While sale rumors regularly appear, the Blazers are expected to play at MODA Center until 2030. This is what is announced The Oregonian which explains that the Portland town hall and the leaders of the franchise have not been able to agree on a long-term agreement.
On the other hand, the two parties are working on a “transition agreement” which will allow the Blazers to stay five more years in their hall. A period which will allow work on a longer agreement, with discussions on their plans to renovate a room built 28 years ago.
Signed in 1995, the current lease will end before the start of the 2025/26 season, and this “transition plan” will be presented to the Portland City Council on Wednesday during a public hearing. A subsidiary of the franchise, dedicated to the operation of the room, Rip City Management Inc. has the possibility of extending the lease in installments of three periods of 10 years. The first extension must be exercised before October 11, 2024.
A contract from another time
But according to Dewayne Hankins, president of the Blazers, the details of the lease are outdated, and the Blazers wanted to negotiate a new agreement more in line with lease agreements entered into by other NBA teams and their respective cities.
Discussions on such a deal have already begun, but a new deal is unlikely to be finalized before the extension deadline. This is why, according to this executive, the Blazers and the city developed this “transition plan” in order to have more time for negotiations. This plan consists of two five-year periods, which will replace the three 10-year periods of the current agreement.
The first transition period would extend until October 11, 2030. On that date, if no long-term agreement is reached, Rip City management will have the option to extend the agreement for five years, until 2035.
