Thomas Dundon
Thomas Dundon is an American businessman in financial services, real estate, and sports entertainment; he is chairman and managing partner of Dundon Capital Partners in Dallas, chairman of pickleball.com, and owner/CEO of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.
He is closely associated with the collapse of the 2019 Alliance of American Football: after announcing a commitment of up to $250 million and taking control as a voting board member, he directed operations and funding but halted further financing within eight weeks, after which the league suspended play on April 2, 2019 and its entities entered Chapter 7 liquidation. In subsequent bankruptcy proceedings, the trustee alleged an oral $250 million commitment and cited Dundon’s public statements; Dundon testified that the $250 million figure was promotional rather than contractual, and court filings described his statements as inconsistent.
Early life and career
Dundon was born in New York and raised in Texas. He attended Southern Methodist University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1993 and served as president of Phi Gamma Delta. He soon after operated a restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas.Business career
He began his career working in financing at used car dealerships.In the 1990s, he co-founded the subprime lender Drive Financial Services, which offered high-interest loans to people with higher credit risk. The company was acquired by the Spanish company Banco Santander in 2006, transforming Drive Financial Services into Santander Consumer USA. The company has been sued by attorneys general in several states for predatory lending practices. By the time he left in 2015, Dundon served as chairman and chief executive officer of the company. In 2020, Santander settled the lawsuit.
After leaving Santander, Dundon started his own firm, Dundon Capital Partners, and bought a 33-story building in downtown Dallas. Dundon's investments via the firm include Employer Direct Healthcare, a healthcare services company, Exeter Finance, an auto finance company, and Pacific Elm Properties, a Dallas-based real estate company. Also after leaving Santander, Dundon cofounded Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas. Exeter Finance has been under investigation by attorneys general in multiple states over predatory lending practices, and has settled lawsuits in Massachusetts and Delaware.
Sports investments
Carolina Hurricanes
In late 2017, Dundon became involved in purchasing the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League from owner Peter Karmanos Jr. who had owned the team since it was the Hartford Whalers. Dundon became majority owner of the team on January 11, 2018, in a transaction where he purchased 52% of the team and the operating rights to PNC Arena for $420 million.On June 30, 2021, Dundon completed the purchase of all minority shares in the team, leaving him as the sole owner of the Hurricanes franchise.
Alliance of American Football
On February 19, 2019, the Alliance of American Football announced that Tom Dundon, owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, had committed up to $250 million in funding and had joined the league’s board of directors. National media described Dundon’s cash infusion as saving the league from a payroll crisis just one week into its inaugural season.
Pre-Dundon condition of the league:
Court records later established that, prior to Dundon’s involvement, the AAF had:
A board with experienced sports and media executives, including Bill Polian, Dick Ebersol, and Jeff Moorad.
Operations staffed by former NFL coaches and players such as Troy Polamalu, Hines Ward, and Steve Spurrier.
Secured funding commitments, including an initial $170 million package led by Reggie Fowler, supplemented by early-stage investors such as Peter Thiel, Peter Chernin, MGM Resorts, and Shaquille O’Neal.
National broadcast agreements with CBS, Turner Sports, and the NFL Network.
Ongoing negotiations with the NFL and NFLPA regarding player sharing and data access.
Early television ratings that outdrew competing NBA broadcasts, with over six million viewers for opening weekend games.
An estimated enterprise value of about $144 million as of February 2019.
Dundon’s takeover:
Just days after the season began, AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol sought a bridge loan to cover payroll. Dundon instead proposed a far larger deal: a $250 million commitment in exchange for 75% ownership and full control of the board. He immediately wired $5.1 million to meet payroll and assumed operational control of the league. By February 14, 2019, Dundon and his associate John Zutter were the only voting members of the AAF’s parent board.
Publicly, Dundon and league officials issued press releases and interviews stating that $250 million had been committed, with Dundon quoted as saying “you just raised Series Infinity” and assuring that he would fund the league “for years to come.”
Collapse and litigation:
In practice, filings show Dundon’s entities advanced about $70 million before he halted funding. Operations were tightly controlled by Dundon’s Dallas-based team, which required league staff to seek approval for vendor payments and contract settlements. Court documents state that Dundon also rejected other potential outside investors, conditioned further support on a deal with the NFLPA, and leveraged AAF resources to benefit his other companies.
On April 2, 2019, less than eight weeks into play, the AAF suspended operations and later filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Post-bankruptcy findings:
In 2025, the AAF’s bankruptcy trustee filed detailed findings alleging that:
Dundon entered into an oral agreement for $250 million in exchange for majority control.
He then limited funding to $70 million while representing publicly that the full amount was committed.
He and his agents breached fiduciary duties, blocked alternative investors, and forced the league into liquidation while exploring ways to acquire its assets through bankruptcy.
During testimony, Dundon acknowledged telling the press he had committed $250 million but later described those statements as “marketing” rather than contractual. The trustee’s report characterized his testimony as “consistently inconsistent” and not credible.
Pickleball
On December 27, 2021, Dundon's investment firm Dundon Capital Partners acquired Pickleball Central, the largest online pickleball retail site in the world. The acquisition also included Pickleball Central's affiliated PickleballTournaments.com software.On October 5, 2022, pickleball.com launched, citing an investment from Dundon. The platform seeks to "bring together the data, content, and expertise" of the PPA Tour, the professional tour of pickleball, Pickleball Tournaments and Pickleball Brackets, the leaders in tournament and club software, TopCourt, a leader in online pickleball and tennis instruction, and Pickleball Central, the leading pickleball e-commerce platform.
On November 9, 2022, Major League Pickleball announced a strategic merger with the PPA Tour's VIBE Pickleball League. "Coming together as one team league allows us to build much bigger events, offer more prize money, enhance player development, pursue larger media and sponsorship deals and, most importantly, grow the game we all love", Dundon said in a joint announcement with Major League Pickleball's Steve Kuhn.