Portland’s push to keep the Trail Blazers on track for a long-term arena deal has hit another wall, and this one came with a reportedly explosive reaction from owner Tom Dundon.
According to Oregonian reporter Bill Oram, Dundon asked city officials for a firm number to settle the Moda Center’s existing lease requirement that the team keep the building in a “first-class” condition. The city came back with a figure of more than $1 billion, and a source told Oram, “He went crazy.”
That response has only deepened the friction in negotiations that are meant to secure the franchise in Oregon for at least 20 more years. City officials have seen the lease language as leverage in case the team ever tries to leave, while the ownership group has treated it as a potential legal hazard if relocation ever becomes an issue.
The disagreement has already thrown the process off course. Meetings that had been lined up around the Trail Blazers’ season opener were canceled, and NBA officials pulled back from plans to help move talks along. Dundon ultimately agreed to sit down with Portland City Administrator Raymond Lee and deputy Donnie Oliveira at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin, though it’s still unclear what happened with the other scheduled discussions.
At the center of all this is a broader effort to lock in an arena renovation package. In August, the city council approved a term sheet that would require the franchise to pay rent and payments in lieu of property taxes, while also agreeing to labor harmony conditions. Dundon’s group has objected to those terms and has pushed for a 10-year buyout option instead of the 20-year lease required under state legislation.
The money on the table is substantial. The proposed funding package calls for $365 million in state-backed bonds, $100 million from Multnomah County and $275 million in future city maintenance spending. The Trail Blazers have sought about $600 million in public money for renovations, while the city expects the team to shoulder most of its proposed $120 million renovation costs through rent and tax-related payments.
There’s also a hard deadline hanging over the talks. If Portland doesn’t approve a new lease by the end of 2026, the state could lose its chance to use the bonds. State Senate President Rob Wagner has said lawmakers probably won’t approve them again in a later session.
Public sentiment doesn’t appear to be helping Dundon’s case. A poll commissioned by The Oregonian/OregonLive found that just 7% of Oregon respondents viewed him favorably, while 36% had a negative opinion and 57% were undecided. In Portland, only 5% said they had a positive view of him, compared with 59% who viewed him unfavorably.
Even with all of that pressure building, co-owner Sheel Tyle said keeping the franchise in Portland is still the ownership group’s priority. The current lease runs through 2030, but the unresolved dispute over the contract and the ticking clock on funding have put the Moda Center agreement under more strain.
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