Rose Garden Arena Bankruptcy - Public Reaction

Public Reaction

The bankruptcy filing was widely criticized in the local media and elsewhere. Helen Jung, a reporter for The Oregonian described the affair as a game of "chicken" and as "bankruptcy as a business strategy", and noted Allen may have worsened his position by taking the arena into bankruptcy rather than offering a higher settlement. Lewis and Clark College law professor and noted local blogger Jack Bogdanski was even more unkind, attacking the morality and "character" of a billionaire "weaseling" his way out of a debt that he could easily repay personally, especially at a time when the team was putting an emphasis on the off-court behavior of his players.

Claims concerning the "broken financial model" were similarly mocked. After Blazer management complained about having the "worst lease in pro sports", Dwight Jaynes of the Portland Tribune noted that the situation was largely the team's own fault. Helen Jung noted that teams regularly complain about losing money, and suspected that such claims were often a ruse to obtain public financing.

During the bankruptcy period, the team and the state's largest newspaper, The Oregonian, had an especially troubled relationship. Oregonian columnist John Canzano and then-Trail Blazers president Steve Patterson were deeply distrustful of each other. The paper hired an outside editor to investigate the relationship between the paper's sports department and the team.

The Trail Blazers, for their part, maintained throughout putting Oregon Arena Corp. into bankruptcy was the best option for the team. Paul Allen stated that the debt service on the loan was greater than the revenues earned by the stadium, especially in the face of declining attendance. Allen also noted that the creditors, on a loan of $155 million, had recouped $195 million in cash over the years, plus the arena, which the bankruptcy court valued at US$60 million.