Updated: New ownership(s) in the works?
At this point, here is what I can report on the ongoing Thrashers ownership issue. According to people familiar with the situation there are two investment groups that are progressing in an effort to buy the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena and will keep the Thrashers in Atlanta.
A deal is not close in either case as proper paperwork has not been filed to begin serious negotiations. However, at least one group has met with the officials from the NBA and the NHL. The meeting with the NHL was Thursday.
In one of the prospective groups there is one main investor with others in the group, some of whom are from Atlanta. The group is not only interested in purchasing the three properties but there is a “development element” to the deal, possibly involving the area around the arena.
The Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena have been for sale and groups have expressed interest in buying the Thrashers and moving them to another city. Canadian cities Winnipeg, Quebec and Hamilton have long been rumored to be a possible destination.
As far as a timetable on such a deal, according to sources it would take at least a month to complete their due diligence on the proposal and at least another month to complete negotiations.
This is not the group involved with Atlanta native Stephen Rollins. That group is said to still be interested but a formal bid has not been made at this point.
I am continuing to work on this story in my best effort to make sure it is 100 percent accurate. Understand that I am only reporting that two new group have expressed interest in purchasing the teams and arena from the Atlanta Spirit and is progressing in its effort. There is a long way to go but it appears that the situation has progressed beyond the point of someone “kicking the tires.”
Stay tuned.
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231 comments Add your comment
Tripple Lindy
February 25th, 2011
10:54 am
I hope this is leading somewhere positive and if its true, the best part is all those obnoxious Canadian bloggers and “journalists,” who based in nothing have been saying its only a matter of time before they get the Thrashers, will have to eat their words, eh?
GaDawg
February 25th, 2011
10:55 am
Enter your comments here
BlueThrash
February 25th, 2011
10:57 am
“Probably because it’s -40 degrees [in Winnipeg]”
celsius or fahrenheit?
GaDawg
February 25th, 2011
10:57 am
Hope this happens soon. Maybe new ownership group can convince Dwight Howard to move his services to the ATL. That would put some fannys in the seats.
10-Year Thrashers Season Ticket Holder
February 25th, 2011
10:58 am
As a 10-year Thrasher STH who is simply BEYOND sick of being lied to as a paying customer, I just want all of this drama to finally end, one way or another.
Win or lose, losing mostly, I have always been there and poured by heart into this time. I am emotionally drained and simply don’t have the desire to keep chasing those love of mine which keeps spurning my affection.
Don’t let the Canadian border hit you in the 5-Hole on your way up to Winnipeg, Thrashers!
Tweets that mention Prospective buyer for Hawks, Thrashers, Philips Arena in works | Atlanta Thrashers -- Topsy.com
February 25th, 2011
10:58 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bobby, Adam Blank, Guillaume Lambert, NHL-blogs.com , Josh McGrew and others. Josh McGrew said: RT @ajcthrashers: New ownership in the works? http://bit.ly/hmDVdU [...]
Stan the Man
February 25th, 2011
10:58 am
Didn’t Jacoby lose a bunch of money when AIG threw him under the bus?
Peter
February 25th, 2011
11:00 am
Well I would be excited to see the Hawks get sold to someone who understands basketball !
Hockeyfan
February 25th, 2011
11:01 am
Quit giving legitimacy to that Rollins idiot that cant afford to pay attention much less buy a professional team.
Oh and glad the Atlanta Spirit Group and its liars… I mean members, will soon be gone.
kracker
February 25th, 2011
11:02 am
litz – I’m bringing a “Save the Gulch!” sign tonight.
Fred
February 25th, 2011
11:03 am
Well I’m not much of a basketball fan and I’m dang sure not a hockey fan, but I AM an ‘Atalnta” fan. As such, I want both teams to not only stay in Atlanta but prosper as well.
While it was impossible to be a “committed” Falcon fan while Jed and Jethro Clampett (The Smith Family) owned the team, it was easy once Blank took over. Even during a bad season there was hope because ole Art WAS going to get what it took to get to the top. I can see the same thing happening to the Thrashers and the Hawks if they get a REAL owner. Apathy is contagious, and how can players get and keep a positive attitude when they know that their “bosses” don’t give a crap? On the reverse side, how they do anything but their utmost best when they like and respect their owner and knows he likes and respects them? Blanks’ gatorade bath was proof of that. I won’t talk about that Packers game lol.
Good luck. I hope it works out for all my fellow Atlantan’s who are B-Ball and hockey fans. ya’ll DESERVE good teams.
10-Year Thrashers Season Ticket Holder
February 25th, 2011
11:03 am
CORRECTION:
Win or lose, losing mostly, I have always been there and poured by heart into this TEAM (not time).
Obviously, when you pour your passion into someone or something that rejects you or takes you for granted for years, you obviously do not always allow logic to dictate your actions or communications.
Seriously, leave or don’t leave, Thrashers.
You’ve twisted this knife in my heart long enough.
ryan
February 25th, 2011
11:04 am
I just if the Hawks and Thrashers are sold to local investment group its not ASG or Liberty group clone i am tired of these owners don’t wont to bring any buzz to Atlanta Dwight Howard is free agent home town star experts think he going to LA or New York we need to bring him home .
Bluestreak
February 25th, 2011
11:05 am
HOPE!!!
And for those of you local and non-local detractors, go find a ‘Remember the Jets’ or ‘NHL for Hamilton’ boards and have a love fest. We don’t want you and we don’t need you. The AHL may have a team they can send your way.
simpleminded
February 25th, 2011
11:06 am
Please don’t wake me up if I’m dreaming! Atlanta/Boston/Washington Octotards killed my “Spirit” long ago. Here’s some due diligence…if the “tards” are gone, I’m buying season tickets to the Thrashers!!!!
Thrashers27
February 25th, 2011
11:08 am
I’d rather have ownership that is strictly focused on hockey and the Thrashers, but anything is better than the dip$#!)* at ASG. Those guys are just terrible businessmen.
Blow Up this "team"
February 25th, 2011
11:09 am
I bet ASG does something stupid and plays hard ball on sales price.
Iron League 13
February 25th, 2011
11:10 am
Blue Spark – I won’t speak for Vivs, but he’s Atlanta’s embedded journalist so far as the Thrash are concerned maybe the only one I know too. I don’t think he’d take his lines soley from Kincade only on matters such as this NO MATTER WHAT. He even stated he was working on this kind of thing in recent days, I think he acted very responsibly like a journalist should rather than a gossipy jock talk type. Breathe easy, he’s THE source you should look to for the real Thrashers news.
Blow Up this "team"
February 25th, 2011
11:11 am
Does everyone still use that side corner as a bath room at the Gulch.
GaDawg
February 25th, 2011
11:12 am
As a former Atl Flame tix holder, can I say nooo more owners whose fortunes are made/lost in the realestate business. Bring Dwight Howard home, put him along with Horford and find a point guard and maybe we get beyond rd 1.
This is what I heard
February 25th, 2011
11:15 am
For what its worth, working inside the media I have been told that this group is made up of Ludacris the rapper, Usher and…..wait for it….Justin Beiber, who, apprarently being Canadian loves hockey. I have also been told that the commercial property surrounding the area and its usage allowances is the crux of this deal moving past the exploritory phase and that this somethiing that “looks better a chance to happen than not.” Again, for what its worth and usually I am not the one to come on a public forum and parade a bunch of rumors, but, to be perfectly honest, I feel for fans of these two franchises and what they have been through and love this city and hope that a little good news may console fans enough to keep the spirit alive (no pun intended) thus giving these potential buyers a product that looks more promising than an empty building. Again, for all thats worth.
Joe Friday
February 25th, 2011
11:17 am
don’t think of the Gulch, look the other direction. Blank’s plans are for an open air stadium on the GA World Congress Center area, reportedly. A new development, in conjunction with those plan, tying the whole area together would make a lot of sense (bordered by the Aquarium and Centennial Park area on the other side).
barney strickland
February 25th, 2011
11:19 am
SEE? SEE? I was right about the Hawks were gonna be sold…but i wasn’t so sure anyone would want the Thrashers…. look at the Mark Bradley Blogs form the last couple of weeks… I predicted this…. ASG was a bunch of douchebags….. Mike Gearon is proof that Ted Turner will give money to any moron in his family…. We deserved a rich bitch like David McDavid…. Teddy and his gang who couldn;t shoot straight screwed ATL sports for the last decade…. Bummer. What coulda been… shoulda been …now, might happen at last!!
Iron League 13
February 25th, 2011
11:20 am
My concerns…
A.) Will the basketball loving F.A.S. , LLC let go of the Hawks and Philips? That’s what they bought the package for and I think they believe they are doing a bang up job at least with the Hawks and stand to make good money (an entrpreneurial sweatener) w/ Philips. This could make things difficult UNLESS this ownership group consists of HOCKEY FANS that’ll settle for the Thrashers and likely a portion of Philips too.
B.) The F.A.S., LLC doesn’t negotiate with honest integrity and plays harball divulging their TRUE finances to cover their own you know whats (very possible). This will prove frustrating to the prospective buyers as people don’t enjoy dealing in shady sales.
yeahsure
February 25th, 2011
11:20 am
i like where this is going. Getting really exciting thinking about the potential of having more than one Atlanta team with ownership that cares about the fans.
sawweeet
February 25th, 2011
11:21 am
Fingers crossed!
Iron League 13
February 25th, 2011
11:21 am
entrepreneurial (rather)
Damian
February 25th, 2011
11:23 am
Ahhhhh! Look at the 12 Thrashers fans in here……The team is a lost cause..simple as that…130,000,000 was lost last season…COME ON! The NHL has given the Thrashers 6 weeks…(Which is now 4) to do something…time is running out….and if we’ve learned anything from the Coyotes..(Who still don’t have a solid buyer) it takes a lot longer then 6 weeks to get a deal done.
Time for Gary Bettman to count his losses and move the team….Sure if the Thrashers start winning again people will show (For a while) then when they start to lose again…You’ll disappear…
I’m a Canadian hockey fan…this is our sport….and no one will ever love the game like we do.
GO JETS GO!
AJ
February 25th, 2011
11:25 am
“Getting really exciting thinking about the potential of having more than one Atlanta team with ownership that cares about the fans.”
Well Said!
JMT21
February 25th, 2011
11:25 am
Enter your comments here
kracker
February 25th, 2011
11:26 am
Blow Up this “team” – Yep, at least the gents do. It’s a time-honored tradition born of necessity.
Mooseberg
February 25th, 2011
11:26 am
Trust Viv that something is going on, NEVER trust Kincaid after the way he talked down to Thrasher fans….after all this gets done and we have new owners and direction(really hoping) I will start a campaign to send Kincaid back to Philly. As a sports talk radio personality, you should NEVER get on the fans of the teams in the city you work because they are(were) fans of the radio station because they are sports fans. BIG MISTAKE KINCAID
ashtray
February 25th, 2011
11:26 am
screw the Gultch. Go up into the sunshine you moles, and party on the street between the arena and the dome like in the old days when the Thrasher management actually cared an ounce more and set up activities before games.
Philalamo
February 25th, 2011
11:26 am
Damian: Stop wasting our time spewing your yankee nonsense.
Aren’t there “Fat” Rex Ryan foot fetish videos you shoul be watching?
Iron League 13
February 25th, 2011
11:27 am
Damian – HA HA HA HA HA!!! $130 MILLION LOST LAST SEASON ALONE!!! HA HA HA!!! Keep it up, your hi-lar-ious. Thrashers posts need some comic relief. Here lemme help you say something else funny as Hell…
Please explain how losing that figure of money is even possible in ONE SEASON, please do that.
Philalamo
February 25th, 2011
11:27 am
Edit to Damian: Should have said “spewing your frog nonsense.”
Get bent you hoser.
R. Stroz
February 25th, 2011
11:29 am
Dear Winnipeg Trolls.
May I suggest moving to the Islanders blogs. They’re your best target.
ashtray
February 25th, 2011
11:29 am
quit crying Mooseberg. This isn’t about you.
Tom Lysiak
February 25th, 2011
11:29 am
Somebody needs to tell Damian the Jets already did GO….to Phoenix.
polskidawg
February 25th, 2011
11:29 am
Hope is still alive.
Mooseberg
February 25th, 2011
11:30 am
Damian…go inside and thaw out your brain. Nothing you stated is fact, try listening to bettman next time a TV signal actually gets to you.
R. Stroz
February 25th, 2011
11:30 am
kracker – Would you rather have the “Gulch” or a hockey team?
JMT21
February 25th, 2011
11:31 am
Good news for you guys. Being from Winnipeg I’ve posted before that you guys seem to be great fans and DESERVE your team.
The situation in Phoenix is getting dire. The bonds still have not been sold despite being available for 2 weeks. There is still a threat of lawsuit by a taxpayer group in Arizona. The NHL has stated that if the lawsuit is filed the deal in Glendale is dead and they will move.
I have a friend who is a Coyote STH. She got a package to renew her season tickets. She has seats on the blue line 7 rows from the glass. Cost per ticket $45.00. Price guaranteed for 2 seasons.
Back in 1996 the top ticket for a Jets game was $50.00.
I hope this mystery ownership group comes thru. Good luck against the Panthers tonight!!
ashtray
February 25th, 2011
11:33 am
Everyone should be excited and optimistic today. It’s the continuation of a sports revolution in Atlanta that started with Uncle Arthur’s magic. Thrasher/Hawk/ and even Concert fans have the first hint of hope that we had in the early 90’s with the Braves and when the Clampett’s sold the Falcons!!!
TrueBlue
February 25th, 2011
11:35 am
So….say the sale does go through….How long will it be before the old group sues in the new group?
coach phil
February 25th, 2011
11:35 am
anybody would run those teams better than the atlanta spirit.
Tom
February 25th, 2011
11:37 am
“Somewhere, in Winnipeg, there are children. And they are crying.”
It is not the children who are crying, it is the guys in the basement in their Jets pajamas that are going into the fetal position reading this.
But that is okay, if the Thrasher’s get saved they will move on to the Islanders with their rumors and innuendo.
Iron League 13
February 25th, 2011
11:37 am
JMT – We appreciate your support, always welcome. That figure on tickests is STUNNING. I think you even told us about FREE parking and DOLLAR (as in uno, un, ichi, a single buck, etc.) BEER nights and they can’t do it. I feel kinda bad for that market, but mostly the tax payers. Scandal on top of mediocrity kills towns that size outside of a more traditional or long-ago co-opted market.
Philalamo
February 25th, 2011
11:37 am
Ribbit!
Fire Ramsay
February 25th, 2011
11:38 am
They have computers in Canada? Thought it was just moose and Celine Dion.