Updated context: the September 8 contract review
Every claim on this site traces to a document
Contracts, statutes, the City’s own studies, and disclosed models — organized by the question you’re asking. Start anywhere; every page carries its own sources.
The 2024 bridge deal
What the City signed when it bought the arena — and what those documents already decided.
The tax clause, the five-county non-compete, the records the City may not copy, and what the NBA actually approved.
The Paper Trail8 public-records productions, read in fullThe records-notice understanding, the funding sentence, the “Dear Partners” email, and the NBA letter Council wouldn’t sign — verbatim, with the innocent reading beside each.
The Blank-Check Problem“to be attached” what the itemized $573M budget page saysNeither August vote spends a dollar — they lock the number while the scope stays unwritten. What each government’s protections cover, and the five fixes still available.
The Model, ReviewedB− / D economics / transparency — the graded reviewThe July 30 ECONorthwest study, taken seriously: where it’s genuinely good, the category error at its center, and the thirteen answerable questions — with responses published in full.
Money & revenue
Who pays for the building, and who keeps what it earns.
Every priced arena dollar, badged Verified, Calculated, Modeled, or Unpriced — and who gets to use it.
What He MakesValue requires evidenceStream by stream, what the building hands the operator — from an arena he rents for $1 a year.
The Opportunity CostYou set it the slider decidesPick what keeping the Blazers is worth; the page computes the gap against the ask.
The PILOT Paper$5.1–9.4M/yr county formula, post-renoWhat the building would pay if it paid taxes — three tiers, from the certified floor to full equivalency.
Renovation costs
The study’s categories, priorities and recommendations, with every source row available to inspect.
Inspect the full report and workbook. Trace $252.9M of listed 2024 costs and the $504.9M forecast. Inspect VSG’s categories and our separately labeled commercial-purpose allocations.
The First-Class Clause§10.2 Arena Operating LeaseThe lease preserves maintenance obligations. Their scope, exceptions and remedies require a separate legal and engineering review; the assessment alone does not establish a debt owed.
Economic impact
What the headline claims dissolve into when you read the study they cite.
Relocation leverage
What leaving would actually cost, and what protections belong in writing.
The City owns the building; a move means breaching signed contracts, fighting Portland in court, and paying the NBA.
Why They Can’t Leave22–8 owners’ vote against the last Seattle moveThe large-print one-pager: four reasons, each from a signed clause or the league’s own rules.
Comparable deals
What every peer city negotiated — and the market test Portland hasn’t run.
Private share, rent, revenue return, relocation penalty — Portland’s is the only one at $0 private capital and $0 rent.
The Market TestPrice the whole exchangeComparable contracts, market evidence and legally feasible alternatives. Value costs, rights and risks on the same assumptions.
History & the record
How the public’s stake was built — and what officials have already admitted.
The sourced 1993–2026 timeline that answers “Paul Allen built it alone.” Includes the SB 1501 legislative archive.
The June 24 Work Session4 admissions on the recordWhat Council itself put on the record the first time it examined the deal.
Source documents
The primary records — read them yourself.
- Ordinance 191857 (2024) — the bridge-lease package
- Arena Operating Lease — §10.2 first-class, §10.9 clawback
- Exclusive Site Agreement — the non-relocation covenant
- The State’s comparables summary (July 9, 2026)
- The Fair-Deal Term Sheet (PDF) — the campaign’s benchmark
- The balance-sheet dataset (CSV) — every line, sourced
- The councilor print pack — four carry documents
- The clips — the case, on camera, timestamped
Study sources: Full FCA workbook · How the figures are calculated · Our commercial-purpose analysis and full allocation ledger · 121-page report · City’s June 3 analysis.
How these numbers fit together
Verified describes what a source says, not that a proposed obligation is signed or funded. The reconciled ledger and sources →