May 16, 2025 • 17 mins
John Canzano from the Bald Faced Truth in Portland joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the sale of the Trail Blazers, what it means for NBA expansion and what it could mean for the Seahawks future sale, prospective owners, and the Ducks.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wad casting live from the R and R Foundation specialist
broad JAST Studio. Now back to Safie and Dick powered
by Emerald Queen Casino, but Betty and Capital of the
Northwest on Sports Radio nineties three point three kJ RM.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
All right, we are back at a busy Friday night
right here on ninety three three at KJRFM. Lots to
get to obviously before we get out of here at
seven o'clock. But the news of the week, at least
down south in Portland, Oregon. The Blazers are for sale. Dick,
you want to buy him? You got about three or
four billion dollars sitting around zers can be yours, my friend.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
The investment, there's no question about that, no question.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I think there is a guy that we know that
can afford to do that, and that's our friend John
Gonzano from John Canzono.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I thought you met Phil might fool's already said he's done.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
That's right, That's that's that's what Phil calls Gonzano money
it is with us.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Right now in the radio program, John, how are you man?
Speaker 5 (00:52):
I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
Speaker 6 (00:54):
Do you believe Do you believe Phil Knight when he
says he's done or is he playing poker here?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
No, I do not believe that whatsoever, because I think
that would be a gigantic feather and Oregon's cap for
their biggest donor to own an NBA basketball team, don't
you Yeah?
Speaker 5 (01:06):
And I think everything he does is legacy, right.
Speaker 6 (01:09):
I mean, he's everything at Nike, everything with Oregon, everything
that he has set up Stanford, even what he's done
with the business school and his other alma mater.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
Everything's about legacy to him.
Speaker 6 (01:19):
And so I don't buy for a second that at
age eighty two he had all the energy in the
world and at age eighty seven, oh suddenly I'm too old.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
I think there's a little gamesmanship going on here.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
So what do you think?
Speaker 5 (01:31):
What do you think the reasoning is?
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Then?
Speaker 6 (01:32):
I think that look at the original offer he made,
and he you know, he got pissed off when Jody Allen,
he made the original offer with Allen Simlinsky and the Dodgers,
and Jody Allen didn't even return the call, didn't say hey,
let's go have lunch, didn't say, hey, this is really
flattered that you'd make the offer. We'll circle back when
we when the team is actually for sale. No, the
(01:53):
Blazer sent out.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
The news release.
Speaker 6 (01:55):
They basically told him to pound sand the team's not
for sale, and then came, hey, it might not be
for sale for ten to twenty years, you eighty two
year old guy, Like they basically were telling him to
go die without the basketball team. And then and then
he dispatches Larry Miller, his lieutenant at Nike, to go
to the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal,
(02:16):
and you saw the story start to pop up about
what a bad owner Jody is and how the the
atmosphere was toxic. Was that these are billionaires in pseudo
billionaires fighting.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
And I think him coming out very.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
Early in this process to say I'm not interested is
designed to remove some leverage from her potential sale.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
And if he wants to come back in later, I
bet you he kud Well.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
This is obviously a Blazer basketball team that has not
been good for a while now, and I would assume
that this was a welcomed piece of news for Blazer
Nation that Jody Allen is selling the Blazers or were
there people that were kind of bummed out by this?
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Nobody was bummed.
Speaker 6 (02:55):
I mean, it's very different than the atmosphere with Jody
around the Seahawks.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Right, it's one thing I like.
Speaker 6 (03:01):
It's not that I don't understand it, because I think
she really likes the Seahawks, and I think she feels
connected to the Seahawks, and it's the Seahawks are a
Seattle thing, the Blazers are a Portland thing. She doesn't
look like she's enjoying herself at the games. It never
was viewed as like this is something I really love.
It was there was her brother's hobby having an NBA team,
and so she has had to be the trustee of
(03:21):
this thing. And the Blazer fans have felt that this
organization's been on autopilot since Paul died in twenty eighteen,
and status quo, and you know, they haven't been in
the playoffs. They you know, have the city, can't name
a player on the roster, and you've got, you know,
just this autopilot thing going on where they renew Chauncey Billips,
they renew the general manager, Joe Cronin, and it's just
(03:43):
like status quo, status quo, and then she announces the
team comes out and says, hey, we're gonna be for sale,
and it was like you know, it wasn't like the
seventy seven championship parade, but it was a pretty sunny
day in Portland.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Wow. Well, why do you think John?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And we'll get to the Seahawk angle here in a second,
because obviously up here in Seattle and again John with
us on a Friday night here on ninety three three KJRFM,
when the word comes out to the Blazers are for sale,
the next natural question is, well, what about the Seahawks? Right,
So we'll get to that in a minute. But why
do you think that the Allen Family Foundation trustee, whether
it's Paul or Jody or whoever, had so much success
(04:18):
with the Seahawks, but could not duplicate that down there.
Speaker 6 (04:21):
I think some of it has to do with the league.
You can small market teams in the NFL can compete,
The Chiefs can compete, The Titans if they want to,
can compete. Everybody's got the same amount of money. The
league is based set up for parody. We know that,
you know, the worst team get gets the first draft
pick and the easiest schedule the following season. The NBA
is slanted so heavily for the big market teams. You
(04:42):
have to get lucky in the lottery, or you have
to have something really break your way to compete. And
I think the Blazers for years have just you know,
not been able to do that. The other thing is
Paul seemed to understand in his tenure in his lifetime
that he didn't know the NFL. And you know, he
hires John Schneider, he hires Pete Carroll, and he made
he gets this interview, remember that first Super Bowl. He
(05:04):
did this interview with the New York Times and he said,
you know, I don't really know the NFL. I kind
of stay out of it, but I know basketball and
Blazer fans were like, oh, we don't.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
Want to hear that.
Speaker 6 (05:12):
Like, just hire good basketball people and get out of
the way like you did with football. But I think
the biggest difference simply was it's just easier in the
NFL to compete. You know, you know, if you hire
good people, you're going to be competitive. And I think
the Seahawks have done that.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
John Canzana joining us John. I think when the Blazer
news came out, I think half of Seattle thought about
what it meant for the Seahawks. I think the other
half thought about what it meant for NBA expansion because
the Celtics got in the way of expansion for Seattle
and potentially pushed it back as much as a year.
But does the Blazers sale maybe help expedite the expansion process.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
So we had Christanel on this week.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
He said, you know, the Allen estate would much rather
have expansion valuations set before selling their team.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Do you agree?
Speaker 6 (05:53):
Yeah, And I think the Celtics sale did a good
job of getting those expansion valuations, you know, inflated six
point one billion dollars. I think there's a little bit
of a fear with the league owners that a small
market team like Portland that hasn't had a lot of
recent success with you know, is going to sell in
the four billion, four and a half billion range and
may bring those expansion fees down a little bit. Also,
(06:15):
there's only so many people, and you guys joked about
it at the beginning, there's only so many people out
there that have you know, three or four billion dollars
sitting around that they can go invest. You have to
be worth fifteen or twenty billion in order to come
in as a majority owner with a team, Otherwise you're
just looking at You know, if you put in fifty
million dollars or what, are you getting one percent?
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Two percent of a team?
Speaker 6 (06:36):
You don't get no, Say for fifty million dollars five
hundred million, you could still be part of it, but
you have no cachet. Are you getting seats at a
game for a five hundred million dollar buy in? Probably
you know when you make a call, but you're not
sitting on the baseline like you're Mark Cuban. So I
think there's a little bit of apprehension right now that
you know, you've had the Phoenix sale, you had the
Boston sale. Now comes Portland. What does that do to
(06:57):
the market for the expansion team And does the NBA
need a little bit of space after the Portland sale
to kind of get like wet the appetite again or
do they go right away. Some of it may depend
on how many bidders are out there for the Blazers,
because you know, I do think that some of the
potential expansion bidders or some of the minority investors in
those in those groups would be interested in getting into
(07:20):
Portland because I think there's more upside in Portland than
maybe in Vegas. I think Vegas is going to be
so overcooked at the valuation that, you know, a smaller
market team that has no success only has one championship
selling for four or four point five billion versus a
six billion dollar team in Vegas. There might just be
more money to be made for an investment group. So
I'll be really interested to kind of see how that tracks.
(07:42):
But there's nothing coming after the Blazers. All these other
franchises appear to be set. So I think Adam Silver
here in you know, the NBA Finals coming up where
he does his court in his State of the Union address,
I think he's gonna have to say, hey, with the
TV deals done, the Celtics got done, the Blazers are
gonna get done. And you know the question is how
soon for expansion with Vegas and Seattle?
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Well, John Gonzano's with us.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
And again you hear the name Jody Allen, you hear
the name Blazers, you hear the word sale. You think, okay,
what's going on with the Seahawks now? So they've said
that the Seahawks are not for sale. I think you
reported a couple of years back or a couple months back,
that there's something in the agreement with the estate that
says eventually the teams.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Do all have to be sold? Is that accurate? Number one?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
And if it is accurate, what's the timeline for that?
You think for Jody and the Seahawks.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Yeah, they have to be sold. Everything has to be liquidated.
Speaker 6 (08:32):
And you know, some source I was talking with in
Seattle just this week said that, you know, they would
expect that they want just like with the NBA teams. Again,
there's only so many people out there that can go
and buy these billion, multi billion dollar entities. There's somebody
who's gonna want the Seahawks. And is that number eight billion?
Is it nine billion? We will see.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
There's also some question about Jody.
Speaker 6 (08:55):
Like, you know, I know that you know, she probably
doesn't have the funds to come in as the majority owner,
But does she want to stay involved with the Seahawks?
Does she want a minority stake? There could be something
at play there because she does look much more comfortable
we're in the twelve jersey or raising the flag or
being you know, at the Seattle Seahawks games with her
(09:16):
friends and family. So you know, I think she's gonna
have a little harder time letting go of that guys.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
And there was a timeline that the Seahawks couldn't be
sold before a particular timeline because of a payment, is
that correct? But we're past that, Is that right, John?
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (09:28):
And I had somebody tell me that this may really
does put it in the book. So it's you know,
we're right in that wheelhouse where it was ten percent.
They had to give ten percent of the sale back
to the city if it's sold in that time period.
So they're gonna get outside of that window. And you know,
I don't think it's gonna be a long time before
you hear about, you know, the Seahawks coming down the pipeline,
(09:48):
but they may wait, especially because if there's an expansion
basketball team coming into Seattle. Do you want to cannibalize
a potential investment group or investors when you know you're
going to put the NFL team up for bid as well?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
So what's your gut teet? I want to pin you down, John,
John Gonzana with us. I mean, you mentioned it. You know,
Paul Allen passed away what seven years ago? Correct, in
twenty eighteen. Well, it's amazing it's been seven years. So
what is your gut next? Summer, two summers from now
twenty twenty eight, give us a prediction on when you
think we're gonna have a new owner for the Seahawks.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
I went to twenty twenty eight in my mind, because
you know, I have not seen the estate documents, but
there's something in the language I am told that says
the teams have to be sold. And I kind of
wonder if that deadline because they originally put out ten
to twenty years to settle the estate. I wondered if
it was a ten year thing from his death in
October of twenty eighteen. So I'm looking at and it
(10:45):
does give you some space. It gives you enough time
if you are Jody and Bert to sell the Blazers
and then pivot into Okay, how did that go?
Speaker 5 (10:54):
What did we learn from it?
Speaker 6 (10:55):
How do we approach the Seahawks as a potential sale
and get this. I'm also told that there's a little
bit of a potential commission in the Blazers sale for
one Burt Cold. So again we'll come back to like,
do you take a holistic approach? If your Jody Allen,
do you want to sell it to somebody who's got
ties to Portland? Like Phil Knight, or do you just
(11:15):
want the maximum bid? You know, I don't give a rip.
I just want to get the most money I can
possibly get. And I think I know where Bert's heart
would be.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Well on to your point of the massive whales in
the Pacific Northwest. Are we just putting a list of
names of everybody worth over fifty billion dollars into a
hat and just pulling it out, or do you actually
have one or two names that you think are viable
candidates for that for that sale.
Speaker 6 (11:41):
It's the usual billionaires, right, But I don't think it
necessarily has to go back to somebody in the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
And people in Portland are kind of freaking out.
Speaker 6 (11:49):
They're going, we want local ownership, and I'm like, you've
never had local ownership. Larry Weinberg lived in la He
owned the Blazers first of all. Then Paul was a
Seattle guy, he owned the Blazers. I mean, there are
just very few people within your zip code who are
gonna be able to say, I'm gonna come in. I've
got a couple of billion, three billion, four billion, I'll
be the majority owner, and I want this thing.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
You know, in the Blazers.
Speaker 6 (12:11):
The Blazer sale is potentially an interesting one because it's
not just the building and it's not just the franchise.
There's also some surrounding development opportunity. Anybody's ever been to
Moda Center to see a Blazer game know that that
you don't have like an entertainment district around it.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
And Paul's estate.
Speaker 6 (12:29):
At one point held a lot of real estate surrounding
the arena. I don't know if it's been liquidated. I
don't know if it could be part of this sale,
but I think there's a real development opportunity for somebody.
You could have an entertainment district. People in Portland obviously
afraid somebody's gonna buy the team and move it to
Seattle or buy and move it to Vegas.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
I don't see that happening.
Speaker 6 (12:47):
I don't think the league's owners are gonna want to
cannibalize a six billion dollar expansion fee in Seattle or Vegas.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
They're gonna want those to be expansion teams.
Speaker 6 (12:55):
And if you're bringing a team back to Seattle, the
biggest sin of David Earns tenuret getting letting that team leave.
If you're gonna bring a team back to Seattle.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
You need Portland. I just think it's a natural rivalry.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
No, totally, Well, John Canzona with us Shawn Conzono dot
com on Twitter at John Cainzano bft uh, I know
you gotta run in a second. By the way, you
get the John's account, you can read an article about
it's Italian grandmother and her famous meat sauce, which I
hope somebody passed that down to you, by the way, recipe,
because that sounds I got it, I got it.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
But before you.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Go, give us just kind of an update on what's
important right now for college football fans, not just locally
in the Northwest, but nationally in your opinion, to keep
an eye on what's what's the top of mind for
you with college football and even college basketball.
Speaker 6 (13:40):
I get so bored talking about like the house settlement
and all this other stuff and NIL and everybody complaining
and whining about the portal. But the biggest thing that
I think is top of mind for me is the
enforcement of whatever system they're gonna put in place. It
cannot be this weak, toothless NCAA like enforcement. It's gotta
have real teeth. If it doesn't have teeth, you will
(14:03):
not be able to compete. And I look at schools
like Washington. I look at schools like Washington State, Oregon State,
I you know, everybody but Oregon, and I go, hey,
if there's not enforcement, they're just the ducks are just
gonna run away with it.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
But if there is real enforcement.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
And you've got a real cap and you're gonna have
legitimate nil deals, and they're gonna sit come in and
go Nope, that's not a real deal. You can't just
pay a kid to turn on the automatic sprinklers like
the old days. If they're gonna do that, then then
schools have a chance, and maybe it has a chance
to feel like a little bit more like the NFL,
where you know, some some teams in some outlying places
(14:38):
that aren't the usual powers that they have a chance
to win.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Big John, you're the man. I know you gotta run.
Great stuff. Enjoy the weekend, buddy.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
We'll talk soon, pal, Thanks my Sean, Thanks Phillis.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
All right, John Canzano again, John GONZONOBFT on Twitter, johnkinzonod
dot com.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
And you know it's funny, Dick, what he just said
there about you.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Can't just pay a kid to turn the sprinklers on anymore,
or watch paint dry. I guess my reaction would be
why not? I mean, why why have we not seen
like a paint company come out with an endorsement and
like like the may Tag repair guy just sat there
and did nothing. Yes, this is this kid's job to
watch this paint dry like his daddy and granddaddy did
back in the nineteen fifties and thirties, and just get
(15:16):
paid to watch paint dry, to make sure it's dry.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's drying property that is.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Is Jesus, how great would a commercial be of demand?
Williams just staring at a wall, yes, and just and
it's like it's Valspar paint or whatever, and it's just
like Demannoians for Valspar paint. And he's just staring at
the wall watching the paint dry.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Its people, he's thinking about plays in his head. It's
the same time where he's watching the sprinklers go off.
I mean, come on, and why not? I mean, Milane
will tell you about the jobs he had back in college.
For god sakes, all right, let's do this good stuff
from John interesting to hear him, he thinks by twenty
twenty eight, so you know, two and a half years,
three years whatever, we're gonna have a new owner for
the Seahawks, obviously would be just the fourth they'd be
(15:58):
the third owner since the north Stroms, because it was
Bearing and then it was Paul and now whoever the
mystery candidate is. But is it important for the Seahawks
to be bought by somebody who's in the Northwest currently?
I mean, look, if Jeff Bezos bought the Seahawks right
like it's we all know he just packed up and
moved to Florida, that's fine by me. As long as
(16:18):
it's somebody who's got a passion for Seattle and a
passion to keep the Seahawks in Seattle, I'm okay with that.
I don't think this is nineteen seventy five or nineteen
eighty any more. You don't have to have that guy
living in your backyard like you did maybe thirty five
or forty years ago. But I would like to see
whoever the new owner is going to be have some
kind of connection Dick to the area.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
That would be ideal. What's more important to me than
that is just general competence and an absolute passion and
unfettered drive to win championships, sure, of course, because when
you look at it, all starts with ownership. Look at
the NFL, Look at the NFL's worst run teams. They
(17:00):
are always the teams that are picking top five in
the draft. Every single year, it's the same group of teams.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
Let's get a break.
Wad casting live from the R and R Foundation specialist
broad JAST Studio. Now back to Safie and Dick powered
by Emerald Queen Casino, but Betty and Capital of the
Northwest on Sports Radio nineties three point three kJ RM.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
All right, we are back at a busy Friday night
right here on ninety three three at KJRFM. Lots to
get to obviously before we get out of here at
seven o'clock. But the news of the week, at least
down south in Portland, Oregon. The Blazers are for sale. Dick,
you want to buy him? You got about three or
four billion dollars sitting around zers can be yours, my friend.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
The investment, there's no question about that, no question.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I think there is a guy that we know that
can afford to do that, and that's our friend John
Gonzano from John Canzono.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I thought you met Phil might fool's already said he's done.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
That's right, That's that's that's what Phil calls Gonzano money
it is with us.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Right now in the radio program, John, how are you man?
Speaker 5 (00:52):
I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
Speaker 6 (00:54):
Do you believe Do you believe Phil Knight when he
says he's done or is he playing poker here?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
No, I do not believe that whatsoever, because I think
that would be a gigantic feather and Oregon's cap for
their biggest donor to own an NBA basketball team, don't
you Yeah?
Speaker 5 (01:06):
And I think everything he does is legacy, right.
Speaker 6 (01:09):
I mean, he's everything at Nike, everything with Oregon, everything
that he has set up Stanford, even what he's done
with the business school and his other alma mater.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
Everything's about legacy to him.
Speaker 6 (01:19):
And so I don't buy for a second that at
age eighty two he had all the energy in the
world and at age eighty seven, oh suddenly I'm too old.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
I think there's a little gamesmanship going on here.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
So what do you think?
Speaker 5 (01:31):
What do you think the reasoning is?
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Then?
Speaker 6 (01:32):
I think that look at the original offer he made,
and he you know, he got pissed off when Jody Allen,
he made the original offer with Allen Simlinsky and the Dodgers,
and Jody Allen didn't even return the call, didn't say hey,
let's go have lunch, didn't say, hey, this is really
flattered that you'd make the offer. We'll circle back when
we when the team is actually for sale. No, the
(01:53):
Blazer sent out.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
The news release.
Speaker 6 (01:55):
They basically told him to pound sand the team's not
for sale, and then came, hey, it might not be
for sale for ten to twenty years, you eighty two
year old guy, Like they basically were telling him to
go die without the basketball team. And then and then
he dispatches Larry Miller, his lieutenant at Nike, to go
to the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal,
(02:16):
and you saw the story start to pop up about
what a bad owner Jody is and how the the
atmosphere was toxic. Was that these are billionaires in pseudo
billionaires fighting.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
And I think him coming out very.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
Early in this process to say I'm not interested is
designed to remove some leverage from her potential sale.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
And if he wants to come back in later, I
bet you he kud Well.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
This is obviously a Blazer basketball team that has not
been good for a while now, and I would assume
that this was a welcomed piece of news for Blazer
Nation that Jody Allen is selling the Blazers or were
there people that were kind of bummed out by this?
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Nobody was bummed.
Speaker 6 (02:55):
I mean, it's very different than the atmosphere with Jody
around the Seahawks.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Right, it's one thing I like.
Speaker 6 (03:01):
It's not that I don't understand it, because I think
she really likes the Seahawks, and I think she feels
connected to the Seahawks, and it's the Seahawks are a
Seattle thing, the Blazers are a Portland thing. She doesn't
look like she's enjoying herself at the games. It never
was viewed as like this is something I really love.
It was there was her brother's hobby having an NBA team,
and so she has had to be the trustee of
(03:21):
this thing. And the Blazer fans have felt that this
organization's been on autopilot since Paul died in twenty eighteen,
and status quo, and you know, they haven't been in
the playoffs. They you know, have the city, can't name
a player on the roster, and you've got, you know,
just this autopilot thing going on where they renew Chauncey Billips,
they renew the general manager, Joe Cronin, and it's just
(03:43):
like status quo, status quo, and then she announces the
team comes out and says, hey, we're gonna be for sale,
and it was like you know, it wasn't like the
seventy seven championship parade, but it was a pretty sunny
day in Portland.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Wow. Well, why do you think John?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And we'll get to the Seahawk angle here in a second,
because obviously up here in Seattle and again John with
us on a Friday night here on ninety three three KJRFM,
when the word comes out to the Blazers are for sale,
the next natural question is, well, what about the Seahawks? Right,
So we'll get to that in a minute. But why
do you think that the Allen Family Foundation trustee, whether
it's Paul or Jody or whoever, had so much success
(04:18):
with the Seahawks, but could not duplicate that down there.
Speaker 6 (04:21):
I think some of it has to do with the league.
You can small market teams in the NFL can compete,
The Chiefs can compete, The Titans if they want to,
can compete. Everybody's got the same amount of money. The
league is based set up for parody. We know that,
you know, the worst team get gets the first draft
pick and the easiest schedule the following season. The NBA
is slanted so heavily for the big market teams. You
(04:42):
have to get lucky in the lottery, or you have
to have something really break your way to compete. And
I think the Blazers for years have just you know,
not been able to do that. The other thing is
Paul seemed to understand in his tenure in his lifetime
that he didn't know the NFL. And you know, he
hires John Schneider, he hires Pete Carroll, and he made
he gets this interview, remember that first Super Bowl. He
(05:04):
did this interview with the New York Times and he said,
you know, I don't really know the NFL. I kind
of stay out of it, but I know basketball and
Blazer fans were like, oh, we don't.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
Want to hear that.
Speaker 6 (05:12):
Like, just hire good basketball people and get out of
the way like you did with football. But I think
the biggest difference simply was it's just easier in the
NFL to compete. You know, you know, if you hire
good people, you're going to be competitive. And I think
the Seahawks have done that.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
John Canzana joining us John. I think when the Blazer
news came out, I think half of Seattle thought about
what it meant for the Seahawks. I think the other
half thought about what it meant for NBA expansion because
the Celtics got in the way of expansion for Seattle
and potentially pushed it back as much as a year.
But does the Blazers sale maybe help expedite the expansion process.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
So we had Christanel on this week.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
He said, you know, the Allen estate would much rather
have expansion valuations set before selling their team.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Do you agree?
Speaker 6 (05:53):
Yeah, And I think the Celtics sale did a good
job of getting those expansion valuations, you know, inflated six
point one billion dollars. I think there's a little bit
of a fear with the league owners that a small
market team like Portland that hasn't had a lot of
recent success with you know, is going to sell in
the four billion, four and a half billion range and
may bring those expansion fees down a little bit. Also,
(06:15):
there's only so many people, and you guys joked about
it at the beginning, there's only so many people out
there that have you know, three or four billion dollars
sitting around that they can go invest. You have to
be worth fifteen or twenty billion in order to come
in as a majority owner with a team, Otherwise you're
just looking at You know, if you put in fifty
million dollars or what, are you getting one percent?
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Two percent of a team?
Speaker 6 (06:36):
You don't get no, Say for fifty million dollars five
hundred million, you could still be part of it, but
you have no cachet. Are you getting seats at a
game for a five hundred million dollar buy in? Probably
you know when you make a call, but you're not
sitting on the baseline like you're Mark Cuban. So I
think there's a little bit of apprehension right now that
you know, you've had the Phoenix sale, you had the
Boston sale. Now comes Portland. What does that do to
(06:57):
the market for the expansion team And does the NBA
need a little bit of space after the Portland sale
to kind of get like wet the appetite again or
do they go right away. Some of it may depend
on how many bidders are out there for the Blazers,
because you know, I do think that some of the
potential expansion bidders or some of the minority investors in
those in those groups would be interested in getting into
(07:20):
Portland because I think there's more upside in Portland than
maybe in Vegas. I think Vegas is going to be
so overcooked at the valuation that, you know, a smaller
market team that has no success only has one championship
selling for four or four point five billion versus a
six billion dollar team in Vegas. There might just be
more money to be made for an investment group. So
I'll be really interested to kind of see how that tracks.
(07:42):
But there's nothing coming after the Blazers. All these other
franchises appear to be set. So I think Adam Silver
here in you know, the NBA Finals coming up where
he does his court in his State of the Union address,
I think he's gonna have to say, hey, with the
TV deals done, the Celtics got done, the Blazers are
gonna get done. And you know the question is how
soon for expansion with Vegas and Seattle?
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Well, John Gonzano's with us.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
And again you hear the name Jody Allen, you hear
the name Blazers, you hear the word sale. You think, okay,
what's going on with the Seahawks now? So they've said
that the Seahawks are not for sale. I think you
reported a couple of years back or a couple months back,
that there's something in the agreement with the estate that
says eventually the teams.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Do all have to be sold? Is that accurate? Number one?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
And if it is accurate, what's the timeline for that?
You think for Jody and the Seahawks.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Yeah, they have to be sold. Everything has to be liquidated.
Speaker 6 (08:32):
And you know, some source I was talking with in
Seattle just this week said that, you know, they would
expect that they want just like with the NBA teams. Again,
there's only so many people out there that can go
and buy these billion, multi billion dollar entities. There's somebody
who's gonna want the Seahawks. And is that number eight billion?
Is it nine billion? We will see.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
There's also some question about Jody.
Speaker 6 (08:55):
Like, you know, I know that you know, she probably
doesn't have the funds to come in as the majority owner,
But does she want to stay involved with the Seahawks?
Does she want a minority stake? There could be something
at play there because she does look much more comfortable
we're in the twelve jersey or raising the flag or
being you know, at the Seattle Seahawks games with her
(09:16):
friends and family. So you know, I think she's gonna
have a little harder time letting go of that guys.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
And there was a timeline that the Seahawks couldn't be
sold before a particular timeline because of a payment, is
that correct? But we're past that, Is that right, John?
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (09:28):
And I had somebody tell me that this may really
does put it in the book. So it's you know,
we're right in that wheelhouse where it was ten percent.
They had to give ten percent of the sale back
to the city if it's sold in that time period.
So they're gonna get outside of that window. And you know,
I don't think it's gonna be a long time before
you hear about, you know, the Seahawks coming down the pipeline,
(09:48):
but they may wait, especially because if there's an expansion
basketball team coming into Seattle. Do you want to cannibalize
a potential investment group or investors when you know you're
going to put the NFL team up for bid as well?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
So what's your gut teet? I want to pin you down, John,
John Gonzana with us. I mean, you mentioned it. You know,
Paul Allen passed away what seven years ago? Correct, in
twenty eighteen. Well, it's amazing it's been seven years. So
what is your gut next? Summer, two summers from now
twenty twenty eight, give us a prediction on when you
think we're gonna have a new owner for the Seahawks.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
I went to twenty twenty eight in my mind, because
you know, I have not seen the estate documents, but
there's something in the language I am told that says
the teams have to be sold. And I kind of
wonder if that deadline because they originally put out ten
to twenty years to settle the estate. I wondered if
it was a ten year thing from his death in
October of twenty eighteen. So I'm looking at and it
(10:45):
does give you some space. It gives you enough time
if you are Jody and Bert to sell the Blazers
and then pivot into Okay, how did that go?
Speaker 5 (10:54):
What did we learn from it?
Speaker 6 (10:55):
How do we approach the Seahawks as a potential sale
and get this. I'm also told that there's a little
bit of a potential commission in the Blazers sale for
one Burt Cold. So again we'll come back to like,
do you take a holistic approach? If your Jody Allen,
do you want to sell it to somebody who's got
ties to Portland? Like Phil Knight, or do you just
(11:15):
want the maximum bid? You know, I don't give a rip.
I just want to get the most money I can
possibly get. And I think I know where Bert's heart
would be.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Well on to your point of the massive whales in
the Pacific Northwest. Are we just putting a list of
names of everybody worth over fifty billion dollars into a
hat and just pulling it out, or do you actually
have one or two names that you think are viable
candidates for that for that sale.
Speaker 6 (11:41):
It's the usual billionaires, right, But I don't think it
necessarily has to go back to somebody in the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
And people in Portland are kind of freaking out.
Speaker 6 (11:49):
They're going, we want local ownership, and I'm like, you've
never had local ownership. Larry Weinberg lived in la He
owned the Blazers first of all. Then Paul was a
Seattle guy, he owned the Blazers. I mean, there are
just very few people within your zip code who are
gonna be able to say, I'm gonna come in. I've
got a couple of billion, three billion, four billion, I'll
be the majority owner, and I want this thing.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
You know, in the Blazers.
Speaker 6 (12:11):
The Blazer sale is potentially an interesting one because it's
not just the building and it's not just the franchise.
There's also some surrounding development opportunity. Anybody's ever been to
Moda Center to see a Blazer game know that that
you don't have like an entertainment district around it.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
And Paul's estate.
Speaker 6 (12:29):
At one point held a lot of real estate surrounding
the arena. I don't know if it's been liquidated. I
don't know if it could be part of this sale,
but I think there's a real development opportunity for somebody.
You could have an entertainment district. People in Portland obviously
afraid somebody's gonna buy the team and move it to
Seattle or buy and move it to Vegas.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
I don't see that happening.
Speaker 6 (12:47):
I don't think the league's owners are gonna want to
cannibalize a six billion dollar expansion fee in Seattle or Vegas.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
They're gonna want those to be expansion teams.
Speaker 6 (12:55):
And if you're bringing a team back to Seattle, the
biggest sin of David Earns tenuret getting letting that team leave.
If you're gonna bring a team back to Seattle.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
You need Portland. I just think it's a natural rivalry.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
No, totally, Well, John Canzona with us Shawn Conzono dot
com on Twitter at John Cainzano bft uh, I know
you gotta run in a second. By the way, you
get the John's account, you can read an article about
it's Italian grandmother and her famous meat sauce, which I
hope somebody passed that down to you, by the way, recipe,
because that sounds I got it, I got it.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
But before you.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Go, give us just kind of an update on what's
important right now for college football fans, not just locally
in the Northwest, but nationally in your opinion, to keep
an eye on what's what's the top of mind for
you with college football and even college basketball.
Speaker 6 (13:40):
I get so bored talking about like the house settlement
and all this other stuff and NIL and everybody complaining
and whining about the portal. But the biggest thing that
I think is top of mind for me is the
enforcement of whatever system they're gonna put in place. It
cannot be this weak, toothless NCAA like enforcement. It's gotta
have real teeth. If it doesn't have teeth, you will
(14:03):
not be able to compete. And I look at schools
like Washington. I look at schools like Washington State, Oregon State,
I you know, everybody but Oregon, and I go, hey,
if there's not enforcement, they're just the ducks are just
gonna run away with it.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
But if there is real enforcement.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
And you've got a real cap and you're gonna have
legitimate nil deals, and they're gonna sit come in and
go Nope, that's not a real deal. You can't just
pay a kid to turn on the automatic sprinklers like
the old days. If they're gonna do that, then then
schools have a chance, and maybe it has a chance
to feel like a little bit more like the NFL,
where you know, some some teams in some outlying places
(14:38):
that aren't the usual powers that they have a chance
to win.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Big John, you're the man. I know you gotta run.
Great stuff. Enjoy the weekend, buddy.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
We'll talk soon, pal, Thanks my Sean, Thanks Phillis.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
All right, John Canzano again, John GONZONOBFT on Twitter, johnkinzonod
dot com.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
And you know it's funny, Dick, what he just said
there about you.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Can't just pay a kid to turn the sprinklers on anymore,
or watch paint dry. I guess my reaction would be
why not? I mean, why why have we not seen
like a paint company come out with an endorsement and
like like the may Tag repair guy just sat there
and did nothing. Yes, this is this kid's job to
watch this paint dry like his daddy and granddaddy did
back in the nineteen fifties and thirties, and just get
(15:16):
paid to watch paint dry, to make sure it's dry.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's drying property that is.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Is Jesus, how great would a commercial be of demand?
Williams just staring at a wall, yes, and just and
it's like it's Valspar paint or whatever, and it's just
like Demannoians for Valspar paint. And he's just staring at
the wall watching the paint dry.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Its people, he's thinking about plays in his head. It's
the same time where he's watching the sprinklers go off.
I mean, come on, and why not? I mean, Milane
will tell you about the jobs he had back in college.
For god sakes, all right, let's do this good stuff
from John interesting to hear him, he thinks by twenty
twenty eight, so you know, two and a half years,
three years whatever, we're gonna have a new owner for
the Seahawks, obviously would be just the fourth they'd be
(15:58):
the third owner since the north Stroms, because it was
Bearing and then it was Paul and now whoever the
mystery candidate is. But is it important for the Seahawks
to be bought by somebody who's in the Northwest currently?
I mean, look, if Jeff Bezos bought the Seahawks right
like it's we all know he just packed up and
moved to Florida, that's fine by me. As long as
(16:18):
it's somebody who's got a passion for Seattle and a
passion to keep the Seahawks in Seattle, I'm okay with that.
I don't think this is nineteen seventy five or nineteen
eighty any more. You don't have to have that guy
living in your backyard like you did maybe thirty five
or forty years ago. But I would like to see
whoever the new owner is going to be have some
kind of connection Dick to the area.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
That would be ideal. What's more important to me than
that is just general competence and an absolute passion and
unfettered drive to win championships, sure, of course, because when
you look at it, all starts with ownership. Look at
the NFL, Look at the NFL's worst run teams. They
(17:00):
are always the teams that are picking top five in
the draft. Every single year, it's the same group of teams.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
Let's get a break.
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