Blazers’ new owners are ‘full speed ahead’ with public funding for arena upgrades

The new Portland Trail Blazers owners during their first media appearance quelled fears they might move the city’s longest-running professional sports franchise, saying their focus was instead on getting the team’s arena updated and securing a long-term lease in the city.

The ownership group told journalists and team staff at the Moda Center on Thursday they would move quickly to improve everything from the team’s performance to the fan experience in an effort to make Portland a “world-class city.”

Tom Dundon, the head of the investment group, took control of the team on April 1 after the NBA approved a $4.25 billion purchase from the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who owned the team since 1988. Dundon, a Texas billionaire who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, first made his fortune in subprime car loans that Oregon regulators once publicly called “predatory and harmful.”

Dundon is known for being a hands-on and demanding sports team owner. In the days since the sale became final he’s signaled he will move swiftly to usher in a new era for the Trail Blazers.

“I feel like all the pieces are here. There’s not something I’m worried about,” Dundon said Thursday. “The only thing I’m kind of worried about is the speed and pace and intensity at which we’re about to get going, might be a little different — and we just got to get people there quickly.”

Public funding

Dundon was flanked at the press conference by two of his co-owners, venture capitalist Sheel Tyle and Andrew Cherng, founder of the fast food Chinese restaurant Panda Express.

Tyle, the only member of the ownership group who lives in Portland, dismissed the idea of the team relocating.

“Tom would not have asked me to join this group had that been on the table,” he said.

Dundon, too, said the only thing he was focused on was getting the publicly owned Moda Center renovated and securing a lease between the city and the Trail Blazers.

The new owners did not directly address why more than $600 million in taxpayer funding for arena upgrades was necessary to prevent the team’s move — something the Blazers had previously suggested in lobbying materials to city and state officials would “feed the ‘doom loop’ narrative we have all been working to refute.”

Dundon said he was not closely involved in the team’s lobbying efforts to secure public funds.

“All that stuff I don’t really enjoy,” Dundon said. “They kept me updated, but honestly, I don’t really even understand all the nuances of city, county, state. It’s pretty complicated.”

The Oregon Legislature recently approved $365 million in state funds to renovate the Moda Center. That’s part of a larger funding package that could surpass the team’s $600 million request, but now hinges on additional funds from the city of Portland and Multnomah County.

“We met with the mayor today,” Tyle said Thursday. “We know that the state has done some amazing work on this also. We’re full speed ahead.”

When asked whether negotiations over a long-term lease between the Blazers and the city-owned Moda Center might break down if public funding came in short of the team’s requested $600 million, Dundon said, “I have no idea” and that the situation hinged on “more variables than just one specific number.”

“The people that represent the city and the county and your tax dollars are going to do a deal that’s great for them, I hope, and I’m going to try to do the same for the Trail Blazers,” Dundon said.

Team excitement and fast changes

In the days he’s owned the team, Dundon already has a much more public presence than his predecessors. Paul Allen rarely spoke to the media, and after his death in 2018 Jody Allen did not once speak publicly during her seven years as team owner.

Already, Dundon has given at least three interviews in addition to the press conference. Speaking inside the Moda Center, Dundon, Tyle and Cherng expressed a vision for what they thought the Trail Blazers could be.

“This building is pretty neat. It needs some work, but is something we can be proud of,” Dundon said, crediting the Allen family’s decades of ownership. “And that’s how I feel about everything they’ve done. They’ve created this legacy that now, with a little love and care, maybe we can keep making better and better.”

Tyle said the ownership group’s name, Rip City Rising, expresses the optimism they have in the city and the team’s future.

“We believe Portland was a world-class city, and it can again be a world-class city, and then potentially ascend beyond that,” Tyle said. “We think the Blazers can and should play a small role in that.”

Tyle also drew on his local connections, noting his child was born at Oregon Health and Sciences University. Tyle also noted he is married to Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi, whom he called the “star of the family.”

Cherng said he was a fan of basketball and was drawn to the Blazers’ most recent first-round draft pick, a 7-foot-1 20-year-old from China.

“And as a Chinese, I love the fact that we have a prospect in Hansen Yang,” Cherng said. “NBA is a popular sport in China. There’s a lot more influence we can make.”

Dundon’s history

One thing wasn’t addressed during Thursday’s news conference: the history of Dundon’s companies with Oregon regulators.

Since Dundon emerged last summer as a key buyer of the Blazers, OPB and ProPublica have been reporting on the state’s investigations of the subprime auto loan businesses that helped Dundon amass enough wealth to buy the team.

In 2020, Oregon was part of a coalition of states that sued Dundon’s former company Santander Consumer USA for allegedly preying on Oregonians through high-interest car loans they couldn’t afford in a case involving more than 265,000 borrowers nationwide. The company settled the allegations for $550 million and admitted no wrongdoing.

While Dundon had been gone for years at the time of the settlement, documents obtained by OPB and ProPublica showed Dundon was behind what regulators called an “aggressive push” to waive proof-of-income requirements at Santander Consumer.

Dundon netted more than $700 million when he left Santander in 2015, at which point he started an investment firm and began venturing into sports such as hockey, pickleball and golf. He’s also continued to invest in subprime auto loans through Exeter Finance. Dundon has served as chairman of the company’s board and his investment firm’s website highlights Exeter as part of its portfolio.

The Oregon Department of Justice confirmed to OPB and ProPublica that the agency is part of a separate multistate investigation into Exeter Finance.

Dundon previously told OPB and ProPublica he could not comment until after March 31, the closing date of the Blazers sale. He did not respond to a subsequent interview request after the sale closed to appear on OPB’s “Think Out Loud.”

Dundon did, however, speak Thursday about his character and his commitment to the community.

“I care more about my character than my reputation. And I know what I do every day and I want to win and achieve things without hurting anybody,” Dundon said. “And there’s nothing about me that doesn’t want to do the right thing. I do it every day.”

He said he didn’t grow up intending to be in the position of owning an NBA team.

“So I want everybody to understand I know how lucky I am,” he said. “It’s the responsibility to make sure fans and the community are proud of what we do.”