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A new ownership group can be a ray of hope for fans of a moribund team not going anywhere fast. But that group can also be an albatross around the neck of a franchise, dragging it even lower.
While some may say that there is no way to know which path a new ownership group will take, every major sports league's vetting process is designed to do exactly that.
You vet to sift out the undesirables.
In previous decades, the NFL was the standard-bearer for this process. In the past, the league was often criticized for being a good ol' boy network that kept even the most financially worthy potential owners on the sidelines.
Current President Donald Trump famously tried to buy one of several NFL franchises decades ago. The league said no. Repeatedly. In fact, Trump was reportedly told he would "never be allowed to buy an NFL franchise."
Trump had more than enough money to fund the purchase of a team, but his attempts to build a rival league and the lawsuits that league filed against the NFL meant that he was never going to join the ownership ranks.
It was a small club, and you couldn't buy your way in, no matter what.
While the NFL has lowered its standards slightly in recent years, the laxness of its new ownership guidelines is nothing compared to what is going on in the NBA, particularly in light of the latest battle between the Trail Blazers and their hometown.
NBA ownership turnover is getting out of hand
Owning a sports franchise is one of the smartest investments a billionaire can make.
The average NFL franchise value jumped 25% year over year in 2025 to $7.1 billion, according to Forbes. That total is up 104% from 2021, and climbing after the Seattle Seahawks were just sold for $9.6 billion. The entire S&P 500 has grown by approximately 95% since 2021.
The average NBA franchise value recently reached a record $5.4 billion, representing 18% year-over-year growth, according to Forbes. But unlike the NFL, the NBA is experiencing an unprecedented level of ownership turnover in the modern era.
Nearly 25% of the NBA's 30 franchises have changed ownership groups since 2020, including cornerstone franchises like the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. There have been a whopping 23 change-of-control sales in the league since 2010, according to Front Office Sports.
While those franchises' sales helped increase the league's overall value, the Buss family had been involved with the Lakers for over 40 years. Boston Basketball Partners LLC (led by Wyc Grousbeck, who is staying on as co-owner) owned the Celtics starting in 2003. It seems the league is trading long-term stability for short-term increases in valuation.
But even worse than the turnover itself is the league's lower standards for ownership.
NBA allows more private equity ownership
Over the past few years, all of the major North American sports leagues have loosened their rules against private equity ownership, but the NBA has gone the farthest.
Historically, the league allowed financial investors to passively hold equity interests in up to five teams, with individual fund ownership of a single franchise capped at 20% and aggregate multi-fund ownership limited to 30%. However, following a vote by the league's board of governors last December, financial investors can now hold stakes in up to 8 teams.
"Although the NBA has not publicly disclosed its rationale for this policy shift, the change is broadly viewed as a means of enabling franchises to access the capital necessary to meet rising valuations," Neil Barlow wrote in a recent white paper for British law firm Clifford Chance.
But there are very obvious consequences to changing your criteria for ownership from "will this person be good for the growth of the league" to "does this person have enough money to keep runaway franchise valuations high," and fans of the Portland Trail Blazers are finding out about the difference in real time.
New Portland ownership group says $365 million in taxpayer money isn't enough
Paul Allen purchased the Portland Trail Blazers in 1988. He held on to the franchise until he died in 2018. His estate controlled the team until April 2026, when the NBA approved the sale of the franchise to an investor group led by Tom Dundon, who purchased the team for $4.25 billion.
While the Trail Blazers do not have any private equity ownership, the ownership group includes private equity investors such as Marc Zahr, Sheel Tyle, and others. Dundon himself is the founder and chairman of Dundon Capital Partners.
The problem with private equity ownership in sports is baked into the way PE firms operate.
"Private equity (PE) firms use money raised from wealthy individuals and institutional investors like pension funds, university endowments, and sovereign wealth funds to take over and manage companies," the Americans for Tax Fairness wrote in a recent report. "Once they take control, PE firms pursue aggressive financial-engineering strategies–such as severe cost-cutting, charging excessive management fees, paying themselves debt-funded dividends, and selling off valuable assets–that prioritize extracting short-term value over the long-term stability of the companies they control."
This week, a top official in the Trail Blazers organization "shredded" an offer from the city of Portland for $365 million in taxpayer money to fund renovations to their home arena, the publicly-owned Moda Center.
The city delivered a draft term sheet to the team last week, listing provisions that would lead to an estimated $600 million arena makeover and keep the Trail Blazers in the city for the next 20 years.
But the team official told Oregon Live that, "The deal doesn't get better. It gets worse with time," while citing the business climate in the city and rising construction costs.
That $600 million price tag for the renovations is based on studies the team commissioned, but it won't disclose those studies publicly or provide them to the city, "much to the mounting frustration of the mayor," according to Oregon Live.
Ostensibly, ownership is targeting a 100% publicly funded $600 million upgrade on a city-owned asset, without obligations to pay rent or property taxes, or absorb any risk of cost overruns.
Meanwhile, Paul Allen, a great steward of the franchise and the city, and his estate sold the Moda Center to the city in 2024 for $1. His final gift was to give something back to the city from the franchise he loved.
The new owners, with zero sweat equity and no fan relationship, are trying to put the city over a barrel for hundreds of millions of dollars.
And it would be one thing if this were the only issue with the Trail Blazers ownership group. Dundon's ownership group has laid off over 70 employees, restricted team travel, and eliminated fan giveaways since they took over.
While Dundon himself doesn't care if he is viewed as cheap, I think the NBA clearly made a mistake by allowing him to buy the franchise. With ownership turnover as frequent as it has been in the NBA, this will certainly not be the last ownership mistake the league allows.
Fans of teams like the Celtics and Lakers just have to hope that they don't get the short end of the stick the next time the league chases valuation over quality.
Related: Grizzlies Grade for Ja Morant Trade With Trail Blazers
