Deal not done to sell and move Thrashers
While negotiations between the Atlanta Spirit and True North Sports and Entertainment continue, no deal has been reached to sell the Thrashers and relocate the team to Winnipeg.
Despite a published report Thursday night saying a deal was done and would be announced Tuesday, officials with the Thrashers, True North and the NHL said no such agreement has been reached.
Several Thrashers officials told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday that the report was unfounded. The Winnipeg Free Press reported that a high-ranking True North official denied the report.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking earlier in the day on NHL Live, said no deal has been made to move the Thrashers to Winnipeg– and criticized reports of a possible move. However, he did not rule out relocation unless someone steps forward to own the team here.
“We get reports, speculation, that the team’s gone. And there’s no deal,” Bettman said. “I can tell you that with certainty that there is no deal for this team to move. Am I predicting that there will never be or that there won’t be at some point in time? No, I’m not saying there is or there isn’t.”
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly also issued a denial. “The Board has not been asked to consider nor approve any transaction involving the sale and/or possible relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers’ franchise. Any suggestion to the contrary is entirely untrue.”
The Thrashers and True North have been in active negotiations, as reported by the AJC. The team is also searching for a buyer willing to keep the team in Atlanta. However with time running out to find local ownership, a deal with True North could be reached in the near future. A move to relocate the franchise would have to be made soon in order to begin play next season.
Bettman said the NHL always wants to keep a team in its current market but must have an owner to operate it there.
“The decision as to whether or not to move a club doesn’t come out of looking at two markets and saying, ‘This market would be better than that market,’” he said. “We try to keep our clubs where they are. And if it is ultimately determined that a club has to move, generally the reason . . . is because nobody wants to own a team there anymore, nobody wants to fund the losses and [the current owner] can’t find a buyer.”
The Thrashers’ ownership group has said that it faces a “sense of urgency” to shed the team’s operating losses and that if a buyer can’t be found to keep the team in Atlanta, relocation is a possibility.
The first two callers to Bettman’s show, broadcast on satellite radio and the Internet, were Thrashers fans. The first said Atlanta will support a hockey team if ownership meets the fans halfway by putting a competitive product on the ice.
“I understand and respect that,” Bettman said, “but the key to this may be, in the final analysis, whether or not somebody wants to own the team in Atlanta. In the absence of either the current ownership group continuing to own and operate or somebody stepping forward who wants to buy the club, that becomes the situation that concerns us or any sports league.
“We’ll only leave a market - in this case Atlanta, picking up on the caller’s statements – if we have to. And hopefully the current ownership group will figure a way out of this that makes sense for everybody,” he said.
The caller told Bettman that the Thrashers drew strong crowds in their first five seasons and that a fan rally will be held Saturday to show support for the team.
Noting that the Thrashers have ranked near the bottom of the league in attendance the past two seasons, Bettman said: “I understand that there may be dissatisfaction there, but demonstrating your dissatisfaction by not going to games is an interesting strategy. It’s your absolute right. But if it becomes a turnoff for anybody who might want to buy the franchise, the long-term consequences could be severe.
“It will be interesting to see how many people show up at the rally on Saturday,” Bettman said.
He declined to put a deadline on a decision about whether the team will be moved.
“Obviously, as it relates to next season, time is getting short,” he said. “We have to do a schedule. We’re doing a schedule with our broadcast partners; we have to have it done for clubs by the end of June. And it’s not something you can do in 28 or 48 hours.”
- Staff writer Tim Tucker contributed to this report.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
381 comments Add your comment
Steve-o
May 20th, 2011
8:16 am
I had been an NL fan all my life, but since they took the Expos out of Montreal I can’t bring myself to even follow the box scores of Washington. My sympathies to all hockey fans in Georgia.
———————————————-
I can relate. Due to this soap opera in Atlanta, I’ve lost interest in the NHL playoffs and have been watching the NBA — something I hardly ever do. And the NBA playoff games are really exciting this year! The OKC Thunder/Dallas Mavs series is great – so many talented players, and they’re playing with tons of hustle. Good stuff.
EA
May 20th, 2011
8:24 am
Let None in–you messed your joke up since the Select-a-Seat is scheduled for the afternoon. Can you imagine how the team is feeling? They are a young group. Going from the glitz and glamour of a metropolitan city to Winnipeg. I remember what it is like to be in my 20s.
It is hard to watch to the hype of the playoffs when you realize that hockey, like other sports, is a cut throat business. No one cares about the fans. They care about the almighty dollar that the fans pay to see the team.
Jackets21
May 20th, 2011
8:36 am
Early Friday morning, Ken Campbell of The Hockey News explained what the delay in the announcement might be:
What still has to be determined, according to a source, is how much of that purchase price goes to the Atlanta Spirit, a group that is hardly dealing from a position of strength when it comes to selling the team. It has been widely reported that the purchase price of the team is $110 million, with an additional $60 million going to the NHL in the form of a relocation fee.
Apparently, the Atlanta Spirit owner Bruce Levenson wants a bigger piece of the purchase price and is trying to get a portion of that $60 million from the NHL. It’s believed the league, meanwhile, not only wants the $60 million relocation fee, but a portion of the $110 million purchase price. In fact, there’s a possibility that the Atlanta Spirit might end up with only $80 million to $100 million of the purchase price.
By all accounts, the Atlanta-to-Winnipeg deal will happen in the very near future, but when you’re dealing with very large financial transactions, it’s going to take some time. Meanwhile, fans in Atlanta can only continue to wait and hope for the best.
Brent
May 20th, 2011
8:37 am
I love hockey but have grown to despise the NHL over the years. That league makes MLB look well-managed. It has been spiralling downward since the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, losing the momentum of that media-centric event to the 1994 lockout and and THE ENTIRE SEASON OF 2004-05 to another. And SCREW YOU, TOO, Atlanta Spirit…you did everything you could to kill interest in the game in this town and now that hick prairie town reaps the benefit.
I’ve been a season ticket holder for the Gwinnett Gladiators for many years and have been generally satisfied with my experience; I will continue to support Gwinnett and the players who begin their careers there, but I am DONE with the NHL.
steve
May 20th, 2011
8:50 am
What will happen to youth hockey if the Thrashers leave?
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
8:55 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsI5QCDRN-4
look at all those igloos.. how can those people walk in shorts in the freezing cold !!
Wonder how the ATL rally will compare to this impromptu one ?
Common Sense 101
May 20th, 2011
8:57 am
I love all these “You have to support your team Atlanta fans!” misguided comments. There are so many more fun things to do any day or night of the year in Atlanta than in Whineypeg that you simply have no idea how competitive it is when fighting for consumer discretionary dollars here. This is how the ASG fought to attract consumers and their recreational spending $$$ to Philips Arena:
“Atlanta’s average annual payroll over the past five years ranked next to last in the league, according to Forbes.com.”
According to most Canadians on this blog, this is the formula for success in Canadian NHL Hockey: Put a p*ss-poor product on the ice and dumb@ss hockey fans will sellout the arena every night to watch inferior hometown hockey games…..Of course Atlantans aren’t so stupid to blindly attend hockey games when the ownership fails to invest barely more than the league minimum to attract quality players.
The term “Salary Cap” was never uttered by any Thrashers Owner.
In fact, Atlanta Hockey Fans should be COMMENDED for continuing to show up in the numbers that we did while knowing that this ownership group itself wasn’t fully-invested in providing us with a competitive on-ice product.
ONE post-season appearance in the history of the franchise…..ZERO playoff victories…..Team salaries at or near the league minimum year after year…..”Bottomless” popcorn buckets that are taken in the back and REFILLED FROM A FRIGGIN BAG OF STALE POPCORN!!! (No….That’s NOT a joke!)
But Canadians say they would sell out their arena every game for such nonsense. Well, you guys up North must be the Ultimate Tools! That’s NOT a recipe for success in this town that will hardly even miss the Thrashers once they’re gone…..Our Thrashers season ticket money just went to Georgia Tech Football season tickets, and at a substantial savings.
Atlanta FANS didn’t fail the Thrashers. The Thrashers Ownership and Management failed the Atlanta Fans. Philips Arena was at or near capacity for the first few weeks of every season. But by Feb (some years sooner), the Thrashers were already out of the playoff race yet again.
It’s unreasonable to expect a Sunbelt City to pack an ice hockey arena every night once their team has been eliminated from the playoffs midway through the season…..Get it? Probably not……
radeksmom
May 20th, 2011
8:59 am
DON CHERRY IS A FLAMIN IDIOT!!! BIG MOUTH BAFOON!!
radeksmom
May 20th, 2011
9:01 am
Lets go to war with Winnepeg.
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
9:06 am
unlike bin laden, Canada is real
You Keep What You Kill Mr. Bettman!
May 20th, 2011
9:07 am
The FUTURE of Thrashers hockey in its new Canadian home:
“More than 100 Winnipeg Jets fans gathered to celebrate at the intersection of Portage and Main as word spread that the city may be getting an NHL team again …”
REALLY? MORE than 100 showed up? This is so freakin’ FUNNY that it makes me forget about losing the Thrashers. Within 3 years Bettman will take another $60 Million relocation payoff to move the team again — Just watch and see!
radeksmom
May 20th, 2011
9:08 am
what up with the FLorida Panthers take them. They have worse attendance!
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
9:08 am
“It’s unreasonable to expect a Sunbelt City to pack an ice hockey arena”
WORD
Thrashers Will Draw LESS Attendance/Game Next Season
May 20th, 2011
9:12 am
Hey G52PIM228! Here’s what your fellow Canadians are saying on the blogs up North:
“I will be happy to see another NHL team in Canada. I hope this time around the Winnipeg fans will put their money where their mouth is now. Going to NHL hockey games is not for the faint of heart. For my two sons and I to go to a game, yes one game, it cost me over $700.00 when you count in parking, gas, tickets and very, very small snacks, dare I order a beer? Winnipeg fans have got to be ready to spend some big hard earned bucks if they want to keep a new team there. By the way this is my last year taking in NHL games live. I’ve decided I need to focus my spending on things like food, gas, heat. Not my idea, but my wife convinced me that we just can’t afford live games anymore. Good luck Winnipeg, and enjoy your team.”
Steve-o
May 20th, 2011
9:13 am
OK, I have work to do, so gotta go. Not the case with whacked out serial poster G52… I’m sure his irrational and irrelevant posts will continue throughout the day.
KLS1
May 20th, 2011
9:14 am
I love how everyone talks about us not going to games anymore like it is free.
We just went throught 3 years of the worst economy since 1929 and have been living with a franchise that cannot compete year after year and we are supposed to just throw money at the owners so they keep the franchise here…I don’t think so.
I have been a season ticket holder on and off since the beginning and I don’t believe it would make any difference how many people supported this team financially, these ASG guys bought them to sell them to the highest bidder…and the highest bidder ain’t gonna be in Atlanta.
radeksmom
May 20th, 2011
9:14 am
you cant even make planes. that “AVRO Arrow” really worked out
Eileen
May 20th, 2011
9:21 am
You keep what you kill–the other 500 were outside of Charlene’s appartment building! Common Sense 101-fantastic post.
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
9:21 am
I live in Arizona tard.
Thanks for saving my coyotes
awwooooooooooo
Get The Puck Out
May 20th, 2011
9:22 am
Listen to this. Liberty Media is in talks to buy Barnes and Noble for a estimated price of $1.04 BILLION dollars. This is the same company that owns your Atlanta Braves. $1.04 billion.
SportsFan
May 20th, 2011
9:22 am
G52 needs some serious help. Slagging a city for getting the team isn’t the answer either, is it? What if it was Vegas, KC or Seattle? We;’d do the same? Or because it is a city from Canada?
KLS1
May 20th, 2011
9:22 am
Just heard a report that the only thing holding up finalizing the sale is whether Don Waddell gets 8 or 10 years guaranteed deal to run the new Winnepeg franchise!
Guffman
May 20th, 2011
9:23 am
Even Charli Sheen knows where the real fans live.
DUH! Winning-Peg!
I like how you feel sorry for the players moving to Winnipeg. You thimk the Stanley Cup champions from Chicago appreciated being traded to your lifeless team with no fan support?
Professional players want to play for a winnimg franchise. Flake players will play in a nice city so they can concemtrate on their sun tans. After all, why did Teemu Selanne get upset by being traded from Winnipeg to a nice city? Many players prefer playing for a real hockey city instead of these experiment cities with ignorant and unsupportive fans that couldn’t be bothered to pay a lousy $30 per ticket.
The NHL got their 10 year US TV deal. They don’t need Atlanta anymore.
Since most of you are being ignorant to Winnipeg, I decided to tell it like it is. Good job not supporting your team. Look where that got you?
GO JETS GO!
SportsFan
May 20th, 2011
9:24 am
G52 is also jealous that fans would have an impromptu rally downtown – something that would never ever happen in Arizona.
Get The Puck Out
May 20th, 2011
9:25 am
I just hope you have to support a team that loses on a consistent basis for….say 10 or 11 years. I’ll check back with you then.
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
9:26 am
Steve-o the Yotes are feeling a hunger and smell a scent of urine from the sacrificed thrasher. a scent of cats is ignored from the taste of thrasher meat. a sacrificed thrasher so the yote with big tail can live. i get the thrasher from behind over a table bang, bang, bang. it felt more like a man and not like a bird when i release.
Eileen
May 20th, 2011
9:26 am
And that was at 1:19 a.m. according to Charlene’s post. WOW!
@radeksmom
May 20th, 2011
9:27 am
how many children have we crippled or killed in this fake war in Iraq & afghanistan ?
Every time a Bush is elected two things happen
1) We invade Iraq
2) The price of oil doubles
Let’s here it for Jeb Bush, future president of the USA
John Ferguson
May 20th, 2011
9:28 am
I’ve heard some people say that hockey players might not want to move to places where there is actually ICE in the winter. We are told that unrestricted free agents won’t sign in Winnipeg.
Anybody here ever hear of any of these guys?: Teemu Selanne, Keith Tkachuk, Thomas Steen, Dale Hawerchuk, Phil Housley, Nikolai Khabiboulin, Kris Draper, Dave Babych, Alexei Zhamnov, Teppo Numminen, Laurie Boschman, Craig Janney, Paul MacLean, Scott Arniel or Anders Hedberg. How about Bobby Hull? He wasn’t a bad hockey player.
Since most people from the US, especially Southern US, are not hockey fans – I will tell you. These are all players who signed in Winnipeg and moved to Winnipeg. The majority of NHL players grew up playing in Canadian towns like Red Deer, Swift Current, Brandon and Humboldt. Winnipeg won’t be a problem for them. The League is made up mainly of CANADIANS!
There are two types of professional hockey players. Some don’t really care about the game – they care more about the stuff they are doing after they get off the ice. A REAL hockey player wants to play where the game means something and the team doesn’t have to give tickets away to inflate their attendance figures. You’re right – there are a small number of players who have lost sight of the game and care more about golfing in January than playing hockey. You don’t want a pud like that on your team anyway.
If the game can survive in places like Edmonton, Calgary, St. Paul, Montreal, Detroit – Winnipeg will do just fine. Look for more teams to move from markets that are losing money. Quebec will have a team within a couple of seasons. Hamilton, London and Saskatoon will also be circling over the next few years.
Thrashers Will Draw LESS Attendance/Game Next Season
May 20th, 2011
9:28 am
WOW! The only place in North America that could be considered a worse place to live than the frozen wasteland of Manitoba — The Hellhole Desert of Arizona! Must be proud of yourself!
And we didn’t save “your Coyotes”….Your Dumb@ss City of Glendale just put every one of you on the hook for an extra $25 MILLION in taxes per year for up to the next TEN YEARS….Not to mention what Bettman will do to increase ticket and concession prices to show the NHL’s LOVE for you and your Coyotes……
See how that works?
KLS1
May 20th, 2011
9:28 am
By the way my canadian friends, you can do me one favor if the Thrashers come to your town.
Please throw Zach Bogosian in a frozen lake if he posts another season with a leagues worst -27. If we had done this we may have made the playoffs and wouldn’t be having this relocation conversation.
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
9:29 am
So we don’t have a downtown in Glendale. We still have a hockey team tho
chaz
May 20th, 2011
9:32 am
Im sorry to take your team if they do leave. I am ecstatic, but remember how it felt for me.
I think some players are going to be excited to be part of something special like playing in Canada. Some not, for sure, but alot of players are from rural Canada anyways, and the NHL returning to Winnipeg is going to be a feelgood story of the year in Canada. Like it or not, the MTS center is going to be electric next year!
radeksmom
May 20th, 2011
9:32 am
@ @radeksmom…crippled kids..you liberal freek shut up and go back to brushing your armpit hair.
EA
May 20th, 2011
9:32 am
Big Buff signed for 5 years when he thought the team was staying here. A. Ladd would not sign when all of the speculation about a move started. Just remember Guffman, you are getting the same team we had. They aren’t winners. Yet. Because they are such great guys, I wish them nothing but the best whatever happens. We do know however that there are ones who absolutely love our city and will be very sad to leave.
chaz
May 20th, 2011
9:34 am
I bet you they are all sad to leave. Its been their home. Not only that, im sure they have come to love Atlanta. Im sure its an awesome city.
But they are also professionals, and get paid well to do so. Buf grew up 2 hours from Winnipeg, so im sure he knows what to expect.
Freeways
May 20th, 2011
9:34 am
Some guys referred to Atlanta as “glitsy”? OMG…. hardly.
Dirty, grimy and the Atlanta Olympics were the worst in history. The only good thing to come out of Atlanta is the Music.
I’ve been to Atlanta and I’ve been to Winnipeg. Winnipeg may be smaller, but I would feel a helluvalot safer walking to my car following a Jet’s game in Winnipeg at 11:00 at night than I would in Atlanta.
Some guy in this thread also said “we should go to war with Winnepeg”. How about this; you bring two lines and goalie and I’ll bring my team – we’ll play a friendly game of street hockey at Portage and Main (in Winnipeg). Loser has to buy a round!!
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
9:35 am
they will be excited to play in front of knowledgable fans and a packed house in winnipeg
Sandy
May 20th, 2011
9:35 am
If the Thrashers didn’t trade ALL of their STAR PLAYERS over the years I think the fans would support the team by attending more games and buying more merchandise.
It would also help if the concessionaires didn’t always run out of water and hamburgers. The Thrashers have no big name players anymore so where’s the excitement?
Sage of Bluesland
May 20th, 2011
9:37 am
Off my meds again….mom wrote computer password on my hand so I can log in.
Relocation News: All Winnipeg NHL related news | Illegal Curve Hockey
May 20th, 2011
9:37 am
[...] Journal Constitution: Deal not done to sell and move Thrashers. Vivlamore has been on top of this story from [...]
Sandy
May 20th, 2011
9:38 am
This ain’t gonna be an Atlanta/Calgary Flames. The new team name will be the Winnipeg WIMPS!
Eileen
May 20th, 2011
9:38 am
I have to say that I am thinking about all that I can do with the money I spend on the Thrashers. I love hockey. I would have continued to support it despite never having much to cheer about with the Thrashers. I chose to support the team instead of not, so that hockey would continue in Atlanta. It was also great to see the other NHL players from the teams I enjoy come to town. Nashville is not far if the sour taste in my mouth about NHL hockey and Bettman disappears. I will miss it very much, but if the move is true, I know that I will enjoy spending those $$ on something that is not so frustrating and constantly disppointing.
Winnipeg Facts You Never Knew
May 20th, 2011
9:39 am
According to Environment Canada, Winnipeg is the coldest city in the world with a population of over 600,000 based on the average night-time temperature during December, January and February, inclusive.
John Ferguson
May 20th, 2011
9:40 am
G52 – yes you do. And if you bunch of financial wizards in AZ throw another $25M into the firepit next year you may even have them for the following season. The inevitable is coming and you either know it or you are delusional. Your team will be on its way to Quebec City.
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
9:41 am
playing ice hockey in a cold environment .. hmm… might just be crazy enough to work
@Winnipeg fact
May 20th, 2011
9:42 am
Thanks Alex Trebek – sounds pretty good for a HOCKEY team. But when we buy the Hawks we’ll make them play outside too.
Snoman
May 20th, 2011
9:42 am
Hey Atlanta Thrashers fans, it is time to start talking in the only language that the A$$ CLOWNS understand – Class Action Lawsuit!! If they sell the team to move it, they will have plenty of money that really belongs to the fans of Atlanta who have only been given incompetent management and been lied to about commitment to winning for seven grueling years. Let’s give them what they deserve for once and get our piece of the pie that they are taking away from us. Season ticket holders and fans of the last seven years unite!! Fight back in A$$ CLOWN language!!
Eileen
May 20th, 2011
9:42 am
typo-disappointing.
SportsFan
May 20th, 2011
9:43 am
Keep slagging Winnipeg – it doesn’t change a thing. So whatever makes you feel better Sandy and Winnipeg Facts – maturity has lost you both.