The Portland Trail Blazers have made sweeping layoffs on the business side of the operation.
At least three dozen staff members were laid off on Tuesday morning. The layoffs are a sign of deep organisational change at the NBA franchise under its new owner, Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon.
Layoffs Confirmed by Blazers President
Dewayne Hankins, Blazers president of business operations, confirmed the layoffs in a statement. He did not specify the number of people who lost their jobs.
“Today, as part of our plans to position the organisation for the future, we made the difficult decision to restructure several areas of the business,” Hankins wrote. “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 organisation for long-term success.”
Extent of the Layoffs
It is difficult to pin down exactly how many staffers lost their jobs. It’s likely more than 40 and as many as 70, which is about 20% of the Blazers business office.
- The layoffs reached as high as a senior vice president.
- Casey Holdahl, the team’s in-house beat reporter, confirmed on social media that he had lost his job.
- Holdahl had been with the team for 18 years.
As of Tuesday morning, the state of Oregon had not posted a WARN notice filed by the Blazers. Filing such a notice is a requirement when laying off 10 or more workers.
Timing and Context
The layoffs come as the team is negotiating with the city and Multnomah County to secure $600 million in public funding for an overhaul of Moda Center. Dundon’s ownership group paid $4.2 billion for the team.
Dundon is under national scrutiny for his cost-cutting measures.