had a new set of intel he revealed in a new post on JohnCanzano.com. In this, he detailed how that offer from Knight and Smolinisky is probably just the first salvo of what could be a long negotiation process, as well as what those inside the organization claim would be the cost to own the 52-year-old franchise.
“A source told me the target price for the Blazers is $3 billion. It’s an ambitious valuation. Forbes estimated the franchise’s value at nearly $1 billion less. However, the NBA’s domestic television rights are expected to boost revenue dramatically in 2025 and industry insiders believe the franchise is baking in that increase at a premium.”
In October 2021, Forbes listed the Portland Trail Blazers’ value at $2.05 billion. In the valuation, they explained some of the reasons for how they reached that particular number for the franchise:
“Eight consecutive seasons in the playoffs have made the Trail Blazers among the most popular teams on television. During the 2020-21 season the Trail Blazers had an average rating on NBC Sports Northwest of 3.26, the third-highest in the league and 6% higher than the prior season.”
Obviously, that playoff streak ended in 2022. However, their disappointing season is unlikely to affect the team’s value with superstar Damian Lilliard set to return healthy next season and the team owning a pick in the top-10 of the 2022 NBA Draft.
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