The estate of late Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen has formally put the team up for sale with the proceeds going to philanthropic endeavors, the team announced Tuesday.
Allen died from cancer in 2018, and his will called for the franchise to be sold “at some point,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver had said on several occasions over the past seven years. Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, has been acting as the team’s governor as the executor of the Paul Allen Trust during that time.
As part of the announcement, the trust said the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, which the estate also owns, would not be part of the sale. Neither is the 25% stake in the MLS’ Seattle Sounders.
The trust made the decision to sell the Blazers in the wake of several key developments over the last year. The NBA agreed to new 11-year media rights deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon for a combined $77 billion. In 2024 the Blazers sold their home arena, the Moda Center, to the City of Portland for $1 and the land under the arena for $7 million. It then launched a public/private partnership to renovate the arena and the surrounding area that included a new lease through 2030.
