Portland’s fight to keep the Trail Blazers in Oregon has officially escalated to Washington and federal tax policy. With no assurances that the Trail Blazers will remain in Portland beyond their current arena agreement, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is launching a bid to leverage his powerful congressional post to stop billionaire owner Tom Dundon from relocating the franchise to a new city.
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If Dundon walks away by his December deadline, $365 million in state-backed bonds evaporate, and Wyden has federal tax policy leverage to make any potential relocation strategy exceptionally costly for NBA team owners.
As the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Wyden is pressing the NBA’s other 29 owners to use their influence with Dundon if he fails to reach a long-term lease agreement for the Moda Center by the end of the year. Wyden is signaling that federal tax perks enjoyed by pro sports franchises could come under heavy scrutiny if the team’s future in Oregon remains unresolved. While Wyden has not filed formal legislation to block relocation directly, he is weaponizing his committee position to force the NBA ownership group to step in and prevent a move.
Wyden Points to NBA Owners’ Influence and Federal Tax Policy
The political stakes could become even more significant if Democrats retake the Senate in November’s midterm elections. In that scenario, Wyden would be in line to return as chairman of the Finance Committee, giving him broader oversight of tax policy and what he described as “the treatment that teams and owners have received in public policy.”
“Among those policy questions,” Wyden told The OregonLive, “are the use of tax-free bonds to build arenas, goodwill amortizations of teams’ purchase price and tax treatment of teams’ value appreciating over time.”
Wyden has also directly called on the league’s other owners to speak with Dundon about keeping the franchise in Portland.
“Other owners should apply their experience to convince Tom Dundon it’s in everybody’s interest, and they can use whatever kind of approach they want,” Wyden said, according to reporting by BlazersEdge.
The timing is significant because Dundon faces a December deadline to reach a long-term lease agreement with Portland. If an agreement is not completed, $365 million in state-backed bonds could be put at risk. That funding represents more than half of the nearly $600 million package tied to the proposed renovation of the Moda Center.
The immediate focus remains on the Moda Center negotiations, with the franchise’s long-term future in Portland hanging over the talks. If negotiations fail and relocation eventually reaches the NBA’s Board of Governors, the league’s 30 owners would have a role in deciding the franchise’s future.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has already addressed the uncertainty surrounding Portland. Speaking after the league’s Board of Governors meetings, Silver said he hoped the sides could reach an agreement for a modernized arena.
“It’s my hope that we can lower the temperature honestly a bit in these negotiations,” Silver said. He added, “I would see it as a failure if we did not keep the team in Portland.”
Silver’s comments came as the NBA continues to monitor the standoff between Dundon and Portland officials. He also said he had spoken at length with Dundon and knew the Blazers owner had consulted other NBA owners about similar negotiations involving their teams and cities.
Wyden and Silver also have a longstanding connection. The two have known each other since the 1980s, when Silver worked as a congressional aide in Oregon and Wyden was serving in the U.S. House.
Wyden previously spoke publicly about his desire to keep the franchise in Oregon when the Trail Blazers were put up for sale. In a 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, he said, “Nobody moves Portland, unless they move it over my dead soul.”
With the December deadline serving as the next major test for whether the sides can resolve the arena dispute, Wyden continues to use his position in Washington to bring federal tax policy and the NBA’s ownership group into the broader discussion to ensure the Trail Blazers remain in Oregon.