A new report claims that the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers are expected to be up for sale at some point in the next 18 months.
When billionaire Paul Allen died in 2018, there was a lack of clarity surrounding who would next lead the two sports franchises he owned, the Trail Blazers and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. Eventually, it was revealed that his sister Jody Allen would take on a leadership role by way of being a key trustee in the Paul G. Allen Trust.
The philanthropic trust was formed in 1993 and ended up serving as the organized body that would oversee all of the Microsoft co-founders holdings upon his death from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The assumption since Allen’s passing was that Jody would stay on as a figurehead and lead the trust as it spearheaded Trail Blazers and Seahawks business.
However, in a new report from Seattle sports reporter and radio host John Canzano , he claims that Paul Allen’s directive after his death was to liquidate the trust and sell off its billions in assets. This includes the Trail Blazers and Seahawks. Jody Allen reportedly wouldn’t have much leverage to take on the teams herself and the Trail Blazers could be up for sale in the near future.
“Those familiar with the details of the Paul G. Allen Trust tell me there isn’t a lot of wiggle room for trustee, Jody Allen,” Canzano wrote. “The trust was established in 1993 and includes billions in assets, including the NBA’s Trail Blazers and NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. Paul directed that the trust be liquidated upon his death and the assets used to fund his passion projects. None of this is up in the air. The instructions are clear: The sports franchises and everything in the trust must be sold. Insiders expect the Blazers to be positioned for auction in the next 6-18 months.”
The going rate for an NBA franchise is pretty steep. The last NBA team to be sold was the Brooklyn Nets for a whopping $3.2B. However, that pales in comparison to NFL team sales. The Denver Broncos are currently in the process of being sold and the expected price tag is over $4B.
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