NBA: Nike co-founder Phil Night’s desperate to buy the Portland Trailblazers from Jody Allen

Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, has repeatedly tried to get in touch with the late Paul Allen’s sister, Jody, with the aim of buying the Portland Trail Blazers, but the NBA franchise owner insisted that the team not for sale. time after time.

Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky, who built his wealth by building student housing around the University of Southern California, submitted an offer in excess of $2 billion in June 2022 to purchase the team.

However, he said that offer was rejected without a counteroffer The Wall Street Journal. Jody Allen inherited her brother’s $20 billion fortune following the death of the Microsoft co-founder from cancer-related septic shock in October 2018, at the age of 65.

He and his sister founded Vulcan Inc. in 1986, a private company that still manages its business and philanthropic endeavors. It has a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio that includes the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, the Seattle Sounders, the MLS, and of course, the Trail Blazers.

“Phil Knight and I have not spoken,” Jody Allen told the WSJ after reports of last year’s bid.

Jody Allen, the sister of former Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, turned down a $2.1 billion offer in June ’22

Paul Allen paid $70 million to take over the Trail Blazers in ’88. The team is now worth at least $2.1 billion

Knight, a Portland native who built his wealth thanks to Nike’s transformation from an athletic shoe brand to a multibillion-dollar international apparel company, would like to own the “Blazers” so much that he’ll make sure the team stays in his hometown.

The Trail Blazers’ lease with the City of Portland runs through 2025. It contains ironclad language that would see the team stay until at least 2023.

While working on an expansion to keep the team in the Northwest, Jody Allen referred Knight and Smolinisky to Bert Kolde, the Vice Chairman of the Trail Blazers and a former associate of Paul Allen, according to The Journal.

Kolde reiterated the owner’s position to Knight and Smolinisky: “The Trail Blazers are not for sale.”

Earlier this year, Knight and Smolinisky approached Allen with a bid worth more than the $2 billion submitted last summer due to the rising value of sports teams, following the sale of the Broncos to Walmart heir, Rob Walton, who owns the Denver Broncos. bought for $4.6 billion. .

Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky also involved in Knight’s bid to buy NBA franchise

But Jody Allen declined the duo’s offer once again and sent them to Kolde.

Smolinisky also sent a handwritten letter to Allen, requesting a meeting in the hopes that he and Allen could agree terms to purchase the Trail Blazers, The Journal reported.

But Allen replied with an email of her own, reaffirming that the team was not on the market, despite her brother’s wishes that most of his fortune be liquidated and the proceeds donated to charity .

Paul Allen was a proponent of Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffet’s “Giving Pledge” to donate the majority of their wealth to charity. He was never married and had no children. Aside from the value of his estate, not much is known about its details.

For now, the Seahawks and Trail Blazers will remain off the market, according to The Journal.

Paul Allen left behind a fortune of at least $20 billion when he died of cancer in October 2018 at the age of 65

What’s more, Allen plans to sell her brother’s assets through a process that could take up to 20 years, The Journal’s Rachel Bachman reported.

“As Jody said publicly last year, the sports teams are not for sale,” a Vulcan spokesperson confirmed to The Journal. “That will eventually change in accordance with Paul’s wishes, but there is no predetermined timeline for when that will happen.”

‘Anyone who is interested can participate if we set up a sales process in the future.’

Paul Allen paid $70 million to acquire the Trail Blazers in 1988. He bought the Seahawks for $194 million in 1997.

Today, according to Forbes, the NBA franchise is worth at least $2.1 billion and Oregon’s only NFL team is worth around $4.5 billion.