Poll: Biggest fear of the new ownership group (11 Viewers)

[2Fluffy4U]

This hurts a lot

 

[SwissBlazer]

Seems like a few flags for sure. But in the end I feel this is a little bit too much of controversy for t-shirts.

 

[SharpeScooterShooter]

Dun dun dun duuunnnn……
Dun dun dun duuuuunnnnnnnnnn………

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Get comfortable with it because it’s what’s gonna happen. You guys want to bitch……please welcome the Kansas City Blazers

So "shut up or lose the team"? Reminds me of "America - love it or lose it!"

You wouldn't have made much of a French Resistance fighter.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Get comfortable with it because it’s what’s gonna happen. You guys want to bitch……please welcome the Kansas City Blazers

 

[crandc]

Thoughts.
We were all shocked when Paul Allen died because it was unexpected. And although most of us had never met him, there was genuine grief. I think because whatever mistakes he made, and he did make mistakes, we all felt his heart was truly with the team. It wasn't just bottom line. To paraphrase The Godfather, it was personal, not just business.
I had hoped new owners would have ties to the region. Sadly, no. But I honestly tried to keep an open mind about Dundon. His ending Pride celebration for his hockey team was a big red flag. Most of you probably think no big deal but for my community it is. For centuries we had to be invisible, hide in closets, deny who we are. Only in past 50 years has this slowly begun to change. Taking away our celebration feels like making us invisible again.
But North Carolina is not Portland. Still hoping to give benefit of the doubt.
But...
Leaving people in hotel lobby for hours to save a night. The team never would have made playoffs without the two way players. Leaving them behind is crap move. No giveaway when we are back in playoffs after five years.
They indicate it's all bottom line for him. It's business, not personal. He wants the team to succeed the way he would want a car dealership he owned to succeed. No love.
And you know, I feel like we lost Paul all over again.

 

[julius]

What I find funny is how the same people (in the media) who ridiculed the "SPAM" mindset, are now aghast that someone comes in and wants to not spend money on every thing there is to spend money on.

IF the ownership starts to not keep players or refuse to take on salary, then we should be concerned. But as of right now, the ownership is implied to want to not spend a ton of money on a coach...and maybe he's interviewing people and he'll go "ok, these guys all suck. maybe I need to spend more money".

Not that I don't wish the front office had gobs of money, but until they actually do something that is detrimental to the stability or health of the franchise or the product on the floor, I ain't that worried.

 

[Freshtown]

Thoughts.
We were all shocked when Paul Allen died because it was unexpected. And although most of us had never met him, there was genuine grief. I think because whatever mistakes he made, and he did make mistakes, we all felt his heart was truly with the team. It wasn't just bottom line. To paraphrase The Godfather, it was personal, not just business.
I had hoped new owners would have ties to the region. Sadly, no. But I honestly tried to keep an open mind about Dundon. His ending Pride celebration for his hockey team was a big red flag. Most of you probably think no big deal but for my community it is. For centuries we had to be invisible, hide in closets, deny who we are. Only in past 50 years has this slowly begun to change. Taking away our celebration feels like making us invisible again.
But North Carolina is not Portland. Still hoping to give benefit of the doubt.
But...
Leaving people in hotel lobby for hours to save a night. The team never would have made playoffs without the two way players. Leaving them behind is crap move. No giveaway when we are back in playoffs after five years.
They indicate it's all bottom line for him. It's business, not personal. He wants the team to succeed the way he would want a car dealership he owned to succeed. No love.
And you know, I feel like we lost Paul all over again.

I think this is all true and if so is kind of sad. But—and maybe this is pure cope and wishful thinking—if he indeed looks at it as a business that he wants to succeed in, then perhaps having an owner with an insane competitive drive and tunnel vision for winning only would help avoid some of the mishaps of the past decade or two, where Paul, despite or perhaps because he loved the team emotionally, held onto bad gms, coaches, and players for sentimental reasons that hurt winning.

 

[illmatic99]

Not even a month in and dude is a national laughingstock

 

[wizenheimer]

it's hard to know what's going to happen. But we do have some circumstantial details to start building assumption

* to start with, his reputation in the NHL: "Tightwad Tom" sure looks like it was earned. That's not necessarily a bad thing if it's actually true he wants the savings to go toward the product on the ice/floor

* his rep as a hardball negotiator of player/coaching/staff salaries: again, maybe not a bad thing but I fear the NBA culture is a whole lot different than the NHL culture. It's not going to do the Blazers any good to end up on the shit list of a bunch of powerful player agents

but those NHL rumors do seem to dovetail into the first 3 or 4 edicts of his new tenure as the Blazer owner

* no t-shirts for home playoff games
* multiple rumors of a really cheapskate new coach search
* the only playoff team to not take their two-way players on the road (this one is weird; are the Blazers flying commercial or charter?)

none of these things mean much by themselves. Taken together?

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Not even a month in and the media/social media attention whores are already blowing things way out of proportion in order to get clicks/views. And Blazer fans are eating it up. These social media maggots see blood in the water and are going full throttle on any angle they can to feed the bullshit and bring attention to themselves. I think many of you need to simmer down and wait until anything actually impacts the teams success before you jump to conclusions and roll with the "sky is falling" mentality.

 

[wizenheimer]

Not even a month in and the media/social media attention whores are already blowing things way out of proportion in order to get clicks/views. And Blazer fans are eating it up. These social media maggots see blood in the water and are going full throttle on any angle they can to feed the bullshit and bring attention to themselves. I think many of you need to simmer down and wait until anything actually impacts the teams success before you jump to conclusions and roll with the "sky is falling" mentality.

c'mon man...no maggots here...we're just reacting to news and rumors, like always

maybe you need to remember how Dundon made his fortune:



Dundon has a track record of business practices that pretty much match the first few things we've heard and actions he's taken. A wannabe Bobby Axelrod without the charisma is going to get a sour reception anywhere

 

[Phatguysrule]

Not even a month in and the media/social media attention whores are already blowing things way out of proportion in order to get clicks/views. And Blazer fans are eating it up. These social media maggots see blood in the water and are going full throttle on any angle they can to feed the bullshit and bring attention to themselves. I think many of you need to simmer down and wait until anything actually impacts the teams success before you jump to conclusions and roll with the "sky is falling" mentality.

But the media isn't making these stories up. I haven't read any opinions based on these facts. I've only seen the facts.

The facts that I am seeing are how you build the Donald Sterling Clippers.

That's not how the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, or really any other successful NBA franchise has been built.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Article right on main ESPN page detailing cost cutting, interesting.

Blazers not furnishing fans with T-shirts invites cash questions

The Portland Trail Blazers won't give away T-shirts for fans when they take on the San Antonio Spurs in Games 3 and 4 of the opening series, another in a series of moves that has drawn questions about the team's cost-cutting and finances.

www.espn.com

 

[Everything Beagle]

Donald Sterling 2.0

 

[LayneStaley]

Bill Simmons is now referring to Tom as “El Cheapo”. It’s been like a month.

 

[julius]

it's hard to know what's going to happen. But we do have some circumstantial details to start building assumption

* to start with, his reputation in the NHL: "Tightwad Tom" sure looks like it was earned. That's not necessarily a bad thing if it's actually true he wants the savings to go toward the product on the ice/floor

* his rep as a hardball negotiator of player/coaching/staff salaries: again, maybe not a bad thing but I fear the NBA culture is a whole lot different than the NHL culture. It's not going to do the Blazers any good to end up on the shit list of a bunch of powerful player agents

but those NHL rumors do seem to dovetail into the first 3 or 4 edicts of his new tenure as the Blazer owner

* no t-shirts for home playoff games
* multiple rumors of a really cheapskate new coach search
* the only playoff team to not take their two-way players on the road (this one is weird; are the Blazers flying commercial or charter?)

none of these things mean much by themselves. Taken together?

The NHL doesn't have as strong of a players union as the NBA does, nor do things cost as much to do in the NHL as they do in the NBA.
Think about it this way, the most valuable NHL franchise isnt worth as much as the Blazers are. It's easy to run a tight ship/be cheap in the NHL, most of their franchises aren't owned by people with multiple billions in their portfolio.

Their top 10-15 owners are worth less than Balmer is on his own.

It's a whole different league in regards to how to run it cheaply. He's either in for a rude awakening or he's going to have to sell

 

[LayneStaley]

The rumor about him having sticker shock at some of the NBA stuff is concerning. I fear his success being a cheap asshole in the NHL will lead to him trying the same shit in the NBA.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

and all while his Hurricanes are a top seed in the NHL playoffs and are up 1-0 in the first round. I'd GLADLY take that for our Trail Blazers even if it means he cuts some costs. Winning cures everything.

 

[Natebishop3]

and all while his Hurricanes are a top seed in the NHL playoffs and are up 1-0 in the first round. I'd GLADLY take that for our Trail Blazers even if it means he cuts some costs. Winning cures everything.

But we are saying over and over that the NHL isn’t the same thing as the NBA.

This is like saying you’re gonna be good running a high end boutique in Beverly Hills because you have a successful boot barn in Oklahoma.

 

[Natebishop3]

Once again, here is proof that the NHL and NBA are apples and oranges. They're both fruit, but they taste completely different.

NBA's largest contract - Jayson Tatum $313,933,410 (AAV $62,786,682)
NHL's largest contract - Kirill Kaprizov $136,000,000 (AAV $17,000,000)

NBA's most expensive team - Golden State $234,222,725
NHL's most expensive team - Las Vegas $107,487,474

NBA league wide revenue 2025-26 - estimated $14.3 billion
NHL league wide revenue 2025-26 - estimated $6.8 billion

NBA average viewership - 1.78 million
NHL average viewership - 795,000

It's just not even close. They're not in the same universe. You can't run the same playbook in the NBA that you run in the NHL. The players expect more. The fans expect more. The media expects more. You're not in the minors anymore Tom.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I wonder what Dame thinks of TightWad Tim?

 

[illmatic99]

First playoff game in 5 yrs and the entire convo is about the cheap owner. What a distraction this guy has become.

Such a disservice to the players, coaches, and fans.

Can Silver oust him and replace quickly before it gets worse?

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

This is like saying you’re gonna be good running a high end boutique in Beverly Hills because you have a successful boot barn in Oklahoma.

There are fundamental principles in running a successful business that apply across the board.

It's absolutely crazy to think for a second that the experience of running a successful NHL team can't also help/transition to the NBA. Sure it has its unique differences, but the are many similarities across all major sports teams.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Once again, here is proof that the NHL and NBA are apples and oranges. They're both fruit, but they taste completely different.

NBA's largest contract - Jayson Tatum $313,933,410 (AAV $62,786,682)
NHL's largest contract - Kirill Kaprizov $136,000,000 (AAV $17,000,000)

NBA's most expensive team - Golden State $234,222,725
NHL's most expensive team - Las Vegas $107,487,474

NBA league wide revenue 2025-26 - estimated $14.3 billion
NHL league wide revenue 2025-26 - estimated $6.8 billion

NBA average viewership - 1.78 million
NHL average viewership - 795,000

It's just not even close. They're not in the same universe. You can't run the same playbook in the NBA that you run in the NHL. The players expect more. The fans expect more. The media expects more. You're not in the minors anymore Tom.

That's actually a lot closer than I would have expected it to be. The NHL isn't even a blip on my radar.

 

[Samuel]

It's very important right now that tom builds and reinforces a perception that this is a group of owners who will not spend private dollars on the arena or the area around the arena.

these negotiations are playing out right now.

so this is a pr narrative that is being used as a tool so that when city/county/state politicians are looking at the public/private partnership, that they view the ownership group's purchase of the team as the partnership, and are not going to come after them for additional development dollars.

'if they aren't going to fly out the team blogger, head photographer or 2 way guys to road games, how could they be expected to privately develop the area around the moda center? these guys don't have the money for that!'

(they do)

 

[crandc]

Fiscal responsibility and stinginess are not the same thing.

 

[Everything Beagle]

It's very important right now that tom builds and reinforces a perception that this is a group of owners who will not spend private dollars on the arena or the area around the arena.

these negotiations are playing out right now.

so this is a pr narrative that is being used as a tool so that when city/county/state politicians are looking at the public/private partnership, that they view the ownership group's purchase of the team as the partnership, and are not going to come after them for additional development dollars.

'if they aren't going to fly out the team blogger, head photographer or 2 way guys to road games, how could they be expected to privately develop the area around the moda center? these guys don't have the money for that!'

(they do)

Yes but why would Tom ever change his tune after winning against the government by spending no money?

 

[LayneStaley]

Can’t wait till the “El Cheapo” signs start popping up at games.

 

[Natebishop3]

There are fundamental principles in running a successful business that apply across the board.

It's absolutely crazy to think for a second that the experience of running a successful NHL team can't also help/transition to the NBA. Sure it has its unique differences, but the are many similarities across all major sports teams.

Sure but there are industry standards that you don’t just cast aside right out the door.

If you’re trying to open a high end restaurant and all the high end restaurant requires certain attire and provides specific free services, but you aren’t gonna have any requirements and you aren’t gonna provide any free services, as well as opening your high end restaurant on the outskirts of town…. That’s not gonna help you get business.