U.S. Senator Ron Wyden’s advocacy to keep the Trail Blazers in Portland started years before the Paul Allen Trust even began the process of selling the franchise. After ownership of the team was transferred to a group led by Tom Dundon, Wyden was instrumental in passing SB1501, the bill that provided the framework for the State of Oregon, Multnomah County, and the City of Portland to fund nearly $600 million in Moda Center renovations.
As stalled negotiations threaten to blow past the bill’s December
31 deadline, the Senator has been flexing his political power to apply pressure to the NBA Board of Governors, whose vote ultimately decides whether the Blazers are allowed to relocate. In a new statement, first reported by the Oregonian’s Bill Oram, the Senator commented on a recent conversation he had with the board’s top dog: Miami Heat owner Micky Arison.
I spoke this week with Micky Arison about getting his good and experienced counsel to move these Moda negotiations forward toward an agreement that’s in everybody’s interest and keeps the Trail Blazers where they belong—right here in Portland.
I’m not going to get into the specifics of my conversation with the Miami Heat governor and chair of the NBA Board of Governors. But I came away encouraged by his counsel in getting these negotiations worked out for the benefit of Oregonians, for the benefit of the Trail Blazers franchise we all love, and for the benefit of the league.
Depending on this Tuesday’s election results, the Senator could end up as the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, a position he has been unafraid to use to intimidate the league into disallowing any potential Blazers move.
If Wyden’s influence on the Board of Governors proves effective, it could portend a doomsday scenario for the Blazers’ ownership group: having a relocation application denied by the NBA, while simultaneously facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from the City of Portland and being forced to remain at the Moda Center.
Under the Exclusive Site Agreement that the Blazers are operating under, any attempt to relocate the team without the City’s permission is a breach of contract.
Throughout the Term, TBI or any of its Affiliates (as defined in the Arena Lease) shall not relocate or seek to relocate the playing site of its Home Games under Article 7 of the NBA Constitution or any successor provision, except to the Arena or to Memorial Coliseum, without the prior written consent of the City, which may be withheld in the sole and absolute discretion of the City.
Article 7 of the NBA Constitution outlines the process for relocation, which ends with a majority vote from all the members of the board. The moment the Blazers apply, they will be in violation of the lease, whether their attempt to move the team convinces the league to vote in approval or not.
This will trigger the “first-class” manner lawsuit that has been haunting the front office and chilling the talks between Tom Dundon and the city government since their relationship began. The Blazers have thus far refused to engage in serious negotiations until the language in the current lease that holds them liable for maintaining the Moda Center in a first-class manner is removed.
The Senator’s meeting with Arison provides an opportunity to spotlight the Heat owner’s approach to stadium funding, which serves as a stark contrast to the Blazers’. While the Kaseya Center is publicly owned by Miami-Dade County, the arena’s construction was completely financed privately by Heat ownership, who continue to shoulder the financial burden for maintenance and capital improvements.
While President of Business Operations, Dewayne Hankins, has spent the better part of the last year trying to avoid any Blazers obligations to maintain their home arena in a first-class manner, his counterpart in the Heat organization, Eric Woolworth, has gone on record outlining a vastly different view:
We take our responsibility to maintain the Arena you [Miami-Dade County] own in a first-class manner so seriously that we have spent $75 million more than we have been required in order to do so.
It remains to be seen if Senator Wyden’s conversation with the Chair of the NBA Board of Governors has any effect on the Blazers’ potential relocation, it does provide hope that his political power holds sway with an NBA owner who has made it a point of civic pride to fund all construction to the stadium where his team conducts business.
For the Blazer fans who are desperate to keep the team here in Portland, it’s comforting to know that we have friends in high places.
