Late owner Paul Allen’s estate confirmed plans to sell the Portland Trail Blazers with Nike’s Phil Knight linked.
Late owner Paul Allen’s estate confirmed plans to sell the franchise stating: The sale 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 posted on social media.
Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, purchased the Trail Blazers for $70 million in 1988. He died in 2018.
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 13, 2025
Allen’s estate also owns the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and a 25 percent stake in the Seattle Sounders of MLS but said neither of those clubs is for sale.
The Portland team are one of the lowest-valued teams in the league at $3.65 billion and have struggled in recent years and have failed to make postseason in the past four seasons.
Numbers that lock you in. pic.twitter.com/eDMY9I1D1x
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 14, 2025
Knight says ‘it’s too late’
Nike founder Phil Knight was quickly linked as a potential new buyer, but the Oregon native believes it’s too late in the game for him to buy an NBA franchise.
The 87-year-old Knight issued a statement citing his age as a primary issue to purchasing the NBA team.
“Five years ago, when I was a younger man, I had a great interest in being a part of the Portland Trail Blazers franchise. However, at my current age, I can confirm that I no longer have interest in acquiring the team,” Knight said in a statement issued by Nike.
