It was reported on Wednesday that Tom Dundon plans to buy the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA. Dundon is also the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and has been since 2018 when he became a majority owner after buying a minority stake in 2017 from Peter Karmanos Jr. In addition to Dundon, the Trailblazers ownership group also includes Marc Zahr and Sheel Tyle.
The Trailblazers purchase price is expected to be $4 billion. Dundon purchased 52% of the Hurricanes and the operating rights to their arena for $420 million in 2018. This past season the Hurricanes were valued at $1.3 billion, placing 27th in the NHL.
This isn’t Dundon’s first non NHL sports investment. He previously was an investor in the short lived Alliance of American Football. His refusal to invest even more capital afterwards was a major reason the doomed league folded midseason. Dundon also has major investments in professional pickleball leagues and pickle ball online retail.
Does this mean anything to Hurricanes fans? In the big picture probably not. In 2023 the Hurricanes signed a 20-year lease that would keep the Hurricanes in PNC Arena until the 2044-2045 NHL season, so there was never a need to worry about any relocation. For what it’s worth, Dundon has pledged to keep the Trailblazers in Portland, so don’t expect them to relocate and share an arena with the Hurricanes either.
On the small scale if the NHL wants to hold an exhibition or neutral site game (think Winter Classic or Stadium series) in the Portland area, it would make sense for the Seattle Kraken to face off against the Carolina Hurricanes. If the NHL ever decides to expand Dundon could be a major power broker for any potential Portland ownership group. The question is will his involvement lead to him selling the Hurricanes? If he doesn’t pursue a hypothetical ownership stake, he can at least make some introductions and put in a good word with the league.
Dundon’s two teams find themselves at different ends of the competitive spectrum. The Hurricanes are seen as cup contenders almost every season in the Rod Brind’Amour era. When the Trailblazers news was announced Wednesday, the Hurricanes had the second best championship odds in the league at +800. They would be even higher Stanley Cup favorites if they can ever get over their kryptonite of the conference finals. Even without a cup, Dundon’s ownership has perfectly coincided with Brind’Amour’s head coaching tenure for the team’s longest prolonged period of success since moving from Hartford.
His new basketball team doesn’t have such luck right now. The Trailblazers haven’t made the playoffs since the 2020-2021 season and finished in the bottom half of their conference every year since. The franchise’s former superstar Damian Lilliard is returning, although he will be out all season recovering from injury, leading to some excitement around the franchise.
The only real reason Dundon bought the Trailblazers is because he wanted to own another team and the Trailblazers were available. There is very little rhyme or reason to why billionaires and businessmen buy teams other than seeing them as a vanity investment. We touched on the subject when Mario Lemieux’s ownership group sold the Pittsburgh Penguins to Fenway Sports Group, owner of MLB’s Boston Red Sox. Since then Fenway Sports Group has been reported as open to selling part of their Penguins ownership stake.
If the sale gets approved by the NBA it would make Dundon the fourth NHL owner to own an NBA team as well. Josh Harris and David Blitzer bought the New Jersey Devils after owning the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. Stan Kroenke owns the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets (in addition to the Los Angeles Rams) and won championships for his hockey and basketball teams in consecutive years. Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis (and Stanley Cup champion, because of their 2018 victory) also owns his city’s Washington Wizards.