alexlannin
03-10-2006, 08:09 PM
Paul Allen issues statement
Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen broke his silence late today, issuing his first statement on the team's attempts to craft a public-private partnership.
In the statement, Allen explicitly threatened to sell the NBA franchise -- or allow it to leave Portland -- if a fix can't be found for its financial problems. "If I have to sell the team or if it can't continue, that will be sad," Allen wrote on the team's Web site.
"For the last ten years, Portland has enjoyed the benefits of the Trail Blazers through what is probably the most favorable franchise relationship with a city that has ever existed in the NBA," he wrote. "Unfortunately the economic model for that type of deal is broken, and now everyone needs to pitch in and try and fix it. If that effort fails, the team is in jeopardy, as we have invested too much to this point to continue."
Allen went on to blame former Blazer executive Marshall Glickman for "the worst arena deal in basketball," signed at a time the team was flying high after championship appearances in 1990 and 1992. He said the PFM consulting firm helped Glickman work out the lease details, although Allen acknowledged that, in the end, "I signed off on the deal."
He accused the lenders who helped him finance the arena with a $155 million loan -- and who later took control when he defaulted -- of being unwilling to renegotiate toward what the billionaire owner considered to be a fair deal: "We had hoped that the owners of Portland Arena Management (PAM) -- which include Prudential, Farmers Insurance, TIAA-CREF, Pacific Life and others -- would understand the model is broken too, and participate in a solution, but so far that hasn’t happened."
"I want the team to stay in Portland," Allen concluded. "If this all ends up in the courts or someone buys the team and moves it, it would be a shame."
Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen broke his silence late today, issuing his first statement on the team's attempts to craft a public-private partnership.
In the statement, Allen explicitly threatened to sell the NBA franchise -- or allow it to leave Portland -- if a fix can't be found for its financial problems. "If I have to sell the team or if it can't continue, that will be sad," Allen wrote on the team's Web site.
"For the last ten years, Portland has enjoyed the benefits of the Trail Blazers through what is probably the most favorable franchise relationship with a city that has ever existed in the NBA," he wrote. "Unfortunately the economic model for that type of deal is broken, and now everyone needs to pitch in and try and fix it. If that effort fails, the team is in jeopardy, as we have invested too much to this point to continue."
Allen went on to blame former Blazer executive Marshall Glickman for "the worst arena deal in basketball," signed at a time the team was flying high after championship appearances in 1990 and 1992. He said the PFM consulting firm helped Glickman work out the lease details, although Allen acknowledged that, in the end, "I signed off on the deal."
He accused the lenders who helped him finance the arena with a $155 million loan -- and who later took control when he defaulted -- of being unwilling to renegotiate toward what the billionaire owner considered to be a fair deal: "We had hoped that the owners of Portland Arena Management (PAM) -- which include Prudential, Farmers Insurance, TIAA-CREF, Pacific Life and others -- would understand the model is broken too, and participate in a solution, but so far that hasn’t happened."
"I want the team to stay in Portland," Allen concluded. "If this all ends up in the courts or someone buys the team and moves it, it would be a shame."