Allen estate announces plans to sell Trail Blazers

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PORTLAND, OREGON - OCTOBER 10: A view of the Portland Trail Blazers logo on Matisse Thybulle #4 shorts during the exhibition game against the New Zealand Breakers at Moda Center on October 10, 2023 in Portland, Oregon. The Portland Trail Blazers won (Alika Jenner / Getty Images)

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PORTLAND, Ore. - Paul Allen's estate announced Tuesday that it has begun the process of selling the Portland Trail Blazers.

The sale of the team is "consistent with Allen's directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all estate proceeds to philanthropy," the Trail Blazers said in a statement.

Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, died in 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Since then, his sister, Jody Allen, has served as chair of the Trail Blazers and the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust.

The estate said it has hired the New York investment firm Allen & Company and the law firm Hogan Lovells to lead the sales process, "which is estimated to continue into the 2025-26 basketball season."

The team noted in its announcement that the NBA Board of Governors must ratify any final purchase agreement.

In addition to the Trail Blazers and Seahawks, Allen was a co-owner of Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders. The statement said the announcement does not impact the Seahawks or the estate's 25% interest in the Sounders. Neither of those teams is for sale.

Allen bought the Trail Blazers in 1988, telling The Associated Press at the time that "for a true fan of the game, this is a dream come true."

Since his death, there has been widespread speculation surrounding the future ownership of both the Seahawks and Trail Blazers. Allen stipulated in his will the eventual sale of both teams, with the proceeds given to philanthropic endeavors.

Jody Allen reportedly rebuffed an offer to buy the Trail Blazers from Nike co-founder Phil Knight for more than $2 billion in 2022. At that time, there were no ongoing discussions about the sale of the teams, she said in a rare statement.

"A time will come when that changes given Paul's plans to dedicate the vast majority of his wealth to philanthropy, but estates of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to wind down," she said. "There is no pre-ordained timeline by which the teams must be sold."

CNBC earlier this year valued the Trail Blazers at $3.65 billion. In March, the Boston Celtics sold for $6.1 billion.

The Trail Blazers finished 36-46 this season and missed out on the playoffs for the fourth straight year. They have the 11th pick in next month's NBA draft, as was decided in Monday night's draft lottery.

The Source: Information in this story came from The Associated Press.