The Trail Blazers have laid off approximately 70 employees from their business operations department, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (via Twitter).
Longtime Blazers.com reporter Casey Holdahl confirmed he was among the employees let go (Twitter link).
President of business operations Dewayne Hankins released a statement regarding the decision, as Joe Freeman of The Oregonian relays (All Twitter links).
“Today, as part of our plans to position the organization for the future, we made the difficult decision to restructure several areas of the business,” Hankins said. “These changes impacted talented people who have helped shape the Trail Blazers over many years. We are deeply grateful for their contributions, their leadership and the care they showed every day for our team, our fans and the Portland community.
“Our focus now is supporting those affected through the transition and positioning the organization for long-term success.”
It’s the first of what could be many major changes under new majority owner Tom Dundon, who addressed some of the accusations of cheapness that have followed him last week in a podcast appearance. Dundon, who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, claimed he was willing to spend on the players, but suggested the business side wasn’t being run to his satisfaction.
“I just don’t want to waste money. I want to invest it,” Dundon said. “I’ll have many masseuses. I’ll have the best food. We’re going to take care of the players, because it helps you win. It’s part of the deal. Some of the stuff about how we’re going to run the business; Portland spends $100MM more a year on their business than the Hurricanes do, not including players.
“The Hurricanes, since I bought the team, have the first or second-best record in the league. So, I’m just not going to waste $100MM, just because somebody wants to write an article calling me cheap. I’m just not going to do it. And so, it’s hard because I don’t think about a budget when it comes to the playing team and how to make sure we win. Some of the stuff that was blamed on money is actually not 100% true.”
“Our focus now is supporting those affected through the transition and positioning the organization for long-term success.”
If that “support” is not “paying each individual $1 million dollars” then this team owner might be one of the worst ones yet. Firing the press soon after arrival is nasty, nasty work.
Get a job dude
I’m so glad my state is investing so much money to renovate the moda center while he cuts all of these jobs that contribute tax money to the state /s
He sounds lovely…
This is just going to happen more and more as the consumer base shrinks fast over the next few years…
The fact that this is hitting sports already is a bad sign… especially for the TrailBlazers…
Well a bad sign if you have positive opinions about the economy…
The product sucks. Stop letting 19 years with no go to move into the NBA. Have to find a replacement for Curry, bron and KD. Need more stars other than SGA and Victor. But he I agree the NBA is going to lose view ship over the next few years
Nah the product is better now than it was a decade ago…
The problem is who owns the teams and who controls the resources…
“We’re not cheap.”
*fires (checks notes….) everybody*
Dondon is awesome…. /s
Now how about spelling Tom “the dunce” Dundon’s name correctly
What a lovely chap.
He never said he was a “job creator”
Then he shouldn’t be a Business owner
Oof
Also, an nba team is wayyy bigger than any NHL team
Terrible comparison from his side
The comparison should be to OTHER NBA teams not to YOUR NHL team. Idiot. I’m sure the fine people of Oregon are sad to learn they subsidized this debacle.
Now if Dundon wants to run the Blazers like he runs the Hurricanes then Blazer Basketball is in trouble because the NBA is nothing like the NHL & anyone who thinks that the Blazers will have one of the top Records in 8 Seasons like the Hurricanes then you all have another thing coming because it’s not going to happen because even Dundon said he doesn’t know a damn thing about workings of the NBA.
I have supported the Blazers since the Franchises 1st Season of 1979-71 & this is the 1st time that I have been really discouraged about the Team Ownership & it’s commitment to the City & to the Greatest Fan Base in all of the NBA. I think it’s really terrible that Jody Allen couldn’t have found someone more suited to own the Blazers than Tom Dundon the Dunce.
As a former Oakland A’s fan I feel for you brother. We have a very dysfunctional sports culture in the USA. In most of the world the local fans truly possess their team. See for example Wimbledon FC move to Milton Keynes. Did not go well for ownership.
i stop watching baseball 3 years ago when MLB said to all A’s fans screw you take a hike. All the money I spent going to way over 100 plus games with 20 plus caps and so many baseball items. Now they get $0 from me. Its horrible how many owners do not care about the fans their paying customers. I can sure you many of teh people let go are sales people and community people. If you can afford $50 million for 1 year of a star you can afford to have employees.
The A’s problems started more than 3 years ago, try not 1968. They have had bad owners since Charlie Finley bought the team.
Haas family were good owners just sold to the wrong group. You do know twice local owners tried to buy the team and was turned down. One was a group with Lacob in it. MLB commish even told groups that wanted to buty the team not to let fans know it or they would be bared from ever buying any MLB team again. The Commish wanted a team in Vegas and done everything he could to get them there.
A’s ownership was never been willing to spend on their own free agents. Impending free agency meant a player would be traded. “Moneyball” was all about being cheap.
Bud Selig hasn’t been the Commish in a decade.
The A’s have had owners that were real estate developers. They could have built a new stadium.
A’s owner had a big real estate deal going on with a ballpark by the water. When it came down to him putting upthe money he ran. Not the first time he flaked out on a deal close to getting done.
Don’t let these Giant’s fans phase you Arc. They got lucky with their owners. And then there’s 89!
My point wasn’t so much how I got screwed as an A’s fan. I had some great times with an amazing team. My point is that US sports fans shouldn’t have to rely on their own luck and the random goodwill of billionaires.
He lives in Brooklyn so he doesnt know what went on behind the scenes. I am against the tax payers buying stadiums for billionaires. Vegas residence can pretend the raiders were free but their property tax gone up paying for schools now. Don’t forget Seattle fans watching their Sonics leave and getting lied to by the NBA.
Do you remember the Tampa Bay Giants? I do.
The A’s owners could have easily put in the effort to build a new stadium. The Giants owners were actual baseball fans. And worked to make it happen.
A’s never tried to force the giants out but the giants forced the A’s out. Do you forget that the giants was going to go to San Jose and asked the A’s for teh rights to San Jose and was given them but When the A’s asked to put a ball park there the Giants threatened to sue. Fisher was actually part of Giants ownership when they got the new stadium which was built without any enviormental reports and signed off in a let night deal by Slick Willie Brown. Giants attendance is way down without the A’s in town so it never was because the area can’t support 2 teams.
They weren’t going to SJ. They lost that vote. The Giants claimed territorial rights to SJ. There was an EIR done for Pac Bell. Papa Fisher was part of the ownership group. It was led by Peter McGowan. He, and Larry Baer, were actual fans and knew what they wanted. Those had good reasons for choosing the derelict site they did.
I’m not sure what is bothering you. The A’s ownership could easily have gotten a stadium built. They just didn’t want to spend the money.
Major League Baseball’s territorial rights for San Jose and Santa Clara County were formally ceded to the San Francisco Giants in 1990 by then-Oakland A’s owner Walter Haas. Haas agreed to the transfer for free to help the Giants secure a new stadium in the South Bay and prevent the franchise from relocating to Florida. You don’t live around here so you have no idea what was going on.
What makes you think I am not from the Bay Area?
The Giants lost a vote to build a stadium in SJ. Lurie sold the team to Tampa Bay. The league voted against the move. That is when McGowan stepped in to buy the team.
The same thing happens here. People in Brooklyn still do not acknowledge that the Dodgers exist.
Raiders left here too but that is completely different move. Mark Davis was the poorest football owner and if somebody offers you $2 billion free stadium why not take it. He never strung along fans telling them he wanted to stay like Fisher did the last ten years claiming a new stadium was about to be built and they are signing the papers soon.
Mark Davis wanted to build a new stadium in Oakland. Fisher blocked it from happening.
Not true. Mark Davis had a deal with Vegas before his contract was up and never even negotiated to build a stadium in Oakland. His intensions were Vegas from the start.
Not according to Mark Davis.
Mark Davis said I hvae this $2 billion stadium deal and you have 24 hours to match it or we are gone. They couldn’t match it. Never negotiated with Oakland.
But moving these sports teams to Vegas, could be the downfall for them. Looking at the latest economic articles coming out of Vegas they are having a real downturn at their main source of income the casino’s. How can Las Vegas locals support the NFL, MLB, NHL and soon the NBA with the main reason people come to Vegas not coming. Gambling in Vegas is about 25% to30% down this year, restaurants are hurting, people going there complaining that the cost are going up and the Indian tribes also are taking a major chunk of the gaming income away from Las Vegas now. Vegas does not survive economically without tourism, there is town called Prim, right outside Las Vegas near the Stateline to California, that has become a 4-casino ghost town their last casino closes its doors on July 4th at his year. This could be the start of a real economic issue for Vegas Sports teams attendance.
i read a article today about how there is a few big casinos opening up in southern California to compete with Vegas. The way gas prices are now people will go to the close casino. Vegas future is not so bright.
You can Blame the Brooklyn Political Leaders for Losing the Dodgers since it was the Leadership that blocked every location that Walter O’Malley preferred & NYC Leaders wanted the Dodgers to move out to where Shea Stadium was eventually built. OH Yeah I know that NY Baseball Fans also blame Mr O’Malley for also taking the NY Giants to the West Coast
He’s just another billionaire narcissist who doesn’t realize they don’t know everything and that luck is still a very real factor. The fact that he’s gone full hatchet mode so soon after becoming owner, based entirely on the idea that if it worked in the NHL it is guaranteed to work in the NBA, is laughably naive.
He’s basically running the Blazers like a PE firm, and we know how that tends to work out.
Dundon says he isn’t cheap but if he’s not willing to pay market value for a basketball coach then news flash the team would be affected basketball-wise
Go Blazers. Trade Lillard out too
Nah, dont “go Blazers” the Blazers have an evil person owning them who is trying to destroy the league or move the team to Vegas, exactly like the Oakland A’s owner did. He is copying the Oakland A’s owner before he got the team moved, which he claimed he never wanted to do, but did anyway.
First of all, the Blazers aren’t trading Dame. Secondly you have absolutely no clue what the new owner is about or what he will do, much less that he’s an evil person. All your opinions are based off a bunch of reporters that also don’t know but have created a narrative for clicks.
Everyone needs to actually give the guy a chance. If he’s willing to take big swings via trade for All-NBA players, then this whole cheapskate narrative will disappear. Let’s actually see what he does throughout the offseason first before we start casting stones his way.
Stick to your Warriors. You don’t know anything about the Blazers.
Bro just got Davey baited for the first time
If that happens then I’ll say you are right Davey
Blazers are on the right track.
Four different timeliness on the roster. They need to commit and go all in on two
Decline Kris Murray team option
Caleb Love deserves a standard contract
The future of sports franchises turning to artificial intelligence to automate front office logistics. The research aspect, although requires a human, reduces the human workforce need. Automated scouting and video analysis – removes many scouts. Automated interpretation of the cap rules in negotiating contracts – removes many admin. Overall stadium logistics – hundreds.
Must feel nice for billionaire ownership to push their weight around.
A new owner comes and makes changes in an organization’s structure. Here’s an organization that almost certainly had gotten bloated with Jody Allen’s indifference as an owner. The cluck, cluck, cluck of social media pot stirrers who, if given the responsibility would likely have canned more folks is silly. I wonder about comparisons to other NBA team structures.
Remember these sports franchise ownership have change their spots from the old school owners, where there once was 30 or so owners of every professional team in the MLB, NHL, NBA and NFL there is maybe about I would say 10 to 12 owners that winning a championship is the number one goal and that is for all 4 major sports leagues. I would say 30 to 50 years ago these leagues had ownership that said win, win, win, no matter what the bottom line is. Now it is what are we looking at our bottom line before if we can contend for a title. The NFL, NBA, NHL and NFL now have owners that could care less how their teams do. So if your teams in your cities are doing poorly and been doing it for years, guarantee the owners of these teams are still smiling by playing the fans as if they really care about winning, when it all comes down to showing a profit over wining over even championships that will never come with some of these new style owners.
LOL. This is a complete non-story at least as it relates to the ability of POR to be successful under this owner. It not surprising that someone with an agenda would float this “story” among other sound bites, but it is somewhat suprising that a reporter would pick it up so uncritically (then again, such mindlessness is becoming a media staple).
The fact is that any organization that’s been under estate ownership (meaning nobody is watching the store) for 8 years is, when its again finally owned by someone with a personal interest, is going to make changes. As inevitable as the Sun coming up. Whether these layoffs are part of good or bad changes (or irrelevant) remains to be seen. If they result in the team being so inferior in delivering administrative services that it negatively impacts performance on the court, then that’s a story. If the owner refuses to pay typical coaching salaries, and it results in the team being unable to sign a potential coach, that’s a story. So far, no story, and nothing close to one.
Just more hedge fund mentality. Squeeze the small guys.
Hopefully the Celtics can get a player in this fire sale.
Maybe Lillard? Or TimeLord back?
Who is the most important Blazer of all time?