Nike Founder Phil Knight and a Dodgers Co-Owner Bid for Portland Trail Blazers

Paul Allen purchased the Blazers in 1988 for $70 million. The value of major sports franchises has risen over the decades, owing in part to the appreciation of media rights, meaning that the team could sell for billions. The last N.B.A. team to trade hands, the Minnesota Timberwolves, sold with the Minnesota Lynx, a W.N.B.A. team, for $1.5 billion.

The English soccer club Chelsea was sold for $3.1 billion last month, while the Denver Broncos are for sale and expected to fetch an N.F.L.-record price.

Jody Allen has said little about her plans for the Blazers, and Chris McGowan, who was the team’s president until November, said in September that the team was not for sale. Still, it has been widely expected that the Blazers would eventually be put up for sale.

Allen did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Knight, 84, who co-founded Nike in 1964, has long been Oregon’s richest person. He is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of Nike, but remains on the company’s board. Despite his deep involvement in sports, Knight has never owned a team, and in 2011 he even told a reporter that he specifically was not interested in owning the Blazers.

Knight’s involvement could suggest that there are no plans to relocate the Blazers from Portland, Ore., as has occasionally been suggested over the years.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/sports/basketball/nike-phil-knight-dodgers-adam-smolinisky-portland-trail-blazers.html