Updated: Talks continue, fans still planning to attend Thrashers’ select-a-seat event
By Chris Vivlamore and Tim Tucker
It may be the 11th hour, but some Atlanta hockey fans are clinging to hope.
With the Atlanta Spirit ownership group deep into negotiations to sell the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, which would move the franchise to Winnipeg, current and prospective season-ticket holders plan to attend a select-a-seat event here Saturday.
“Our select-a-seat event will take place as planned at Philips Arena,” Thrashers president Don Waddell said Friday.
Team officials and owners declined to comment on the negotiations with the Winnipeg group.
One person familiar with the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the fluid and sensitive situation, said no agreement had been reached as of Friday afternoon but that talks and progress continued. The person said complex issues were being hammered out and that it’s difficult to predict when a deal might be completed.
Talks also continued with a prospective buyer willing to keep the team in Atlanta, but indications were that the sale to the Winnipeg group could happen as early as next week.
The Canadian Press reported that Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said Friday that although nothing is signed, sealed or delivered yet, there is an understanding the relocation “is going to happen” and it is just “a matter of time” before a deal is announced.
The Thrashers organization continues to operate. In fact, at least one new season ticket was sold Friday. The select-a-seat event will be run by ticket representatives with no team executives, coaches or players in attendance. The event will coincide with a gathering of Thrashers fans at the gulch area outside the arena.
For some, the seat event will be a chance to show support.
“We are going about it like business as usual in hopes there is still a season,” said Charlie Clarke. “It seems like the writing is on the wall, but you look at other situations like in Sacramento with the [NBA’s] Kings. The fan base thought it was over. and something happened to keep the team.
“There is no reason now not to go. I know it’s a bit of a tease, but I’m holding out that .001 percent chance.”
Others see it as an opportunity to walk down memory lane.
“I’ll be going to the event, but I’m treating it at it as if I’m going to a funeral,” said Brett Lang, who described himself as a season-ticket holder since Day One. “I will go sit in the seats that my friends, family, and I enjoyed for the 11 seasons, quietly reflect on the good times, and say farewell just like a funeral.”
For one Thrashers fan, the chances of losing the team were enough to make him change his plans to attend the season- ticket event. Darren Schuster had planned to attend as a show of support.
“When I think about how much I put into this team and how much I got back, it’s pathetic,” Schuster said. “You can’t blame the fans. When the team was spending money and winning, the fans showed up.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was informed of the fan gathering on his weekly call-in radio show, broadcast Thursday night on satellite radio and the Internet, by a Thrashers fan.
“It will be interesting to see how many people show up at the rally on Saturday,” Bettman said.
The caller also told Bettman that the Thrashers drew impressive crowds in their first five seasons and attributed recent attendance problems to ownership that has not put a competitive team on the ice.
“I understand that there may be dissatisfaction there, but demonstrating your dissatisfaction by not going to games is an interesting strategy,” Bettman said. “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.”
Bettman vigorously denied that a deal is done to move the Thrashers. “I can tell you that with certainty,” he said. But he did not rule out the possibility and telegraphed what likely will be the NHL’s position if relocation occurs: that no qualified buyer was willing to own and operate the team in Atlanta.
“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,’” Bettman 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.”
The Thrashers’ owners have been seeking a buyer or investors for two years, and have said since February that they face a “sense of urgency” to shed the team’s operating losses, one way or another. The owners have contended in court documents that the team has lost $130 million since 2005.
“The key to this may be, in the final analysis, whether or not somebody wants to own the team in Atlanta,” Bettman said. “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 … if we have to,” Bettman said.
Making a deal to sell, let alone relocate, a team is a complex process involving the buyer, the seller and the NHL, each represented by groups of lawyers and financial advisors.
Atlanta Spirit and True North would have to complete a purchase-and-sale agreement. True North and the NHL would have to complete an “undertaking” agreement, spelling out the buyer’s commitments to the league. The parties would have to agree on how much of the money paid by True North would go to the NHL, rather than to the Spirit, as a relocation fee.
It is believed True North would pay as much as $170 million for the team, with $60 million going to the NHL and $110 million to the Spirit.
Ultimately, the NHL Board of Governors, which consists of one representative from each team, would have to vote to ratify a sale and relocation. A 75-percent vote is required to approve a new owner, and a majority vote is required to approve a relocation.
Here’s an indication of the complexities involved: When the Atlanta Spirit bought the Hawks and Thrashers in 2004, each member of the then-new ownership group had to sign his name 372 times on documents that filled six binders, each about six inches thick.
*** Thanks to all the fans who responded to my request and those I talked to but couldn’t fit into the story. I appreciate your help and your passion.
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553 comments Add your comment
Manitoba Vivlamore
May 20th, 2011
4:30 pm
Nice to see Ben Eager in between bonehead plays that should warrant a suspenion take the time to take a dump on Atlanta also. Since when does Ben Eager become a voice? He barely played for us, spent most of his time on the bench because when he did hit the ice, he took a stupid penalty. Sounds like how he plays now.
Puck Like A Porn Star
May 20th, 2011
4:31 pm
Ditto, KLS1. I can finally afford decent season tickets, and now this.
Thanks, A$G.
Furious George
May 20th, 2011
4:35 pm
I’m so sad I can just cry! Bettman is the ultimate hypocrite, for working hand over fist to save other markets but not finding a way to help us. Life will move on but it will really sting come October when there will be no games to go to. Its not fair that Phoenix gets to keep their team in a sea of red ink, but we don’t get a chance to save ours……Atlanta Sprit can go to hell, that’s all I have to say.
Oh and by the way, the backlash against Vivlamore is just appaling. Don’t shoot the messenger here people! He’s only doing his job of reporting the news as it comes along. Any anger should be directed at ASG, the league or Don Waddell……..Here’s to hoping for a good turnout tomorrow, let’s represent our fanbase loud and proud even if it is one last time.
Mat"T"
May 20th, 2011
4:36 pm
“Ever seen a grown man cry?”-Well not ashamed to admit it. This sucks.
T.J.
May 20th, 2011
4:42 pm
“Here’s an indication of the complexities involved: When the Atlanta Spirit bought the Hawks and Thrashers in 2004, each member of the then-new ownership group had to sign his name 372 times on documents that filled six binders, each about six inches thick.”
May each reptile in the ownership group be clubbed repeatedly with said binders until the NHL somehow returns to ATL.
Global View
May 20th, 2011
4:43 pm
Furious….
The City of Glendale is contributing to the Coyotes remaining until a suitable buyer can be found.
Don’t think for one minute Bettman is playing favorites.
Perhaps the one salient thing that may have cemented his resolve with respect to the Coyotes is his intense disdain for the Goldwater waif, Darcy Olsen.
Manitoba Vivlamore
May 20th, 2011
4:45 pm
The Atlanta media took a giant dump on our team also, don’t befriend the Nazi’s because they have the guns right now. The AJC is circling the carcass. Likewise for Bettman, he isn’t on your side because he’s squeezing the ASG for more money..”good cop Vs. bad cop” ..he’s getting paid and it doesn’t help the fate of the team that has already been decided months ago, we’ve been strung along, hung out to dry like always when it concerns being a fan of this wretched franchise that I hope rots in Winnipeg.
Chris M.
May 20th, 2011
4:46 pm
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=366374
The prospect of potentially seeing the franchise move from Atlanta to Winnipeg has him divided. On one hand, Mason feels bad about the fans and team employees that would be left behind in Atlanta but it would also give him a chance to live out a dream.
“There’s definitely things that would be really cool about it,” said Mason. “Playing in Canada, for me, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. It would be really cool.
“Just playing in front of a packed house every night would be awesome.”
is it cold in Canada? Should I wear a jacket?
May 20th, 2011
4:50 pm
The City of Glendale “contributing” to Bettman’s Coyotes? Don’t you know EXTORTION when you see it?
And the ASG ownership is publicly “negotiating the sale of the Thrashers” to True North for immediate relocation, yet we’re all supposed to show up with bells on tomorrow and choose our seats for next season at Philips Arena? I say, “OooooooWeeeeee….What up wi dat? What up wi dat?”
How can this story possibly get any more WEIRD?
PW
May 20th, 2011
4:53 pm
I was 15 when the Flames left town and took the only team sport with it that I ever cared about. Atlanta will not have another NHL franchise in my lifetime and that makes me sad for my girls and all the other kids that will never see such a fantastic game in person.
My daughter was born in October ‘99 and has known the Thrashers her entire life. We had to give away our season tickets the night she was born, the first national telecast – and the Thrash were blown out by the Red Wings. My second was also born into going to games and learning to live with the horn blasting, while asleep in her bucket.
I tend to agree with the comments about this star-crossed team and I wish the players success on an individual basis. But can’t say I am too interested in supporting them as an organization. The owners have gutted this hockey fan and I am not sure exactly what I will tell my girls tonight.
litz
May 20th, 2011
4:54 pm
Guys (and Gals) … take this into consideration about purchasing season tickets …
Presumably you will pay with a credit card.
If within 60 days the team relocates, you simply file on the charge w/your card provider and you get a refund.
This allows ANYONE that wants to try and show team support to do so, at no risk.
It’s important, if there is ANY wiggle room left showing support here, that support be shown *tomorrow* (and, if time permits, in the very near future).
There is no risk at all, so why not?
James Rockford
May 20th, 2011
4:54 pm
Joe Friday,
For just a few hundred bucks, a P.I. could be hired to investigate the private lives of ASG. Besides being liars, I am sure that amongst them are cheaters. Once the wife is receives the photos, he gets Schwarzenegger’ed.
Of course if any readers have first hand knowledge of ASG infidelity, you could help save the money needed to hire the P.I.
EA
May 20th, 2011
4:55 pm
Who cares what Mason thinks? Wait until Winnipeg fans see how well he plays. He was flat out awful this year. He may not feel so welcome in Canada. Glad he acknowledged the fans and more importantly the employees. The fans will have more money in their pocket. The employees will suffer financially.
Frightened
May 20th, 2011
4:58 pm
What happens to Dan Kamal?
Manitoba Vivlamore
May 20th, 2011
5:00 pm
Mason sucked. They interview him from his Alberta home and..Ben Eager. Yes, the media really is your friends delusional fans. We’ve been crapped on by everyone and this isn’t Dutch porn.
ThrasherTim
May 20th, 2011
5:04 pm
I don’t understand how Bettman and the NHL think Winnipeg can support a team after seeing those attendance numbers from a few years back. Sure, they will be sold out for a few years…but what after that? Where is the corporate support coming from? I don’t get going back to that market?
East Point Bob
May 20th, 2011
5:08 pm
Will just say this, Don Waddell will never last a day in Winnipeg, they would never tolorate
a loser and liar like him anywhere near their team !
Tom Lysiak
May 20th, 2011
5:08 pm
LOL at Mason. Those “hometown” Canadian fans will love those games where he avoids the puck like the plague.
Adios
May 20th, 2011
5:11 pm
There is a simple way to keep the NHL in Atlanta. Just get enough people to purchase season tickets tomorrow to bring the full season (at non-discounted prices) ticket base above 10,000.
All the people who say they will not purchase tickets because of ASG, DW, etc have a hard choice. Support NHL in Atlanta …. or never have the chance again.
As for me, I have been a season ticket holder since the inception and have done my part.
Call 10 people, get 3 of them tomorrow to buy season tickets, save the team … and then feel free to complain about the ASG and DW all you want. You’ve earned the right.
These complainers are the same people who complain about government yet never vote.
The BettFather
May 20th, 2011
5:14 pm
If Mason wants to play in front of a packed house, maybe he’s thinking of somewhere other than Winnipeg? Just this past Sept there was an NHL — yes, an NHL —- game at MTS Centre featuring the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks and the TB Lightning……But they couldn’t even sell it out! Just ONE NHL game in the entire year!
Can’t sell 15,000 lousy tickets to see the Stanley Cup Champs play, but the Thrashers are going to be playing in front of a “packed house” each night…..That would be funny in an alternate universe. But here it’s just going to be downright painful to watch….Bettman sees the impending disaster, but he can’t steer this Titanic of a franchise to safety in time. Time to abandon ship….
The Voice of Reason
May 20th, 2011
5:20 pm
What? Atlanta has a hockey team?!? Get out of town!
No REALLY…..Get out of town! And take that mobster Bettman with you!
It's over!!!
May 20th, 2011
5:46 pm
It’s all over. NHL Live reports deal is done. Awful!!
Guffman
May 20th, 2011
5:49 pm
“Despite the rosy picture most of the Winnipeggers paint of the past, the best Jets NHL attendance from 79-96 was only 87.3% capacity (13.592 in the 86-87 season). The Jets only averaged over 13,000 fans 9 times in 17 seasons which isn’t much better than what Atlanta has done.”
Winnipeg was playing out of a 40 year old arena, and it was poorly designed for hockey (visual obstructions). That said, their attendance back in that era was competitive with other teams.
And remember, you have to stop fixating on the number of people attending. You also have to factor in average ticket prices. So, if you can charge $75/ticket in Winnipeg and only $30/ticket in Atlanta, even if you doubled our attendance, you’d make less revenue.
Canadians pay more to watch hockey. That is a HUGE consideration in a gate-driven league. If the NHL earned a huge chunk of its revenue from TV contracts, there is no way that a team would be in Winnipeg, but rather in Atlanta etc.
That’s just the current reality of the NHL. It’s a winter sport, and it’s kinda hard to sell it to non-winter cities. You never grew up with it.
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
5:53 pm
Portage & Main was rockin last night !!
glovesave29
May 20th, 2011
6:00 pm
Guffman – it’s in your DNA…we get it. But its there because youre great-granddad took your granddad – who then took your dad and then it was passed on to you. We never got that chance to make it multi generational. Only way to build a rabid fan base.
Just be prepared for $300 tickets for the first few rows, and the cheapies upstairs going for $60-$70. Good luck…we gave y’all a decent core group to build upon. Just make sure you dump the Chicago Wolves as your farm team.
is it cold in Canada? Should I wear a jacket?
May 20th, 2011
6:07 pm
Yeah….Read all about it. More than 100 people showed up!
Man….Winnipeg really knows how to throw a party! More than 100…..LOL
Were you at Portage & Main last night? NO, you weren’t. So shut your pie hole.
Guffman
May 20th, 2011
6:11 pm
@ Glovesave… it wasn’t that my dad brought me to the Jets game (in fact, he only brought me to one). Rather, the winter climate of Canada encourages us to play winter games, like hockey. Every weekend, the kids would head over to the local rink and play “spongie” or ice hockey. We grew up playing the game recreationally. It’s only natural that we would also watch it professionally.
I think that’s a big difference compared to hot weather cities… just the accessibility of playing the game recreationally.
Because I don’t know, do you think Atlanta fans would pay premium prices (i.e., NHL prices, not subsidized sun belt prices) to watch hockey if you had a relatively successful team? I think that’s the big unknown, and maybe because it is unknown, potential local owners are scared off?
If you want another crack at this, and I think you deserve one in the future, do your best to embrace minor-league hockey and show commitment to the sport in that manner. That’s what Winnipeg did with its Manitoba Moose.
And I hope you guys make it out tomorrow for the rally. Everyone will be watching, so I hope it’s a big turnout. Good luck!
2mins
May 20th, 2011
6:15 pm
The BettFather
Yeah your right, they didn’t have 15,000 people at a meaningless preseason game. They had 14,092 .
Still made more money than the Thrashers ever have.
The BettFather
May 20th, 2011
6:16 pm
Funny how the only NHL game played in Winnipeg for the entire season that featured the Stanley Cup Champions was a “meaningless” game. I’m pretty sure you can be shot in some parts of Canada for that kind of blasphemy.
2mins
May 20th, 2011
6:18 pm
is it cold in Canada? Should I wear a jacket?
Yup more than 100 people showed up at Portage and Main. It was closer to 400, but whose counting.
Oh, and it was at 1:00am by the way. Thrashers have a pre-planned rally and you probably will get 100 or so.
James Rockford
May 20th, 2011
6:23 pm
Darren Dreger just now said on On-The-Fly says no final deal is expected for at least 36 hours.
mark
May 20th, 2011
6:24 pm
Hockey is not a Southern sport and Atlanta does not need the team. Let them go somewhere else and take the Yankees and Canucks with them!
Nile Uno
May 20th, 2011
6:25 pm
Wait a min, I didnt pay attention to how much they are trying to buy Thrashers for? If it is 110 million, then that is just so sad because Joe Johnson contact was for 120 million. *epic facepalm*
Atlanta Flames Fan
May 20th, 2011
6:29 pm
Enter your comments here
jpg
May 20th, 2011
6:31 pm
All your hockey teams are belong to us.!
Sucks to see the fans in Atlanta get burned again. Many Flames fans feel for you guys as we historically have a tie to Atlanta.
Stay strong.
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
6:31 pm
can’t wait to see the car load of fans that show up to the thrashers rally
R. Stroz
May 20th, 2011
6:32 pm
If 300 pieces of paper must be signed by the ASG, lets find the signing site and crack some hands.
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
6:34 pm
looking forward to watching the former atlanta flames play the former atlanta thrashers in canada
Andrew51
May 20th, 2011
6:34 pm
@hip czech Because they DON’T do what every other market does….That’s the point.
Every team you’ve mentioned (which included 6 Cup winners) at some point in their existence won, drew solid tv ratings on local and national levels and/or at least showed improvement and most importantly….was an investment worth hanging onto.
Ray Ferraro (who’s lived and played there) said it best: “”I think with the nontraditional markets, there’s two constant themes that you’ve got to battle: One is that it’s a market that may not understand the game as well. And two, it’s that they’ve had zero success.” “Atlanta has had some really good players, they’ve hung on to none of them. … In Atlanta, we had real good support early. But they’ve played four playoff games in 10 years. Who’s going to go to games?”
“ZERO success.” Tip of the iceberg. I’ve said it 29 times…why not once more to make it once for every team in the league… TELEVISION, TELEVISION, TELEVISION…..where the real money is made in the NHL. The Thrashers television ratings and lack of NATIONAL coverage does NOT make this team an attractive investment in *Atlanta* to ANYone who wants to make a profit on such an investment. Period.
glovesave29
May 20th, 2011
6:35 pm
Guffman…I have played since I was 7. Played through college on a scholarship too. Tickets here were not cheap…front row seats are about $250 a pop. Not as you call “sunbelt subsidized prices”. That’s a myth being handed to you by your local media. This for a team that has sold off Kovalchuk, Hossa, Savard, Heatley…and all wanted to leave because there was no commitment to winning by ownership. After a while you tire of it and find other places to spend your money. Why should I invest in those who do not care to put a quality product on the ice? Your arena holds almost 3500 less than ours…so ya gotta make the difference up in ticket prices. Just be prepared…
We had and still have minor league hockey. The IHL Atlanta Knights were here and were a championship team. They left because the NHL was returning and the Omni was being leveled to put Philips in its place. We also have the ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators still here. I’d like to get the Moose here. Call them the Atlanta Flames. But we can draw 12K average per night for the next 10 years…the NHL is never coming back, and I am OK with that.
Andrew51
May 20th, 2011
6:38 pm
@glovesave29 “so ya gotta make the difference up in ticket prices. Just be prepared…”
That’s a challenge even for the greediest owner sir – Atlanta had the most inflated ticket prices in the league………
G52PlM228
May 20th, 2011
6:38 pm
your relocation fee will save my team for a few years until an owner is found hehe
glovesave29
May 20th, 2011
6:40 pm
G52 – don’t get too comfortable over there. The ONLY reason the Coyotes are still there is because Bettman got pissed when Balsille tried to take them away through the back door. There are media reports that talks have already begun to move the team to Quebec City after this one year reprieve. Not nice to celebrate others’ misfortunes – karmas’ a ********
G52PlM228 isn't even Canadian!
May 20th, 2011
6:41 pm
Why have you been here all day? What’s in it for you? Don’t you have a job or something? Or are you just some old fart who retired to the Arizona desert to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong?
Andrew51
May 20th, 2011
6:41 pm
Phoenix is done. They’re just delaying the inevitable.
glovesave29
May 20th, 2011
6:43 pm
A51 – you never addressed my point to you from yesterday. We make the same money from TV regardless as to how many times we are on TV. The sad part is that the piece of the pie just got LARGER for each US based team as they no longer have to pay the Winnipeg team as they did here in Atlanta. Let us remember – there is SO much more to do here. It’s warmer much later into the season. We have MLB, NFL, NBA, minor league hockey, pro soccer, college football and basketball. There’s just to many options for the entertainment dollar. To ask someone to shell out top dollar for an inferior product just isn’t going to work here.
Brendan
May 20th, 2011
6:44 pm
I just want to thank the many regulars that appeared on these boards, in support of hockey and the Thrashers, who urged and pleaded for change and accountability. This ownership just wasn’t capable, from acquisition, of understanding the dynamics of running an NHL team.
Wintir
May 20th, 2011
6:50 pm
A little off topic, but who owns the Gladiators? Does the ASG clowns have their hooks in that team at all, or is it just a contract between the Thrashers and Gladiators to be their ECHL development team?
Even if the Thrashers make the move north, there’s that chance that the new ownership might not want to continue having a development team so far away. So, that brings to mind, how long will an ECHL team survive without an NHL affiliate?
Why
May 20th, 2011
6:50 pm
Why do the people of Winnipeg even care about this blog? This is a Atlanta newspaper so the only good thing about the Thrashers going is that we will never hear from these people ever again. GOSH.
G52PlM228 isn't even Canadian!
May 20th, 2011
6:51 pm
Uh, $25 MILLION doesn’t just appear out of thin air. You were told this at least once already today. Atlanta didn’t “save” your Coyotes. The City of Glendale and the taxpayers who will foot the bill for Bettman’s $25 Million Extortion Payment (per year) for the next 10 years “saved” your Coyotes. That’s how the Mob works….Backroom deals and payoffs.
Don’t you understand that? Are you dense as well as obnoxious?