Many Portland Trail Blazers fans have been asking, begging, or demanding an ownership change for the last few years. They may well get their wish, but it may come at a price, and potentially one even more costly than purchasing a sports franchise.
Many Seattle fans grew up watching the Sonics play in person or on TV broadcasts at Key Arena, the Tacoma Dome, and even the King Dome. Their final home game was on April 13th, 2008, a win over Dallas before closing out their final season on the road against Golden State, another win and the final one for their hometown fans. It turned out those places they played in were not just for creating memories, but were a liability for the team and their future. The houses the Sonics helped build could no longer house them. But more on that later.
It’s been 17 years since the hearts of Seattle Supersonics’ fans were ripped out and their local and beloved team moved across the country to Oklahoma City. And it was completely avoidable, but the team did some things that most franchises avoid during an economic struggle. The Sonics were 21st in attendance in 2005, 23rd in 2006, 25th in 2007, and before plummeting to 28th in 2008.
In 2005, Seattle made the playoffs with their face of the franchise, Ray Allen, and were hoping to go even farther. In 2006, they failed to post a winning record, and when they failed to post a winning record again in 2007, Allen was traded to Milwaukee.
Even with a roster full of high draft picks, within five seasons of their most recent playoff win, they changed the entire roster and coaching staff and shook up the front office, then were sold and relocated.
Sounds somewhat familiar.
Portland’s team is facing a similar situation, and that would be a terrifying fate if things continue down the path they are on. They went from 14th in attendance in 2022 to 9th in 2023 and then down to 13th in 2024 before closing out this season at 19th. For a young team supposedly on the rise, dropping to the bottom third of the league in fan support does not look great.
There has been limited interest from potential buyers looking to purchase the team, and initial reports on the state of the current stadium indicate a new building will need to be financed and constructed as a part of any potential deal. With the Moda Center set to celebrate its 30th birthday in October, it is absolutely behind modern standards. Early rumors suggest that the stadium would be built in a new location with a larger area for amenities, rather than tearing down and building in the exact location. It’s increasingly unlikely that Memorial Coliseum will be the site for a new stadium either. Still, perhaps the city can find a way to make one of those the new site for a multi-use facility that would be needed for a new baseball venue and use another site for an NBA stadium.
In a perfect world, they could use the new venue for both sports, but that would be difficult as there is a lot of crossover during the late spring time and into early summer if the team makes a deep playoff run, so unless they open the Coliseum to Blazers games and let the baseball team use the new venue, that idea is out. And if the baseball team survives into the MLB playoffs, it would coincide with the start of the NBA season, and there would be even more stress for both teams to play in separate arenas.
In the event a new stadium is needed. The current site is not deemed appropriate or worse – overruled by a potential new owner, there are not precisely a bevy of options where a new building of that size and footprint could be constructed in the metro area, and placing the stadium in a suburb of the city may be a deal breaker for the new owner even if it provides ample space for additional construction and amenities. I imagine that eager fans would be just as happy to commute to another local city as they would be to continue fighting traffic downtown or waiting for public transport. Still, it’s also possible that public interest may wane a bit if the team is moved too far out of the city, which is a concept a new owner may not be willing to risk especially with attendance numbers this year being lower than expected.
Then you have to look at the cost of the new stadium, and who is paying for it. Portland has been a profitable franchise for almost all of its history, but recent years suggest the team may be losing money and spending too much to attract potential fans who are less interested than in years past. Some might view the team’s lack of success on the court or its star power, but it consistently sold out games, even with more stars, and was a regular playoff team. The fans don’t flock to see the less entertaining road teams; that’s the way it is. Will they sell out a game against the best teams in the Western Conference? Sure, but those other games against lower-ranked Eastern Conference teams can easily be bought an hour before game time if needed.
If a new owner looks at the financials needed to purchase the team and the lack of recent cash support from fans and a new stadium being at least partially paid for by the new owner, and sees that is a lot of investment with a lot more risk than guaranteed returns – that could spell trouble for the team to stay in place in Portland.
But where do they go if they don’t stay here?
Seattle has a new arena, a remodeled and renovated Key Arena (now known as Climate Pledge), waiting for an NBA team to move there. They have a large number of hotels and local options for folks to stay overnight, and a rabid fan base begging for a new team to cheer for. A new owner would need to front the check for the new team and wait for the cash to come rolling in.
We don’t want to see the Trail Blazers move three-ish hours north, but of all the possible spots, that one probably stings the least, as it would mean you could feasibly still make it to a game and home in the same day if you plan it right. Moving the team anywhere farther away, and it’s a two-day trip, and that means most fans won’t bother travelling for most games, which makes the home crowd either weak, or they will be non-Blazers fans, and that would be like having the team taken away to a venue far off in the distance.
Another similar location would be Las Vegas, which also has a brand new stadium and tons of local options for folks to stay if they want to stay a night or two. You could fly in and fly back out the same day, but that would be a rough trip, and you would likely limit how many times a season you make that happen. So you’re likely watching from home or a sports bar, and the home crowd gets thinner or converts to the new team, so it’s not a Blazers crowd even if the name on the jersey is something else.
The NBA has talked up expanding to Seattle and Vegas in recent years, but this year, it walked back some of those comments and discussed the possibility of teams relocating to stronger markets rather than expanding, at least right away.
That’s a scary thought if the league is already open to relocation instead of adding teams, and they see Portland as one of those teams that could be relocated instead of adding a new franchise. Portland is already one of the smaller media markets in the NBA and has struggled to support its one major franchise among what is commonly known as the major league big three – NBA, MLB, and NFL. With an MLB team potentially coming to Portland, it could increase fan activity just as easily as distract some current fans; you never know.
“It is our preference that the team remains in Portland” is what NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated when asked about the potential sale of the team and if that might include a possible move. But when pressed on the subject, he made it clear that it will be up to the new owner and the city to decide what happens with the stadium and the team’s permanent address.
The last time an NBA team was for sale in the Pacific Northwest and a new stadium was required to prevent the team from relocating, the biggest hurdle was getting public support for the funding, as they had just helped support the construction of a state-of-the-art stadium for their baseball team. Which appears to be the same exact situation Portland is staring at.
Hopefully, the current owners will avoid selling to interested groups from outside the area who don’t have ties to the city. A new owner can keep the team here. Still, if they lack local ties, both professionally and personally, I would be surprised if they weren’t interested in relocating.
We don’t want what happened in Seattle to happen here, and hopefully, the current folks in charge of making the deal won’t let that happen. But the people who sold Seattle to out-of-towners quite literally made their fortunes on the people of Seattle (Starbucks!), so we can’t rule anything out.
I would vote to keep Portland here, but if they have to move, the only other location I would consider would be Seattle.
