Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & President, COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR CO
Columbia CEO Tim Boyle says Moda Center renovations are beyond just basketball
Columbia Sportswear Chairman and CEO Tim Boyle warned that losing the NBA franchise would diminish the city of Portland, urging to make renovations a high priority.
Read more: https://www.kgw.com/article/news/comm...
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About Timothy Boyle
Timothy Boyle, chairman, CEO, and president of Columbia Sportswear, has recently spoken about the importance of retaining the Portland Trail Blazers NBA franchise. In July 2026, Boyle warned that losing the team would be "incredibly disappointing" and would diminish Portland's status as a world-class city. He argued that the Blazers' presence provides significant economic value to the city and urged that this value be calculated in negotiations over Moda Center renovations, whether through direct payments or in-kind contributions. Boyle has also discussed Columbia Sportswear's business climate and marketing strategy. In June 2026, he stated that Portland needs greater investment in public safety and a more competitive tax environment, saying the city currently lacks both. He noted that tariffs on imported footwear and apparel are damaging to the company's competitiveness. Regarding the company's brand, Boyle said that differentiation is essential in a crowded market and that the company aims to create an emotional connection with consumers by emphasizing fun in the outdoors.
Transcript (19 segments)
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Timothy Boyle0:00
This is a community that requires, I don't want to say hand holding, but you need to love this community if you're going to be here to have a big investment. Clearly, it's a big investment for almost any way you measure it, and I think Portlanders need to know that you're invested not only financially but personally, and that you care about the city, you care about the state, and you want to make sure that it all works together to the common good.
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Interviewer0:31
Have you seen that to any degree from him?
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Timothy Boyle0:33
Well, you know, I again, I don't know Tom very well. I've talked to him on the phone a few times, but people don't get that vibe from him. I think people need to say, jeez, this guy knows Portland. He gets it. He wants to invest here. We're behind him.
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Interviewer0:48
Would you call him and tell him that?
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Timothy Boyle0:51
Yeah, I would.
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Interviewer0:52
What's your impression of the mayor's leadership and how he's dealt with this whole process?
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Timothy Boyle0:56
I think the mayor can be very vocal and can be an important advocate for the Blazers staying here, and as I understand it, he feels strongly that the Blazers should be here. Um, it'd be great to have even a greater voice from him and from the governor and, frankly, from the city councilors. Some have called the Moda Center without the Blazers 'Wapato,' you know, the prison that we built that was never occupied, and this is going to be a problem if we don't have a high quality tenant in that building. I'd like the city to be contributing and I'd like the county to make their contribution, and frankly, based on the current tax rates, it's not really a challenge financially for those things to happen. The city owns the arena for better or for worse. The Blazers, I think, pay $1 in rent under the bridge agreement. We're now kind of going back and forth on this term sheet, the framework of a deal. The city's made an initial offer. It wants the Blazers to pay, I think, $3 million a year in lieu of property taxes.
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Interviewer2:01
What's your feeling about that? Is that appropriate? What do you think?
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Timothy Boyle2:06
Well, these are all negotiations, but I mean I could see the Blazers making many kinds of contributions, not the least of which is a financial contribution. They can provide lots of great things to the city that maybe we aren't calculating properly, maybe they aren't being explained properly, but I think there's lots of things that the Blazers bring to the city that could be monetized in a way that could give the city council what they want and give the Blazer ownership what they want.
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Interviewer2:39
Any sense if the city or county or others are asking for too much from the team?
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Timothy Boyle2:44
Well, if you think about what the Moda Center, the name Moda Center on that building is worth, and think what it's worth without the Blazers in it, it's a vastly different number. So the Blazers being in that building provide much to the economic viability of Portland, and I think that needs to be calculated, and whether or not it's a payment in actual cash or whether it's an in-kind contribution or just the fact that they're there and making the city the world class city that it is, that should be calculated.
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Interviewer3:24
Are you willing to make some sort of contribution to ensure the team's future here? And if so, what would that be?
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Timothy Boyle3:31
Well, I'd be willing to put in some time to help make this happen. So if somebody tapped me on the shoulder, I'd probably do whatever I could to help financially. You know, I decided not to invest in the original group of investors, and it's because I'm not a basketball fan. I'm a Portland fan, so whatever I can do to help, I'm willing to do.
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Interviewer3:55
What might that look like?
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Timothy Boyle3:57
Well, you know, just maybe trying to help the two parties get together closer. The investment that the community is making in the Blazers is not something that you could put in an equation and, you know, a financial statement that says we're going to earn this much money off it, but it does matter when people think about how the city prides itself, how it stands up against other cities, and those kinds of things are incalculable, but they are valuable.
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Interviewer4:30
If this doesn't happen and the Blazers go for whatever reason, how does this transpire? What's your view of losing the Blazers? How would that impact Portland and Oregon?
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Timothy Boyle4:39
Well, I think it'd be incredibly disappointing. I think once they were gone, people would realize, you know, we made a mistake. We should have worked harder to keep them here. It makes us a city that we're in the same class as Boston and New York and Los Angeles.
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Interviewer4:53
On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you at this moment, knowing what we know that this will get done and we'll keep the team?
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Timothy Boyle5:00
I'm pretty confident that cooler heads will prevail and people will realize the value of having the Blazers here, and I know I'm going to try if I can to make people understand how important it is.