He doesn't have kids does he? Who would own the team? Would they sell them? Scarey when you think about it especially considering the team we have put together. New ownership wouldn't likely keep all these guys together. Again really makes you appreciate how great an owner we have.
I'm not too worried. You can tell by his teeth and his physique that he really takes care of himself, just like all software engineers do.
I take it know one knows? Hopefully Pritchard gets it handed to him, lol. Seriously doesn't it worry anyone?
HIs estate would sel the team to the highest bidder, or the NBA may have something contractual in this event.
Well, he's got a sister that is supposedly next of kin, so I guess it would probably revert to her control (just like most single owner franchises do when the owner passes). As for the ultimate fate of the team, that's completely unknowable, but I'm guessing that some kind of ownership group would form that would hope to purchase the team. When there were rumblings that PA wanted to sell the team a few years back I remember Terry Porter's name being thrown around as the head of a possible investment group; I'd be super cool with TP as a controlling owner, god forbid Allen chokes on a ham sandwich.
It's also perfectly possible the guy would just donate it in his will to the city of Portland. How cool would that be? Or on second thought, would that be an utter freakin' disaster? Green Bay seems to manage. Seriously, most pro sports team owners consider their franchise to be a huge portion of their portfolio, and a death results in sale because the next of kin want their mitts on the dough. The Blazers probably represent less that 10% of the guy's total net worth. When you have an owner that wealthy, all the normal rules kind of get thrown out the door. If I were in his shoes, I'd figure out a way to make sure that no matter what happens, part of my legacy is that the Sonics fiasco never happens to the Blazers.
Technicially, I don't think Paul Allen himself "owns" the Blazers. The Blazers are part of a corporate conglomerate (Vulcan, Inc.), which also owns the Seattle Seahawks, Charter Communications, and many others. Of course, Paul is the majority stockholder, but there are others involved that can keep the team going in the event something happens to him. Hopefully, though, we'll never have to find out.
This is what I'm hoping for to but a little nervous since as you said earlier it could go to his next of kin who likely could care less about the Blazers. Again if they sold the team we could potentially be moved to Seattle, or have the team sold to some cheap ass Donald Sterling clone. Just a scarey thought, we are very spoiled right now with an owner more than willing to go above the luxury tax to put a winner on the court.
As far as I know, the Trailblazers are owned by Vulcan and Vulcan is entirely owned (or at the very least controlled) by Paul Allen. If Allen made no will, then his belongings would be distributed according to Washington law (which is set up to distribute assets the way most people would want their assets to be distributed.) So, his sister and any other family members would be loving it. That said, I'd be shocked if Allen has no will. Assuming he DOES have a will (clearly the better guess), then I'm betting he keeps it confidential and we won't know until he kicks the proverbial bucket. The other thing to consider is that ownership of NBA teams can't be transferred willy-nilly (as Howard Schultz found out during his lawsuit.) The owners would need to approve the transfer and I have no idea what kind of can of worms that would open up.
Actually, Bob Whitsitt will inherit The Blazers should he outlive Allen. It's part of his Seahawks Golden Parachute.
