Insider Reveals Why Blazers Staying in Portland After Sale is Likely Bad News for Locals

The Portland Trail Blazers seem likely to stay in Portland after the announced sale of the franchise. Jody Allen finally sold the Trail Blazers to new owner Tom Dundon, owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, at a $4 billion-plus valuation.

Despite owning another franchise all the way across the country, the Blazers will be staying in Portland. That was a condition of part of the sale by Allen.

Blazers fans are happy to still have the team in Portland. That doesn't mean it's all good news to still have the organization in the city of Portland, especially for taxpayers.

Insider explains why the Trail Blazers staying in Portland isn't good news for everyone

As insider Lars Lawson points out, keeping the Blazers in Portland will likely mean that the city will need to build a new arena for the team. That could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

"We’re told Dundon will pay $4 billion for the team," Larson writes. "If he’d bought it still strapped to a run-down arena, you can bet that price tag would have been lower."

The Moda Center has five years left in its lease, so the Trail Blazers have until then to make a decision on what to do. They can either renovate the arena or decide to build a new one.

It's likely that the new ownership group is going to ask the city for some taxpayer money to help build a new arena. The Blazers are only going to partially fund the new arena.

The Portland Trail Blazers will cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars

There is very little chance that the Blazers will decide to renovate Moda Center, especially given the age of the building. They likely want a new arena with all of the modern amenities downtown.

Dundon is now in charge of everything that the Blazers will do.

He clearly has a lot of money, considering he owns two sports franchises. How much money he's willing to pony up for a new arena remains to be seen.

Any arena likely wouldn't start construction for at least a couple of years anyway. They need to make sure that the funding is there first.

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