PORTLAND, Ore. -- Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen
said Friday he has invested more in an NBA team than any other owner, but the Blazers still need a public partnership to survive financially.
In a posting on the team's Web site, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft Corp. said, "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."
But Allen repeated what he has said through spokesmen:
"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."
A spokeswoman for Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Friday night the
governor's position has not changed -- no bailout is planned with
public money.
"The governor recognizes the value of the organization but his
priorities are on education and health care right now," Anna
Richter-Taylor said.
Portland city officials have scheduled another meeting with team
officials for Wednesday but had no immediate comment on the Web
posting by Allen, said John Doussard, Mayor Tom Potter's spokesman.
Allen said team management is ultimately his responsibility --
including the decision to give up ownership of the Rose Garden
arena after the team's sister company, Oregon Arena Corp., declared
bankruptcy under the weight of construction debt.
Allen said the arena's new ownership group has gotten back $195
million on an original investment of $155 million, plus a stadium
worth more than $60 million and millions of dollars annually for
suites, club seats, concessions and parking.
In a comment about his rank as one of the wealthiest men in the
world, Allen said he could not afford to endure losses. He has
already projected the team will lose $100 million in the next three
years without some outside financial support.
"While I have deep pockets, it's sickening to know the model is
broken, hemorrhaging money," Allen said. "It's hard. As a
businessman, I'm out of pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars
each and every game. That's brutal."
Allen said he would rather see the money go to community
charities, education or health and science research.
He noted he has made bad investments in the past -- it has been
widely reported he has lost about $12 billion in less than a decade
-- but he said the team is an investment that benefits the state and
regional economy.
He said other professional sports teams are losing money in
smaller markets, but publicly financed arenas are helping teams
survive in the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball.