The NBA Trailblazers’ ownership and the city want to eventually get an arena deal done.

The National Basketball Association’s Portland Trailblazers franchise could be staying in the Oregon city through 2030 or 2035 after the business and the Portland City Council reached a tentative deal to extend the basketball business’s arena lease. The present deal ends in 2025. What happens after that is unknown because under the terms of the Paul Allen estate, the franchise has to be sold eventually. The business has been run by Paul Allen’s sister Jody since Paul Allen’s demise in 2018. The National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver and the 29 other NBA owners have not forced Allen to sell the team and there is no timetable for her to sell the franchise.

The proposed five-year lease extension with the city and Rip City Management, which operates the arena, would keep the business in Portland for up to 10 years. The city of Portland owns the land underneath the arena. Both sides hope to have a final agreement signed by the summer. This is a bridge deal and Portland will be playing the arena game once the deal is finalized. The Portland arena is 29 years old and that is ancient in today’s sports atmosphere. The city of Portland is giving up money in the proposed deal. The proposal requires Portland to allow Rip City Management to hold onto all ticket surcharges and parking fees generated at city-owned garages during Blazers’ home games for “the sole purpose” of paying for arena renovations and other construction projects, instead of into the city’s spectator venues fund. The city estimates it collects between $4 million and $6 million annually in fees at Blazers’ games. The agreement has a clause in it that allows the NBA franchise to leave prior to 2030 but whoever owns the team would have to give back the money the city gave up.

Jody Allen

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