Moda Center/Rose Quarter News

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by mhays

Giving billions to local medical research and helping build the city's life science sector, for example, is possibly more worthy.

I agree, I am just saying Knight was never serious about owning the Blazers unless he could get them for cheap.

[babs]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I agree, I am just saying Knight was never serious about owning the Blazers unless he could get them for cheap.

Not exactly correct. The Blazers were probably worth around the $2 billion amount back when he offered it based on prior sales. But the league negotiated their massive new media contract and that elevated values which I believe Jody Allen was waiting for before selling the team.

Regardless, I hope they find a way to save the Blazers. I'll agree that economically it makes little sense. But without the Blazers, the messaging around the doom loop will expand. Sports has a lot of impact on how cities are viewed. A related example is Oregon vs Oregon State. OSU is the larger school with probably some better academic programs than UO. But the perception of UO being a great school is elevated by their nationally known sports program. Same thing for cities. A winning sports team can create a postiive national impression that can lead to additional investment opportunties. Hard to measure but having the Blazers in Portland is a plus for the community.

[mhays]

I'll partially retract my previous point about the impact of losing a team.

One one hand, you can lose a team and do fine, as many cities have done.

On the other hand, it's a hit to the city's reputation. People will have different opinions about subsidies and civic priorities, but it'll be a national talking point, particularly in the sports media where the message will be more about the loss than "this city didn't cave in to the wealthy owners' demand for subsidies."

Further, sports are the #1 reason most people hear about other cities. On SSP we care about other cities but most people don't think about them much.

MLB would be an incredible boost to Portland. Imagine the US and Canada seeing aerials from the stadium showing the city for the best six months of the year. Every pleasant day in an open-air stadium would be a commercial to the other team's city and occasionally a NA audience.

[PhillyPDX]

Side tangent; rework the deal (assuming public funding for renovations) so Moda center concessions are forced to charge same prices inside as at their brick and mortar locations, like at PDX. I’m sick of (and usually don’t buy) crappy overpriced arena concessions. Seems like it would bring in the same revenue, as I assume high prices keep many people away from eating at the arena. But with more consumer friendly pricing. Make that a Portland tradition, not just at the airport.

[maccoinnich]

I'm enjoying reading the back-and-forth here; lots of thoughtful points being made.

Here's a website that just went live: https://newmodacenter.com/

And a story:

Moda Center funding bill introduced in Salem with few specifics, broad support from top Democrats



Efforts to secure public funding to renovate the aging Moda Center formally ramped up on Monday with the introduction of a bill in the Oregon Senate that drew widespread support from government leaders, including Gov. Tina Kotek.

The legislation, Senate Bill 1501, would divert income taxes from performers and athletes, including the high-paid Portland Trail Blazers, to a new Oregon Arena Fund and give the state joint ownership of the building with the city of Portland.

“The Moda Center, with the Portland Trail Blazers as its anchor tenant, is a source of civic pride and is critical to the strength and continued growth of our local, regional, and statewide economies,” said Senate President Rob Wagner, who sponsored the bill. “Renovating Oregon’s Arena is the best investment we can make in Oregon’s economic future.”

As part of the bill’s rollout, the Trail Blazers launched a website in support of the project; NewModaCenter.com explains the proposal and shows some preliminary renderings of a reimagined arena, including an open concourse design that would allow visitors to see into the building’s bowl when walking around the arena.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[PlantDad]

I'm just glad the conversation is about renovating the arena as opposed to a replacement. It's a fine building, and a renovation is a lot less carbon intensive than a replacement. I wish we could get a more vibrant public space outside the arena all year long with restaurants and shops open throughout the year, regardless of games or concerts that day. Can they make it a destination on its own right, regardless of what's on?

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by PlantDad

I'm just glad the conversation is about renovating the arena as opposed to a replacement. It's a fine building, and a renovation is a lot less carbon intensive than a replacement. I wish we could get a more vibrant public space outside the arena all year long with restaurants and shops open throughout the year, regardless of games or concerts that day. Can they make it a destination on its own right, regardless of what's on?

Hopefully the Albina redevelopment plans bring more life to the area. I’d think the redevelopment of the grain elevators and the adjacent waterfront, along with a lot more nearby housing, could help create more of an entertainment zone.

[dizflip]

Funding this upgrade over the city's transit deficit seems wild to me.

[maccoinnich]

Will incoming owner move Trail Blazers out of Portland? Oregon’s governor has thoughts



SALEM — Gov. Tina Kotek said she has been in touch with incoming Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon as questions about the franchise’s future swirl.

The two leaders have, she said, been trying to get to know each other. To learn how they’ll work together.

Her early impression?

“He’s a very straightforward guy,” she said.

A Dundon-led group has an agreement in place to purchase Portland’s NBA franchise from the Paul Allen estate for $4.25 billion. The deal is expected to be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors this spring. However, the Texas billionaire’s intentions for the franchise remain unclear or, at minimum, dependent on the degree to which local governments step up to fund a renovation of Moda Center.

“I have appreciated (Dundon’s) frankness,” Kotek told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “At the end of the day, he’s a businessman. I don’t think he’s come into this with the idea that he wants to move the team. He wants a deal that makes this work for the team, and I think that’s where we’re headed.”

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

This testimony on SB1501 from the Blazers has some information about what the what the project would include, and some renderings that aren't on the website.

[PhillyPDX]

https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2026/02/...lature-to-pass-moda-center-funding-bill/

[TakeFive]

It would be crazy, stupid not to keep the Trail Blazers

Their history is replete with good feelings and fan love.

Consider Denver, an impressive city for sports but not all that much bigger than Portland.

Over the next five years, Denver will be getting TWO new sports stadiums.

In the case of the new ~$4 billion Bronco's Stadium, admittedly the owners are building the facility on their own dime but there will be infrastructure improvements that the city will need to provide.

With respect to the more modest $225 million Denver Summit FC stadium, the City of Denver is investing $50 million to support the development. A BIG surprise to me that women's soccer fans have been crawling out of the woodwork in support of the new franchise.

Bottom Line: Gov. Tina Kotek along with the city of Portland need to do whatever is necessary to KEEP THE TRAIL BLAZERS at the Moda Center.

[DTx2Chi]

I still wish they would build an entirely new facility so we can get the concerts that require higher capacity to come through and tour

[maccoinnich]

SB 1501, the Moda Center funding bill, just got voted out of committee.

Originally Posted by DTx2Chi

I still wish they would build an entirely new facility so we can get the concerts that require higher capacity to come through and tour

I think the MLB project is the best chance of that; the Moda Center is actually at the higher end of capacity for NBA arenas.

[maccoinnich]

Senate Rules Committee approves 'Oregon Arena Fund' bill for Moda Center renovation



PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon’s Senate Committee on Rules passed a bill Thursday that would create the “Oregon Arena Fund,” laying the groundwork for a potential renovation of the Moda Center in Portland.

The Moda Center, formerly known as the Rose Garden, is the oldest sports arena in the NBA that hasn’t gotten a renovation, according to data from ECOnorthwest. That data also shows the arena generates $670 million in annual regional economic activity.

The proposed “Oregon Arena Fund” would reallocate existing tax revenue to help pay for a renovation. The bill passed Thursday’s four to one, with Republican Senator Kim Thatcher being the only one opposed.

...continues at KATU.

[maccoinnich]

SB1501 passed out of the Joint Committee On Ways and Means with a unanimous vote. Seems like it's on a glide path to pass this week.

[TakeFive]

Good to Hear

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

SB1501 passed out of the Joint Committee On Ways and Means with a unanimous vote. Seems like it's on a glide path to pass this week.

[maccoinnich]

Oregon Senate OKs $365 million for Moda Center revamp



Oregon lawmakers are a vote away from sending a major infusion of state money to Portland’s Moda Center, after the state Senate approved the move Wednesday.

In a bipartisan 24-6 vote, senators passed Senate Bill 1501, a proposal to spend $365 million to renovate the 30-year-old arena.

The bill has been a major focus in this year’s legislative session, as elected officials worry a new owner could move the Trail Blazers out of Portland.

Texas billionaire Tom Dundon is expected to take over the team later this month.

“We have heard in some testimony — and from the Zoom screens of far-flung places — that the Blazers aren’t going anywhere,” said Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego. “While I certainly hope this is the case, hope is not a strategy. That’s not a bet any of us should make.”

Under SB 1501, the state would siphon income tax revenues currently paid by the Blazers, employers and performers in Portland’s Rose Quarter, and construction workers tapped to carry out arena renovations.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

Trail Blazers’ arena renovation to get $365 million taxpayer contribution, Oregon lawmakers decide



While some legislators argued that it was unwise to volunteer Moda Center funding without first negotiating a lease, the Oregon House overwhelmingly passed a bill that clears the way for the state to pay for nearly two-thirds of the renovations that lawmakers hope will keep the Trail Blazers in Portland for at least two more decades.

“Some assets are worth supporting not just for what they earn, but for what they represent,” said House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard. “The Blazers are proof that something can be emotionally meaningful and economically strategic at the same time.”

Senate Bill 1501, which passed the Senate two days earlier, cleared the House 43 votes in support and 13 against.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

Architecture: The Moda Center’s absence of design
The push for a $600 million rehab of the Trail Blazers' 30-year-old home comes with few architectural details or sense of how it would fit in with its surroundings.



For a venue that state and local governments have been asked to spend hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading, we know very little about the Moda Center’s proposed renovation. That’s important not only because the proposed $600 million project is essentially a quid-pro-quo to keep the anchor-tenant Portland Trail Blazers from moving to another city, but also because precisely no one loves the Moda Center.

Opened in 1995, the arena has always appeared to have been designed by Fred Flintstone: a rounded stony edifice with few windows. Bankrolled by the Trail Blazers’ previous owner, the late Paul Allen, the approximately 20,000-seat Rose Garden (as it was originally known) was a means to an end: satisfying the professed need for a larger-capacity, higher revenue-producing location for Blazer games than their original home, Memorial Coliseum. In a certain sense, the Moda Center has always been a candidate for upgraded design.

Which is to say nothing of the 30-acre Rose Quarter property the arena is part of: an unequivocal urban-planning disaster. Surrounded by hideous parking garages, it’s essentially devoid of human activity on non-event days, despite being a centrally located transit node along a major thoroughfare. The Rose Quarter needs radical reconstructive surgery even more than the arena.

...continues at Oregon Arts Watch.