A new era begins for the Portland Trail Blazers as Tom Dundon and the Rip City Rising group take ownership, promising to make the franchise “better and better.”<\/p>\n
PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 It’s a new era in Rip City.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the first time in nearly 40 years, someone other than the Allen family is running the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Portland Trail Blazers has a new ownership group, led by Texas billionaire Tom Dundon<\/a>, who outlined his vision for the franchise<\/a> for the press at the Moda Center Thursday. Two co-owners from the new ownership group, Rip City Rising \u2014 Tyle, co-CEO of Collective Global, and Andrew Cherng, whose family owns Panda Express \u2014 also spoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: Who is the Portland Trail Blazers’ new owner, Tom Dundon?<\/a><\/p>\n Dundon started out by thanking the Allen family, saying, “They did a really nice job, and it gets uncomfortable sometimes talking about what we want to do next, so I really appreciate everything the Allen family did. They’ve built such a legacy.”\u00a0<\/p>\n As represented by the Moda Center itself:\u00a0<\/p>\n “This building is pretty neat. When you walk around it, it needs some work, but it’s still something we can be proud of and improve upon. That’s how I feel about everything they’ve done.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Winning was a common theme for the day, but the Blazers’ long-term future in Portland has been the main subject since the team was put up for sale.<\/p>\n “When I bought the hockey team (Carolina Hurricanes), everybody, because I was from Texas, I was going to move the team to Houston \u2014 that’s all I ever heard about, but I never spent any time on that subject and I haven’t spent any time on that,” he said. “And I haven’t spent any time on anything other than trying to get the renovation and lease. That’s kind of all I’ve focused on.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Dundon said he desperately wants to get started on renovations, and when he was asked about the funding for a Moda Center upgrade<\/a>, replied:\u00a0<\/p>\n “The people that represent the city and county and your tax dollars are going to do a deal<\/a> that’s great for them, I hope, and then, I’m going to try and do the same for the Trail Blazers. I think we’ve got a good framework. We’re moving forward on it, but we’re going to get a market deal and be fully committed to it. The form and structure of that, there’s a lot of work to do to figure out what that is.”<\/p>\n