Trail Blazers Slash Broadcast Team As Dundon Keeps Cutting Costs

Tom Dundon continues to apply his Hurricanes playbook to the Trail Blazers. 

On Tuesday, the organization laid off the majority of its broadcast team including analyst Michael Holton, who has been with Trail Blazers for nearly 20 years. Hosts Neil Everett and Jamie Hudson and analytics expert Tom Haberstroh were also let go.

A spokesperson for the Trail Blazers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The news was first reported by Forbes. 

A Portland native, Everett was on ESPN for 23 years and anchored late-night SportsCenter for 12 years before he left the network in 2023; he had featured on Blazers broadcasts from 2021 to 2025.

Haberstroh is a prominent writer with a statistical bent and has run a popular Substack after departing Yahoo Sports. 

The Trail Blazers will also need at least one new play-by-play man. Both Kevin Calarbro (TV) and Travis Demers (radio) won’t return next season after both of their contracts expired. Demers didn’t have his contract renewed at the end of June after seven seasons, according to The Athletic.  Calabro told The Oregonian he is stepping away from the broadcast after receiving a “subprime” offer during contract negotiations. 

“I feel great about it,” Calabro told the newspaper of his decision. “I was grateful to have one of 30 jobs in the league and work so close to my home in Seattle. I’ll always be a part of Blazers history. I made some great memories and some great friends.”

The departures come after the organization laid off dozens of employees in May, two months after Dundon bought the team from Paul Allen’s estate in March. 

“We are deeply grateful to all the hard-working individuals who have contributed to our award-winning broadcasts over the years,” a team spokesperson said in a statement. “…We are making changes for the upcoming season as we continue to evolve with the changes in the broadcast industry and look to become more efficient in our business operations.” 

Shortly after buying the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes for $420 million in 2018, Dundon made a similar series of moves. He laid off a large number of staffers—including the broadcast team—and hired a sub-market rate coach in former player Rod Brind’Amour, who made less than $2 million annually before signing a new deal in 2024. 

In June, the Trail Blazers hired Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori to replace Tiago Splitter as the team’s head coach. Nori signed a three-year contract that drew criticism from the National Basketball Coaches Association for its lack of security: The last two years of Nori’s contract aren’t guaranteed. Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who is the head of the NBCA, called the contract “a slap in the face.” 

“I feel like he was put in a situation that he shouldn’t be put in with having to make a choice of this nature because of the structure of what the contract is,” Bickerstaff told ESPN. “It’s unfortunate that you have a dream, and from our perspective, it’s like someone’s taking advantage of your dream and devaluing what we feel like coaches have earned over the years.”

To Dundon’s credit, he has turned the Hurricanes into an NHL powerhouse. The team won its first Stanley Cup title under him in June, defeating the Golden Knights in six games. In the years since he bought the team and hired Brind’Amour, Carolina had made and lost three conference finals before this summer’s breakthrough. 

Dundon doesn’t appear to be done using the Hurricanes’ approach in Oregon yet. Forbes also reported that the Trail Blazers could shift to a TV/radio simulcast and remote broadcasts for road games. In the team’s statement, a spokesperson said standalone radio broadcasts will continue next season.  This past season, no NBA team has simply used its TV broadcast as a radio simulcast and the Raptors are the lone team to have remote radio broadcasts on the road. 

A team that’s been simulcasting for years? The Hurricanes.