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Atlanta Thrashers

Fans have ideas on how to save the Thrashers

8:49 am May 23, 2011, by Chris Vivlamore

I get quite a few e-mails from Thrashers fans with their ideas on how to save the team from leaving Atlanta.

I thought I would share a couple of the correspondence I have received.

1. The five largest locally headquartered sponsors (Delta, Coke, Home Depot, Chik Fil A and UPS) step up and make a commitment to the fans and the team to add $4M to this year’s sponsorship each ($20M) to help the current ASG ownership absorb projected loses while they nail down a new local owner.  These same companies commit to the same level of sponsorship to new owners for five years while the new owners help build the brand.

In turn, the sponsor each get 100 upper bowl and 100 lower bowl season tickets to give to their employees, customers, clients, etc and some sort of added season ticket discount (5-10%) is given to employees of those companies if they buy season tickets.  The companies would also get great PR locally and I am sure nationally through sports media.  They could also work some cross promotions with the team – for example, Coke could do a commercial that shows a PeeWee hockey game with little kids wearing Thrashers jersey.  One kid skates off and mom and dad hand the kid a Coke and the tag line is something like “Coca Cola, committed to the future of hockey in our home town”.

2. Several Thrasher fans would like to offer a challenge to [NHL Commissioner] Gary Bettman and fellow Thrashers fans.  Before Winnipeg can be approved as a viable NHL location, ten thousand fine citizens of Winnipeg must commit to being season ticket holders for three seasons.

The fine citizens of Thrasherville would like the same opportunity with a twist. …

Mr. Bettman, the fine citizens of Thrasherville would like to play “deal or no deal.”  These are the terms: beginning on a date to be named by you, if 10,000 Thrashers fans commit to being season ticket holders for the next three seasons within a one week period from the “go” date, the NHL comes in and operates the Thrashers.  The ATLANTA SPIRIT L.L.C., IS GONE.  If Thrashers fans fail to reach that goal, you can go honestly state that you gave hockey a “chance” to succeed in Atlanta.  Thrasher fans would like the opportunity to have a “committed to success ownership.”

So the question is rather simple, “deal or no deal?”

What are your thoughts?

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160 comments Add your comment

ATLfan

May 23rd, 2011
9:03 am

With the given management by ASG for the last several years I think they simply wanted to kill hockey interest in Atlanta. There is very minimal advertisement of thrashers in media and absolutely no thrashers merchandise in stores like walmart, target, etc. I think their initial plan was to kill attendance and to sell thrashers to another city while keeping hawks and philips together.

Having said this, I hardly can see future of thrashers with ASG in Atlanta – it seems of not their interest.

Winston

May 23rd, 2011
9:04 am

It’ll never happen

Telfo

May 23rd, 2011
9:05 am

my only thought is that the board of governors shouldn’t be selling out a market of this size for a measly 2 million dollars each cut of the relocation fee.

P$

May 23rd, 2011
9:08 am

10 people here will committ to 3 years…make it happen

Don Waddell

May 23rd, 2011
9:10 am

Sell to the Gladiators ownership, add luxury suites — Thrashers play in Gwinett in a smaller venue.

Five Months to Look for New Owners??????

May 23rd, 2011
9:16 am

Thew NHL claims the ASG has been looking to sell for “years”. That is one of many misconceptions about the situation in Atlanta – see video for info not seen in typical media outlets:

http://www.keepthethrashers.com//videokeepthrashersreally.html

Come on NHL – Give us more than FIVE MONTHS – other cities got much more help and time from the NHL!!!

Camboni

May 23rd, 2011
9:17 am

Option one sounds reasonable to me. I think if we had one more year to find a local buyer, we could do it. I would at least feel better about them moving after a year than so quickly now… It sucks that this is all happening during a terrible economic recession. There has been little talk of that as well. I feel if this was all going down five years ago (and ASG was really trying to sell the team back then), then there would be know problem finding a new local owner.

Kanata Senators

May 23rd, 2011
9:19 am

Great ideas!
Although, I think showing up to some hockey games once in a while may have helped as well……..

shootoutloss

May 23rd, 2011
9:19 am

10,000 STH fans for 3 years? RIIIIIIGHT…..first idea was pretty good though

ThemsTheBreaks

May 23rd, 2011
9:22 am

These are interesting ideas, and as a Winnipegger whose team left 15 ago, I really feel for the true fans in Atlanta. But let’s face it. The toothpaste is out of the tube. When it appears the Jets would be leaving, 120,000 people showed up for a Save The Jets rally. We donated something like $13 million. It didn’t matter. We didn’t have the building, the ownership, the strong economy, and we were plagued by a weak Canadian dollar. No owner wanted to buy the team and keep it in Winnipeg.

All of those factors have changed. Sounds like Atlanta is in that situation now. While there are passionate fans in Thrasherville, you’re gonna need more than 200 people to show up to a rally. ASG is selling season tickets right now … how many have they sold? Nothing stopping you (or corporate sponsors) from making the team a moneymaker right now. It could happen. For one more day.

EA

May 23rd, 2011
9:27 am

The NHL should take the Thrashers for some time period and see how the fans respond. I remember seeing a Bradley poll asking fans if they would buy tickets if this ownership group was gone. The results were an overwhelming yes. It is just not fair to yank this team away so quickly. Bettman knows the score. Atlanta fans are tired of supporting a franchise that continues to accept average or below average performances on the ice. Everything about the Thrashers product on and off the ice has diminished drastically since 2006. As a result, fans have stayed away. It is too expensive of a sport to support without some satisfaction.

GaVaHokie

May 23rd, 2011
9:28 am

I’ve got an easier idea… allow Winnipeg to expand into the league next season. Charge them between a $100 million Expansion fee. It’s cheaper then WPG buying the Thrashers, and the NHL gets more money than a WPG relocation fee.

Put $20m of that towards Thrashers season losses for next year… ATL maintains current ownership until they find a buyer. It gives Thrashers fans another season to prove interest in hockey.

Tight5er

May 23rd, 2011
9:28 am

How’s this for another plan?…There is some cryptic speculation floating around that appears to center on the idea of Winnipeg getting an expansion team. A friend suggested having them pay a $60 mil. expansion fee, $20 mil. of which would go toward covering the Thrasher’s losses for another year while they find new ownership. About as win-win as we can hope for here in ATL.

R. Stroz

May 23rd, 2011
9:29 am

In the inaugural year, every game was a sellout. Remove the ASG and the fans will return in mass.

GaVaHokie

May 23rd, 2011
9:30 am

Tight5er… gee, I wonder what friend you were talking to? :) haha

Thesawch

May 23rd, 2011
9:30 am

People ,No one wants to own the team here. Get it through your thick heads. You can go out and buy 15,000 season tickets it won’t matter. Same thing happened in Quebec and winnipeg in the 90’s. No one wanted to own a team in them markets due to the finacial circumstances. They are gone,toast history. Get it!!

Batcork

May 23rd, 2011
9:32 am

The 10K tickets thing is really intriguing and I would personally stretch and buy 10-12 season seats to keep the team here and rid ourselves of ASG. I think the world might be shocked to see the response. One week is pretty tight…where would the PR come from? The league itself? Certainly ASG wouldn’t have any role. Grass roots and social media can only go so far.

Unfortunately, league ownership is pretty much a non-starter. The team is not a bargain basement bankrupt entity like the Coyotes were, so the league (i.e. the other owners) would have to pony up ~$110M (~$4M/club) to buy it. Which certainly wouldn’t happen unless there were quality private ownership prospects in the wings, and probably wouldn’t happen even then. Under league ownership, things would be better (couldn’t be worse) than under ASG, but we’d still have the issue of frugal ownership that’s unlikely to pay the 2-3 additonal impact players we really need to become a legitimate contender.

Smoothie

May 23rd, 2011
9:33 am

“I’ve got an easier idea… allow Winnipeg to expand into the league next season. Charge them between a $100 million Expansion fee. It’s cheaper then WPG buying the Thrashers, and the NHL gets more money than a WPG relocation fee”

Hokie – great idea, but why stop there? I think the Bylaws states the going rate for expansion would be $200M. Why not just split the difference and tell TNSE they are in if they fork over a $150M fee, a $20M DISCOUNT off the going rate. Use $50M to help (read: FORCE) ASG offset their operating losses, but put stipulations in how they earn that money such as minimum marketing investment goals, season-tkt drive resource allocation, TV rights deal on a REAL TV STATION like TBS at least etc. And some of that money can also be used to help the Coyotes and other teams suffering from financial difficulty.

GROW THE GAME BETTMAN, DON’T DESTROY IT WITH SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS!!

Carl Brewer

May 23rd, 2011
9:33 am

The NHL and of course the A$G are screwing ATL. The Winnipeg bldg only has 1,500 more seats than the average attendance in ATL. If the price of oil falls or the dollar exchange rate changes the Winnipeg franchise will be in trouble again. It is a metro area with 500k population. I want to see a Winnipeg vs Ottawa Stanley Cup Final. That will solidify the NHL as a big time league. This is almost as smart as turning down ESPN to stay on Versus. The NHL has always been run by a small group of idiots! More blood that will increase ratings! what a joke.

rusty

May 23rd, 2011
9:34 am

If you have to do this kind of nonsense, you probably don’t deserve a team.

EA

May 23rd, 2011
9:35 am

This 200 at a rally mantra is a way to diminish Atlanta fans again. It was organized 2 days out. It fell over graduation weekend for a lot of schools. It was hot. Many schools got out on Friday so there are people who may have chosen to take advantage of starting a vacation before the schools up north get out. It was one event. The reasons are many. Give it a rest.

GaVaHokie

May 23rd, 2011
9:37 am

The Season Ticket idea should have happened on Saturday, with or without a contest… an overwhelming season ticket response this past Saturday may have been the only saving grace in this process.

I see only two likely scenarios to save ATL… a local buyer steps up in the 11th hour, or Bettman allows WPG to expand.

EA

May 23rd, 2011
9:38 am

Would you buy tickets from this group of people (ASG) knowing what we know now? Saturday was a way for them to save face. People are too smart for that.

Ward

May 23rd, 2011
9:39 am

Chris-good stuff…………..the stories out of Canada sound as though the deal is “done” and they are waiting uintil the day after Victoria Day to celebrate their new team. I just read a Globe and Mail piece out of Winnepeg:”Atlanta Thrashers set for Winnepeg move” and then a story in the first story “Thrashers Failure rests with owners and NHL”. Both were very insightful and the second story is the first I have read out of Canada to blast Waddell, Turner, ASG, and the NHL for allowing the ASG to run our chances into the ground. I am convinced we have been screwed by Waddell and the GROUP for a long time (probably since 2005 when their internal troubles began). I am equally convinced, even though Ted Turner gave the team its birthright and name, he had little interest nor did his offspring Beau and his son-in-law-both hand-picked co-owners with the other original troubled 9..then to become the dysfunctional 8. They were always clueless about Waddell’s incompetence and hockey savy in general. We, the fans were screwed from day one once the ASG got involved. The irony is Turner’s name will be associated with Atlanta sports history and baseball forever, and by default, his name has to be considered in the failures of “his” hockey input via his buddies and relatives in the ASG. Unlike the giant of a new owner in Buffalo our ASG were dwarfs in Atlanta.

GaVaHokie

May 23rd, 2011
9:40 am

Smoothie… when I said “Charge them between a $100 million Expansion fee”, I forgot to add $150. :)

“Charge them between a $100-$150 million Expansion fee.”

R. Stroz

May 23rd, 2011
9:40 am

Here’s the whole second idea: Yes, I’m the architect

Thrashers Fans to Bettman, “Deal or No Deal”

Several Thrasher fans would like to offer a challenge to Gary Bettman and fellow Thrashers fans. Before Winnipeg can be approved as a viable NHL location, ten thousand fine citizens of Winnipeg must commit to being season ticket holders for three seasons.

The fine citizens of Thrasherville would like the same opportunity with a twist. For years, the fine citizens of Atlanta have been frustrated with the anemic effort of the Atlanta Spirit Group to properly operate the Thrashers. For years, the fine citizens of Thrasherville have had to “deal” with derogatory comments by one of the ASG owners, disingenuous statements from the current team president and former general manager, and minimal relative NHL payroll. During the eleven year tenure of the Atlanta Thrashers, in a league where half the teams make the playoffs each season, the Thrashers have only mustered one playoff appearance in eleven years.

Despite years of public statements to the contrary by Don Waddell, Bruce Levenson, and Michael Gearon Jr, the “stewards” of the Atlanta Thrashers, the Atlanta Spririt L.L.C., revealed in court documents that they wanted to dispose of the Thrashers from the time the franchise was purchased from AOL/Time Warner. The person responsible for vetting the viability and intent of the Atlanta Spirit to adequately operate a NHL franchise is Gary Bettman. Quite frankly, Mr. Bettman failed to properly accomplish this task.

So Thrashers fans would like to give Mr. Bettman an opportunity to atone for his mistake of allowing the Atlanta Spirit to “operate” a hockey franchise in Atlanta.
Mr. Bettman, the fine citizens of Thrasherville would like to play “deal or no deal.” These are the terms: beginning on a date to be named by you, if 10,000 Thrashers fans commit to being season ticket holders for the next three seasons within a one week period from the “go” date, the NHL comes in and operates the Thrashers. The ATLANTA SPIRIT L.L.C., IS GONE. If Thrashers fans fail to reach that goal, you can go honestly state that you gave hockey a “chance” to succeed in Atlanta. Thrasher fans would like the opportunity to have a “committed to success ownership.” Mr. Bettman, from the time you approved the sale of the Thrashers to the Atlanta Spirit, L.L.C., Thrasher fans have never had that opportunity.

So the question is rather simple, “deal or no deal?”

EA

May 23rd, 2011
9:41 am

Stroz, how does anyone get in touch with Bettman. We all received a very insulting auto-response to our letters. He refuses to do any interviews with local media.

Fart

May 23rd, 2011
9:41 am

I’ve said for a long time now that better sponsorship and actual marketing could help this team. Be nice to have media coverage also, the glorious AJC is writing about the Thrashers “now” but they’ve neglected this team as much as the owners. Since when does Schultz and Bradley both write a Thrasher article almost on the same day? I can count on one hand how many articles both have written about the Thrashers since 1999.. and 99% of those were about how much Schultz hates DW. Everyone here harps on these huge companies that are failing Atlanta..they harp on the huge television market Atlanta is also, but that television market is putrid concerning the Thrashers. This wasn’t an overnight collapse, things have been run terrible since day 1 by all involved and associated with the franchise in almost every aspect. Sure it could be fixed..but i twould have been nice to get it right the first time, seemed simple enough.

JK Sockey

May 23rd, 2011
9:43 am

PHX stays in PHX and NHL (owners of Yotes) gets $25 Mil.
ATL moves to WPG and NHL (relocation fee) gets $60 Mil.
Total = $85 Mil.

or…

PHX moves to WPG and NHL gets $60 Mil.
ATL stays in ATL and ASG loses $20 Mil. (operating expenses)

Do the math peoples… and follow me on Facebook and Twitter @jksockey

Mike Phelan

May 23rd, 2011
9:44 am

GaVaHokie: Wow. So Winnipeg should subsidize anemic markets in Phoenix AND Atlanta juat so we can watch our players play our game?! Here’s a FAIR proposal: Thrashers fans agree to pay $200/seat and sel out every seat. The increased ticket price reflects the complete non-existence of aTV market. Pay for your own damn team and stop looking for hand outs.

Want help call out the NHL???

May 23rd, 2011
9:44 am

You can help with your PC and a mouse:

http://www.keepthethrashers.com/forwardlinkATL.html

Take some action – it will make you feel better.

ThemsTheBreaks

May 23rd, 2011
9:45 am

Expansion is an interesting idea… since the alternative for dealing with the Thrashers is contraction. Without local government coming in to bail out the team, and no owner in sight, those are the options for the league. They want a team in Winnipeg as much as Atlantans do. They’ve run out of options.

“It was hot.” lol

Puck Like A Porn Star

May 23rd, 2011
9:47 am

Someone kidnap Hulsizer and make the terms of his ransom simple: he buys the Thrashers and keeps them in Atlanta.

Or just grant Winnipeg and Saskatoon expansion franchises tomorrow. Easy.

schmeckdawg

May 23rd, 2011
9:48 am

Put the Detroit Red Wings in Thrashers jersey’s and vice versa! That is the only way to save this team. Oh yeah, get some owners that know what the hell they are doing!!!!!!!!

Hi ho hi ho it’s off to Winnipeg we go!!! I do feel bad for Dan Kamal however!

Tom

May 23rd, 2011
9:49 am

Get rid of the Spirit Group and I would give blood to fulfill my 3 year season ticket commitment.

You have to remember that many of the hardcore Thrasher fans boycotted the Spirit Group because we could see the mismanagement and fraud being perpetrated against the fans. Fire Waddell was a constant refrain.

Get rid of the Spirit and show that we will commit to paying for a competitive payroll and you will be amazed at how many tickets will be sold as the fans return…

Think of this year. When the team started to win, fans started coming back. If we had a competitive payroll we could have survived the injuries with additional depth. Instead we had to watch as the injuries kept us from achieving our potential and attendance dropped.

When you put out a sub par product you can not expect people to blindly follow it.

Get rid of the ASG and watch how the fans return Gary Bettman. You saddled these morons on us, we did not ask for them. Now get them out and give us a chance to be passionate again about OUR TEAM!

HateChrisV

May 23rd, 2011
9:50 am

Hey Chris, since you just Twitted that the last possible owner dropped out of the hunt, what has he/she/they tried to do to keep the team in Atlanta? Or better yet, why don’t you just tell us that it was a complete way to keep the story going all along, so you can get your final five minutes in Atlanta coverage before leaving Atlanta for good? It appears with how you’ve been smooching with the Winnipeg media outlets, you’ve got another job lined up…

BlameCanada

May 23rd, 2011
9:51 am

rusty- Wow, the pot just called the kettle black. If you have to resort to trolling nonsense, you probably don’t deserve a team.

My idea is that the ASG should sell the team to HBO. They could do a Road to the Stanley Cup, following the Thrashers over several seasons in their attempt to win a cup. The show would draw a huge national audience and put the Thrashers on the map. It would guarantee to raise ticket sales, as well as TV ratings for both games and the show. If it works, the Thrashers win a Cup in Atlanta, and HBO would own a team worth loads more than they bought it for. If it doesn’t work, There will always be someone who wants to buy the team, even if they don’t want to keep them here.

Kanata Senators

May 23rd, 2011
9:54 am

Ottawa vs Winnipeg in the finals would be AWESOME!!!
Go Sens!!!

Tim

May 23rd, 2011
9:54 am

Give it up losers. Go watch your NASCAR (YEEEEEEE-HAWWWWWWW) if we need your help packing up the Thrashers, we’ll let you know.

Flames….now Thrashers. Atlanta = 2 time NHL loser. LOL.

GO JETS GO !!!

Gumby

May 23rd, 2011
9:55 am

Chris, I would like to know if Gary Bettman has addressed how the team may have been for sale for years, but the ASG was in court for most of that time. I wish someone would press this point on the Mr. Bettman, and if they have I would like a link to that article. Nobody would want to try to buy a team when they are still mixed up in the courts. If the NHL really wanted to give Atlanta a real chance at finding a local buyer then they would give them at least a full year out of court to find a buyer. After that, I couldn’t blame the team being sold and relocated.

The only reason to me for such a quick move is they have to get done quick enough to have the schedule out and make all the moves for players, coaches, possibly equipment. Rushing to get this done for the sake of a deadline does not make good longterm business sense. Again, if a buyer can’t be found in a real amount of time then so be it. However, 5 months barely is enough time for possible buyers to kick the tires.

Sherry Taylor

May 23rd, 2011
9:56 am

I don’t think the season tickets idea can be achieved AT THIS POINT, but I think the first idea about corporate sponsorship is very doable, that is if the corporations are agreeable. It would give us a chance to build and look for an owner who wants to keep the team here (minus a few palyers anxious to move north).

Tight5er

May 23rd, 2011
10:00 am

@MPhelan – Please spare us the Canadian jingoism about “our players play our game.” When the Thrashers show up in WPG you’re going to get 9 Canadians, 9 Americans, a couple of Czechs, a few Swedes and an old, slow Kazakh.

Do you want an NHL team in Winnipeg or are you only looking to dump on the US?

Rick

May 23rd, 2011
10:00 am

This will all be over this week. You shoud have been thinking about how to save the team for the last several years when they were drawing 2 dozen fans.

Disgusted 10-Year Thrashers Season Ticket Holder

May 23rd, 2011
10:02 am

After what Bruce Levenson & Atlanta Spirit Group have done to the Thrashers, trying to save them now would be like trying to perform CPR on John F. Kennedy…

…today.

Burn in the Eternal Lake of Fire, Atlanta $pirit Group!

Timo

May 23rd, 2011
10:02 am

re:Mike Phelan That’s a good joke. Canadians whining about handouts. Isn’t that how businesses survive in Canada?

sisu

May 23rd, 2011
10:03 am

I am not surprised by all the attacks on fans by each other, seems to happen more often than not. Since I love NHL hockey live I had season tickets for 9 years. My support was with the team and this is how I get paid back.

To keep the team it certainly would have been nice for the NHL to follow the same path they have taken with any other team. Look at how long the Tampa disaster was allowed to go on? Not long! The league helped them find an owner. If hockey can work in Tampa why not here? No offense to the people in Tampa!
To save this team the league would have had to remove it from the ASG but they really could not do that since all they would have is a team, no building!
Chris Vivlamore and others!!! Has anyone checked ASG’s math on the so called losses? Have they opened up their finances at any point? Why does any one believe their words? Last season attendance was brutal during the weekday games at times, but in the years past it has not been that bad.
If this team moves lets at least hope that they will not be known as the Thrashers nor the Jets, they should be named by NHL and Bettman.

Joe Friday

May 23rd, 2011
10:03 am

I was a Day 1 Season Ticker holder who gave up my seats 2 years ago due to the mismanagement of the Waddell and the Spirit Group.

If we get a new owners who’s a hockey guy or at least commited to the team, you can put me down for 5 club seats for the next 10 years, if Waddell and the Spirit Group are gone.

I’m as hardcore as it gets, and there’s thousands more like me who’ll come back, where do I sign up?

Kanata Senators

May 23rd, 2011
10:04 am

5 months to find an owner is not fair, true, but it has not been 5 months. The team’s troubles have been known for a very long time. If someone wanted to purchase the team, they would have had years and years to get an ownership group together, and then, once the dust settled from the court thing, step forward.

It’s not like in January all of a sudden this big revelation that the thrashers were in trouble surfaced, it was known long before that. I have heard numerous claims by thrashers fans that everyone knew ASG didn’t want to own the team for a few years now. Would potential owners not have also known that it would be for sale once the court case was settled?

It was not 5 months. Nobody wanted to lose money on a market that has never proved it can sustain a team.

moriler

May 23rd, 2011
10:05 am

Whistling past the graveyard, i’m afraid.

The first option is too much of an outlay by those companies for a market that remains a big unknown. They aren’t going to want to prop up the franchise forever, and all that advertising only works in their favor if people are watching in the first place. Those 200 season tickets each won’t be reaching new eyeballs for advertising.

The second option will never fly until there is an actual buyer. The NHL will not commit to operating a franchise in an open-ended scenario like this as long as there is someone willing to purchase the team.

2mins

May 23rd, 2011
10:05 am

I don’t mind the season ticket idea, but let’s do this instead. Whatever city sells more season tickets in one week, gets the team. And to make it fair, since the CDN dollar is on par, the average season ticket price in both cities will be $60 per seat per game. Then we will see who’s willing to pay.

Andy

May 23rd, 2011
10:06 am

This save the thrashers video is done very well. We should alle-mail this to Gary Betmen and ask for his responce.

Also, If the winnipeg group wants a team so bad,they should be willing to do what ever the NHL wants. Let them buy the team now, but they can not move the team for two years. If they can find new owners to keep the team in Atlanta, then the NHL will give them an expansion team.

Five Months to Look for New Owners??????

May 23rd, 2011
9:16 am
Thew NHL claims the ASG has been looking to sell for “years”. That is one of many misconceptions about the situation in Atlanta – see video for info not seen in typical media outlets:

http://www.keepthethrashers.com//videokeepthrashersreally.html

EA

May 23rd, 2011
10:07 am

Many Atlanta fans have soured on hockey due to the pathetic product we have witnessed for 5 plus years. Many of the familiar faces have disappeared from Philips. We will never be Toronto with the legacy and support for a team that performs badly for several years in a row. I have really learned quite a bit about Canadiens through out this process. The pride they have in their number one sport has been made very clear to me through their fans and their media. Having said that, expansion just seems like the most logical choice. If the sport continues to grow in all markets, it just makes the sport better. Atlanta’s youth program has seen so much growth despite the Thrashers demise. It would such a shame to see all of the work put into that growth suffer if the Thrashers leave. For the Thrashers to survive, an owner would have to be patient. In addition, the players need to held accountable. No offense to Bryan Little, but his remarks really irked me. Not once did he mention that the players performance had anything to do with the lack of ticket sales. I know these guys are young, but COME ON. Rich Peverley, on the other hand, told the Boston media the fans were not to blame. He mentioned the owners and the sub par performance of the team. He said Atlanta fans have waited long enough for a winner.
The most important thing besides the product on the ice is to have an owner(s) that markets the Thrashers. That has not been done in years. It is probably too late.

Jeremy H

May 23rd, 2011
10:07 am

I dig option two. I’d get behind that.

@Tim

May 23rd, 2011
10:10 am

Your comments are just one of many reasons why Americans dislike Canadians. BTW, there hasn’t been a NASCAR sellout in Atlanta in years. That’s why they eliminated a race at Atlanta. This is a college football/NFL football town, period. Take your broken english, cheesy mullet, and canadian tuxedo and go watch Hockey Night in Canada, eh. Winnipeg is a dump in every sense of the word. Canada is America’s little sister

Tincup9

May 23rd, 2011
10:10 am

This is such a mess and Thrasher fans are the unfortunate casualties…

And anyone who thinks Bettman does not have the full backing of all the league’s owners is likely ignoring the fact that he has handled the Phoenix and Atlanta situations brilliantly.

Think about it. The NHL was faced with the reality that one of the two franchises was going to move to Winnipeg. So instead of ushering the sale of the Coyotes to Winnipeg, he instead told True North to remain patient. Then he set about getting another $25 million out of the city council in Glendale to offset the Coyotes losses for another season and will get at least $60 million from the sale of the Thrashers, which will more than cover the additional $15 million the Coyotes will likely lose this season, an amount the league must cover since it still owns the team.

In most sales, a relocation fee usually only applies when an existing team that is located geographically close to the new location has the potential to suffer financially by the move. But that certainly is not the case with Winnipeg, whose nearest NHL competitors are located 456 miles south (Minnesota), 750 miles west (Calgary) and 1,320 miles east (Ottawa).

So essentially a money grab by the NHL is being couched as a “relocation fee.” Is a perennial money loser worth $170 million? Certainly not located in Atlanta. But it is in Winnipeg, which is exactly where the Thrashers are headed.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/40395-Campbell-Thrashers-on-verge-of-Winnipeg-move.html

Jimmy

May 23rd, 2011
10:11 am

TAMPABAY LIGHTENING, New Owner with $$, New General Manager, New Coach, 35,000,000.000 in Improvements to the St. Pete Times forum, Playing in the Eastern Conference championship and I still don’t trust the NHL for what they are doing to Atlanta…All you secure Canadian teams teams, don’t think it can’t happan to you…”Lightening fan” living in Florida…

Sam from Carolina

May 23rd, 2011
10:13 am

It’s done guys…sorry

From NESN’s Ricky Doyle:
Fans of the NHL should welcome this move, which seems inevitable despite no official word yet. Hockey is the lifeblood of Canada, so therefore it makes sense for a league that struggles to gain recognition to welcome the return of a team to a market where it’ll be relevant.

Swede

May 23rd, 2011
10:13 am

It´ all rigged with these “local buyers”, something ASG have told Chris V to write about so we can get some hope.

Sad Season Ticket Holder

May 23rd, 2011
10:20 am

How about create a holding or Public company and let People and/or companies buy shares……there are so many people that want to help but dont have $110 million.

jerry

May 23rd, 2011
10:22 am

I think the #1 idea is terrific. 4 million is chicken feed for these companies and it would be like buying 100 million dollars of Good Will for 4 million dollars. They only donate to non profit organizations so this would not be a donation but would be an investment for the tickets and the good will.

Sam from Carolina

May 23rd, 2011
10:23 am

From NESN’s Ricky Doyle:

But if the economic support is there, which it would have to be in order for the move to become a reality, it’s a fantastic move for the NHL at large.The Thrashers have only made the playoffs once since entering the league in 1999. A change of scenery, and subsequently identity, could prove to be beneficial.

EA

May 23rd, 2011
10:30 am

If only the uninformed knew anything about Atlanta. There are many things in this great city of ours to enjoy. Bashing it just makes you look small. NASCAR is not even on most people’s radar. If it is on some, particularly for those south of here, so be it. Personally, I find race car drivers to be quite attractive from what I have seen. Do you think you are so superior because hockey is Canada’s favorite sport? Dog fighting is something I was never even aware of until Michael Vick. See how long he lasted here? And finally, when it is 92 degrees outside, hanging out in a dirt lot is not necessary to show the Canadian media or Gary Bettman how much we love our Thrashers. LOL

Billsen

May 23rd, 2011
10:30 am

For me the day I really knew that ASG wouldn’t lift a finger to market the Thrashers came on Thursday, November 11th, 2010. On that night, the Thrashers were playing the Minnesota Wild at 7PM at Philips. At 8PM the Falcons were playing the Ravens in the Dome. I went down early to see what kind of marketing effort the ASG would do when 75,000 sports fans willing to come downtown and pay money for tickets were literally sitting on their front doorstep.

Unless I looked in a mirror and saw my Blueland Jersey, there was absolutely nothing that would tell these people that the was a hockey game that night.

How hard would it have been to have a bunch of Ice Girls out mingling with the tailgaters offering up ticket vouchers? How hard would it have been to have Thrash out there shooting t-shirts into the air? How hard would it have been for the Thrashers to hire an ex-Falcon or two to sign autographs in Philips that night?

As one to the ~2,000 people who made it inside the arena that night, ya missed a great game by the Thrashers, as they dominated, winning 5-1.

The marketing effort by this group had been beyond pathetic. Who was the moron who thought “A Brutally Good Time” was a great tag line? Was “Like a Red Hot Poker Up the Bum” taken?

The only time you see a Thrashers ad on TV is when the Thrashers are playing – duh – preaching to the converted doesn’t expand your market. Cross promoting to fans of other sports is what was needed. Ad buys should have focused on Falcons, Braves, UGA and Tech broadcasts.

This isn’t rocket science, but then, if you’re as clueless as the ASG, then maybe it is.

EA

May 23rd, 2011
10:33 am

Sam, for every article I have read about how good it would be if the Thrashers move, I have found one that says it would be good for the sport. We know we are being sacrificed, but it is not for the good of the sport. It is for money.

Kelly

May 23rd, 2011
10:34 am

@Tim and the guy who responded to @Tim:
Tim’s narrow-minded and childish attack on Atlantans does not reflect the view of Canadians as a whole. And I know that the narrow-minded and childish rebuttal does not reflect the view of Americans as a whole.
Truth is, it’s not Winnipeg’s or Canada’s fault that ASG has failed so badly. We lost our team in 1996: we know it sucks. But to attack a city to which you’ve never been, and to accuse all Canadians of having cheesy English and mullets really destroys credibility. I’ve been to Atlanta and I like your city. But you said it yourself: it’s an NFL/college football town. If there’s a reason why hockey doesn’t survive in Atlanta, I think you just nailed it.

BTown Buzz 61

May 23rd, 2011
10:43 am

two words ARTHUR BLANK

ThemsTheBreaks

May 23rd, 2011
10:43 am

@Sad Season Ticket Holder … community-owned team – great idea. We tried to make that happen in Winnipeg 15 years ago. You won’t raise enough dough. Even if you did, who makes the decisions?

My suggestion to Thrashers fans: start planning for the next team. Third time’s a charm. Here’s what you do:

1) Find a venue that is perfect – in the top 5 buildings in North America.
2) Build up a fanbase – a home for some kind of “Save The Thrashers” campaign.
3) Create a generation of kids who wish their town had a team, because then and only then would they feel adequate about living where they live. 4) Support a minor league team – with the best attendance in that league – for 15 years.
5) Take the owner of the minor league team and pair him with a billionaire who wants an NHL team. Demonstrate that they would be suitable NHL owners by creating corporate support and building a critical mass of hopeful would-be fans.
6) Get local government to support it – not with corporate welfare, but with tax breaks and low-interest loans.
7) Make Thrashers merchandise sales among the top 10 NHL brands. Then wear said apparel to NHL games until it becomes retro-trendy.
8) Finally, wait in the wings and let Gary Bettman use you as leverage until he’s got no choice but to award you a team.
9) Apologize for local trolls who can’t help but express their exuberance by slagging your town. Yeah, sorry about them.

You want a recipe? Use Winnipeg’s.

EA

May 23rd, 2011
10:43 am

Kelly, well said. Although because the number one sport in this city is football, it is not the reason we are losing the Thrashers. It has been stated many times why we are losing our team. Non traditional markets have to sell the sport. Atlantans bought in until the support dwindled due to all the reasons that have been stated numerous times.
I did research Winnipeg since this has happened. It looks like a very nice city. While most of us would not places for an abundance of reasons on both sides, it doesn’t do any good to bash each other. You are right.

blazerdawg

May 23rd, 2011
10:44 am

Great ideas…count me in…I am good for two lower level season tickets next year.

winnipeg

May 23rd, 2011
10:44 am

No deal… you had your chances, twice, and failed. Season ticket for $450?! Or you kidding me! NHL will never move back to ATL. Not a hockey market. Ownership is awful but so were the fan turnouts… the moment i knew the team was moving was when Buff signed for 5 years.

Big Ott

May 23rd, 2011
10:46 am

If anyone is interested, Downtown Atlanta’s NEW ERA CAP STORE that is 2 blocks over from Centennial Olympic Park (one block over from Ted’s Montana Grill), is selling “Winnipeg Jets” caps.

(Unfortunately, yes, really.)

Whitaker

May 23rd, 2011
10:52 am

If it would keep the Thrashers here, put me down for season ticket for the next 3 years… I will gladly pay!!!!

rusty

May 23rd, 2011
10:53 am

BlameCanada, I live in Georgia. I love going to Thrashers games and I hate to see what is going on. But like I said, if any team has to resort to this, then they should move on. I hate seeing the league bend over backwards for Phoenix and not do the same here. It’s not working there either and they should go to another city.
But before the Thrashers leave if it does become official, the ASG should line up at Philips Arena and let every season ticket holder punch them or kick them in the you-know-whats.

Whitaker

May 23rd, 2011
10:54 am

Big Ott I can go to the Mall of Georgia and get a Hartford Whalers cap. So no, right now I am not worried.
Since the most people are saying they are not going to be called the Jets, I chalk it up to throw-back gear, and a store owner trying to corner the market.

Andrew51

May 23rd, 2011
11:01 am

@2mins
Me thinks you’re writing checks the fan base can’t cash. REALLY?! Season ticket contest between the 2 cities? Over before it starts.

Former Season Ticket Holder

May 23rd, 2011
11:04 am

If the Spirit group sells the team to someone interested in actually building a hockey team, I’ll buy my 8 tickets back in Section 113 that I gave up last year.

And I know plenty of the friends I made at the games for years who all said they’d be back when we got competent management.

Andrew51

May 23rd, 2011
11:06 am

@EA

Bryan Little is just a realist speaking for VAST majority of NHL players. The players are clamoring for another team in Canada because it means big bucks for them in profit sharing.

Andrew51

May 23rd, 2011
11:13 am

@ Jimmy
Thanks Jimmy. I’m sure Canadian clubs will take it under advisement. I mean….if it can happen in Florida, it can happen
anywhere!

Pims bro

May 23rd, 2011
11:18 am

Some 200 or so fans at the event/rally !! Amateur team, amateur fans. What a joke!! Amd I am one too since I spent way too much money & time on this team. Joke is on me.

Brad

May 23rd, 2011
11:21 am

If Atlanta wants to play deal or no deal, they should have to buy 10,000 season tickets for 3 years at the Canadian NHL gate price. Including difference on CDN-US exchange. Then we’ve got a fair deal. Let’s see Atlanta hockey fans step up to a fair game.

Clay Grant

May 23rd, 2011
11:24 am

Kanata – No reasonable investor would have gotten involved in buying the team while the Belkin mess was going on. I have my doubts about our market as a whole (too much growth in the last 20 years = no sense of community) but the circumstances indicate that there should be an opportunity to regroup. That said, there’s a ton of money here and it’s right that the top sponsors ought to be willing to step up to the plate … oops, I means center ice. ;-)

Moses007

May 23rd, 2011
11:33 am

Folks, seriously. We get 1″ snow per year. Who cares about Hockey. I heard on the radio, Winnipeg was the equivalent of the team being moved to Macon. I bet, even still, Winnipeg will sell out nearly every game. Surely they will sell more there despite it being a smaller audience. Ownership knows this. Hey, how about we try and put together a bobsled team. Or maybe an Atlanta Cross Country Ski Team. Oh I know, let’s form an Atlanta Luge Team. Oh wait… we don’t get any snow. Nevermind. :/

duke

May 23rd, 2011
11:40 am

Any owner..at Gwinnett! Like idea of 3 yr. commitment with fans!

Blondie

May 23rd, 2011
11:43 am

@JK Sockey -Running a team on a shoestring budget and then whining that you didn’t make an extra $20 million… Yeah, forgive me if I play the world’s smallest violin for you. Because at that point, it becomes crystal clear you know nothing about running a business. You have to spend money, to make money. Tampa and Pittsburgh are prime examples of how big a difference it can make. And if I had to say what kind of a business model Atlanta Spirit follows, I’d say it’s the same one that General Motors was. And oh shocker – it was a failure.

And if I had to compare the NHL’s commitment to Phoenix? I’d say it was no different than the failed U.S. Government bailouts. Like a bandaid over a gunshot wound. And oh yeah, they’re using taxpayer dollars too.

The NHL should take a hard look at what they’re doing in terms of who they allow to own teams and how bad it looks to have to relocate teams. I’d rather the Thrashers folded and Winnipeg was granted a brand new expansion team. Relocating = emotional baggage and bad ju-ju. It also puts a dent in fan confidence in the NHL itself.

Jimmy's Canadian Cousin

May 23rd, 2011
11:46 am

Hey Jim,

Yikes, Jim – you are a bit embarrassing. I’ve seen you misspell YOUR team name now lots of times. Jimbo, YOUR team is called the LIGHTNING. Jim, your team is named after electrical activity in the sky there above Tampa Bay. It’s not Lightening, which would mean “to make lighter”.

Take care Jimmy!

Relocation News: All Winnipeg NHL related news Day 4 | Illegal Curve Hockey

May 23rd, 2011
11:48 am

[...] Journal Constitution:  Fans have ideas on how to save Thrashers.  Fans continue to show they have way more interest than the ASG in keeping the [...]

Bluelander

May 23rd, 2011
11:54 am

You can talk all you want about no local buyers stepping up…here is the problem with that:

1. you have really only been marketing them since February when the litigation amongst the ASG ended. Deals like this take 6-12 months to pull off.

2. until I see otherwise, buying all 3 entities was never an option. You will see that ASG remains on board with the Hawks and the arena. The exclusivity thing with Moores is a hoax. He will walk after kicking the tires. They are using him to assure there is no local interest. The question is, is the NHL behind this. There are great arguments that the whole charade was Plan B if Glendale took the bait…which they did.

R. Stroz

May 23rd, 2011
12:02 pm

Brad – I would welcome the challenge. We have been dealing with the same type of problem ownership that you dealt with during the 90’s.

David Kendrick

May 23rd, 2011
12:20 pm

Everything associated with the Thrashers has been neglected. Ever skate at the Ice Forum?

Shutterpups

May 23rd, 2011
12:55 pm

I’m pretty sure that Altana fans don’t get to dictate the conditions of Winnipeg’s approval for relocation.

A few misconceptions:

Winnipeg’s metro population is about 750 000.

There were approximately 35 000 – 40 000 people at the Save The Jets Rally, not 50 000 or 120 000. 35 thousand is nothing to sneeze at, there’s no reason to inflate it along with our ego. It was an incredible event and watching old video from that day brings back all the emotion and energy from that day.

The STJ Rally was not planned over the course of a year. It was planned over a short period of time and it got a wildly greater response than the organizers had ever hoped for. The donations accepted that did total over $1 million dollars were collected over a much longer period of time.

It was huge because when you have a Canadian community of (at that time) around 600 000 people, the majority of that community, business and citizens – rallies around its hockey team. It’s not realistic to expect that from a city like Atlanta, and that has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with population size and spread.

To the fans in Atlanta – you don’t need to make excuses for your rally – you ended up with a generally accepted figure of 400-500 people and still got international media coverage! Our rally was amazing, but what do we have to show for it? Not our Jets. Our Jets moved, and now only a few of our boys still play, scattered around the league.

Even if the new team were to be named “The Jets”, they’re not the boys we lost.

You have my sincere condolences as someone who vividly remembers what you are going through.

Shutterpups

May 23rd, 2011
12:56 pm

Ugh, @ThemsTheBreaks your last post was painful to read, mostly because it’s true. What a road we’ve travelled to get to this point lol.

coldsoul

May 23rd, 2011
1:16 pm

2mins how would pretending people in WPG are only wiling to pay $60 per game fair? That is what a lot of people are missing is that is not fair value that is what the fans in ATL and PHX are willing to pay.

For simplicity sakes lets say Phillips is 20% bigger than the MTS (it is actually not quite that much bigger.). THE SIZE OF THE ARENA DOES NOT MATTER THE REVENUE GENERATED DOES. Season seats that are behind the net don’t go for $3,300 as they do in ATL they go for $4,000 in WPG etc… There are no $500 or $800 season tickets in WPG (those are the missing seats in the MTS center). This is why ATL fans need to stop using attendance numbers- that is not the issue the issue is a lack of fans willing to pay real cash for the games. As for grassroots not being enough to sell the 10,000 tickets that would not be an issue in WPG so I don’t understand why it would be in ATL.

If ATL could get 10 thousand season ticket holders (not counting the $500 or $800 seats) the NHL should keep the team in ATL it is difficult to argue otherwise as it would show that ATL has a viable market.

Pagey

May 23rd, 2011
1:33 pm

I went to 20 games a year for the first four seasons of Thrashers hockey and then had season tickets for the next five. I had enough though. Why invest thousands of dollars a year in a team to get depressed or angry at level of play on the ice almost every night. Ownership and management ran this team into the ground.

This past season I didn’t even go to a single game and maybe watched two on television. Does this make me a bad fan? Maybe, but I gave this team every opportunity and a lot of money over the years. There are a lot of passionate Thrashers fans just like me, but zero playoff wins in eleven seasons speaks for itself.

I will be sad to see the team go, just like I was sad to see Heatley, Hossa, and Kovy go. I’ve been in Atlanta long enough to remember the Flames leaving. You just might see me in Carolina for a Hurricanes/Winnipeg game. I love hockey but did not want to give another dollar to the inept Atlanta Spirit Group.

Jimbo

May 23rd, 2011
1:52 pm

You guys are kidding right? You had 200 people show up at the rally yesterday. That’s pathetic. When we were losing our Jets 15 years ago, 35,000 people showed up and we still lost them. Good luck with your plan.

GaVaHokie

May 23rd, 2011
2:18 pm

@Mike Phelan… Winnipeg will be taking handouts before too long. In the meantime, study up on this premise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue_sharing

OHL

May 23rd, 2011
2:20 pm

The contest for you guys to keep the team started in the year 2000. Only it wasn’t between you and Winnipeg, it was between you and Columbus. You were already losing that contest when Ted Turner owned the team, so don’t complain that it was just the Atlanta Spirit. Let’s look at the results of the contest between Atlanta and Columbus based on NHL attendance rankings. It should be noted that BOTH the Thrashers and Blue Jackets had been to 1 playoff series and no playoff wins in their 11 year history:

Yr – CBJ – Atl
’01 – 12 – 23
’02 – 08 – 28
’03 – 11 – 28
’04 – 15 – 22
’05 – NA – NA
’06 – 17 – 23
’07 – 19 – 21
’08 – 28 – 22
’09 – 25 – 29
’10 – 22 – 28
’11 – 27 – 28

Results of the contest can be verified here: http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance/_/year/2001

Clearly Columbus won this contest. Also, they were the #10 US tv market for this year’s 2011 Winter Classic. 2 years ago Columbus was the #4 market for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals and tied for #7 for Game 2. Blue Jacket games are very highly ranked for local tv ratings, getting beat out only by markets like Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Minnesota, Boston, Detroit and St. Louis. Atlanta on the other hand never shows up in any of those tv rankings unless it’s at the bottom where they can only beat out Miami on a consistent basis.

GaVaHokie

May 23rd, 2011
2:22 pm

@Mike Phelan… oh, and I forgot to add… you should read my post again. There’s something in there about it being CHEAPER for Winnipeg. But by all means, pay full price. You guys are already asking for handouts from your own government to pay the relocation fee, which is part of the current hold up.

BLUELANDbeliever

May 23rd, 2011
3:54 pm

Uggh. You cant seriously think that you can try to get 10K people in ATL to be Season Ticket Holders do you? Not RIGHT NOW at least. MAybe down the road after we get a new owner who will spend money and give this town a team it can cheer for again.

OHL

May 23rd, 2011
4:17 pm

BLUELANDbeliever, why couldn’t you get 10,000 season ticket holders in 2003 when you had Ted Turner as an owner and the best young talent in the league in Heatley and Kovalchuk? Instead you posted back-to-back years of being 3rd worst in the league for attendance.

Ukyo(ths)

May 23rd, 2011
4:43 pm

So I looked up the facts on the Jets. They had some of the lowest ticket prices in the NHL and averaged a little over 12,900 a game, and that is without including the lame duck season. So, they couldn’t succeed with $23 average ticket prices (league average was $34.72), how in the world are they going to survive at the reported $65-$75 averages that are being kicked around, which is well over league average?

Something doesn’t add up, and it’s going to cost them dearly. Unless they have huge corporate investments and their admitted MINORITY billionaire backer doesn’t mind losing his shirt, they are in trouble before they even begin. We out drew them, we paid more for our tickets (league average +/- $5.00 per seat), and yet we do not support hockey? The league is a lot bigger now. I’m afraid Winnipeg doesn’t have the revenue to support it long term. They are staging themselves for failure with committed ownership. That will be a tough pill for the league to swallow. When the US dollar goes back to being worth 23% more like it has averaged for over 30 years, many eyes will be opened.

Brendan

May 23rd, 2011
5:10 pm

OHL, it was not true that Ted Turner was the owner in 2003. “Billionaire Ted” was okay, nearly as soon as he was in. When Turner sold off his assets, the hockey team went to Time/Warner. And Time/Warner with a hockey team … is a lot like a “mule with a spinning wheel.” No one knows how he got it. And darned if he knows what to do with it.

So, there we were. And bear something in mind, by 2003, the Thrashers were supposed to be ADDING pieces and payroll. Instead, they played a game of “zero sum economics,” whereby they let players like Andrew Brunette, Steve Staios, and Donald Audette go. Were these players asking for the moon and stars? No. Not hardly. In most cases, they wanted a ten-percent raise. Which the ownership declined. So, it was Heatley, Stefan, and Kovalchuk, with Ray Ferraro, and nothing much else, in those early, formative years. And the results showed that. Hardly a “blueprint” for building a Cup winner. Fans quickly surmized, “They’re not really trying, are they? Look at our budget!”

Bingo! And when word circulates that ownership is clueless and unwilling to spend, the desire to invest capital in those “clueless and unwilling to spend” declines, rather than increases. Finally, some life was breathed back into the franchise after the lockout, when GM Waddell went to the Spirit and asked for a Max Cap, and GOT IT! Gee, 5 years after inception!!! What did Waddell do? He iced the 2nd oldest and slowest team in the “new” NHL, that emphasized youth and speed. An almost ‘forgiveable’ offense, except that Waddell SAT ON THE RULES COMMITTEE!!!

After the team got swept out of the playoffs, after making 4 devastating trade deadline deals, the team failed to fire Waddell, and embarked on another 4-5 year building project, which the ownership emphatically denied was occuring. And on and on it goes, with this group.

Les Habitants

May 23rd, 2011
5:29 pm

If Thrasher fans really want to issue a challenge, it should be done on the standard of a successful team. As such, in my city, season ticket for a nosebleed seat goes for CAD 1 213 and CAD 8 459 for one by the glass, center (tax and services extra). Let us make their average and in USD, we get around $ 5000. Make that a three-year commitment, we get $ 15000.

Do you seriously think you will be able to find ten thousand Thrasher fans willing to commit $15000?

cory

May 23rd, 2011
5:58 pm

winnipeg would sell 15000 season tickets before you guys

Getthepuckouttahere

May 23rd, 2011
6:05 pm

All these ideas, good or bad mean nothing. This team is leaving, what’s so hard to understand? Last ditch efforts, rallies, petitions and the tooth fairy aren’t saving them, let them dot the i’s and cross the t’s and put this out of it’s misery already. Being it’s Victoria Day in Canada and the banks are closed I’d be willing to bet that Spirit Group would take a posted check and a handshake if it meant getting this deal done. And the last of the local interest in this team is out…it’s over!

Getthepuckouttahere

May 23rd, 2011
6:09 pm

In case you missed this interview with Levenson, check it out. If you aren’t convinced that he wants out of this town, out of hockey and wished he never got into it in the first place then I don’t know what to tell you. Hell, he asks fans to send him a buyer if they know of one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiV4eCYHsyA

OHL

May 23rd, 2011
6:17 pm

Brendan,

Your facts don’t line up. Yes, it was Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner that owned the team, not Ted himself. But if Turner Broadcasting couldn’t do well, what makes you think that Coke, Delta or Home Depot will (see option #1 above).

Again, I compare you to Columbus. If you say you didn’t do well because of a poor product, why couldn’t you pack the house as well as Columbus did? You have 5.3 million people and a slew of Fortune 500 companies. They have a million and a half people and Wendy’s. Yet they developed a hockey market and you didn’t.

Getthepuckouttahere

May 23rd, 2011
6:20 pm

EA

May 23rd, 2011
9:35 am
EA wrote…This 200 at a rally mantra is a way to diminish Atlanta fans again. It was organized 2 days out. It fell over graduation weekend for a lot of schools. It was hot. Many schools got out on Friday so there are people who may have chosen to take advantage of starting a vacation before the schools up north get out. It was one event. The reasons are many. Give it a rest.

This was broadcast on the local news, there were articles about it in the AJC as well. Gary Bettman heard about it and said he’d be interested to see how many people showed up to it and he isn’t even in Atlanta.
This is a prime example of passing the buck, blaming everyone else, it’s their fault, it’s his fault, but it’s not the fans fault at all…oh no, they shouldn’t be held accountable at all, even if this is the second franchise to fail here.
You had a team go to the playoffs yet they lost $20 million bucks…it’s management’s fault, they give away 2-1 tickets the day of the game to get people to go, it’s management’s fault. I have a question…was it a big, well kept secret there was an NHL team playing in downtown Atlanta? Let me guess, you didn’t get the memo and it’s management’s fault too right? And you wonder why no one wants to buy this team locally. What a joke.

Getthepuckouttahere

May 23rd, 2011
6:29 pm

@OHL…that’s a perfect example..Columbus. Half the market Atlanta is, yet they are on the brink of losing their second franchise, and again, it’s management’s fault!

Getthepuckouttahere

May 23rd, 2011
6:49 pm

Jimmy wrote…TAMPABAY LIGHTENING, New Owner with $$, New General Manager, New Coach, 35,000,000.000 in Improvements to the St. Pete Times forum, Playing in the Eastern Conference championship and I still don’t trust the NHL for what they are doing to Atlanta…All you secure Canadian teams teams, don’t think it can’t happan to you…”Lightening fan” living in Florida

There is so many things wrong with this I just don’t know where to start. I will say if the Lightning (not Lightening) had 39 Billion to kick around they could have purchased the entre NHL with plenty of change leftover.
If I was a Tampa Bay fan I’d certainly know it’s two words, not one, especially if I lived in Florida. Wow.

OHL

May 23rd, 2011
7:59 pm

Getthepuckouttahere,

I’ve been on these boards to monitor the whole situation. But one thing I’ve learned that really impressed me is how well Columbus supported hockey. I had no idea. I’ve heard many people around me say “Toronto should have Nash” or “Ottawa should have Mason” and on and on. But I will quickly point out how untrue that is now. Unfortunately for these boards it only shows that you can’t blame ownership/mgt/Bettman for anything. But I will root for Columbus to do well now.

Getthepuckouttahere

May 23rd, 2011
8:38 pm

OHL…It’s great how Columbus quickly endeared that hockey team, Nashville too, who would have thought? But the fact remains fan suppoort here is minimal, not to mention they quickly walked out the door when the team started losing. What they don’t understand is the simple arithmetic, if you don’t attend games and spend money you can’t expect ownership to constantly foot the bill, it’s a business. After reading these threads all I see is a select few blaming the ownership group and it infuriates me to no end. Only now do they put all these so-called ideas out there when it’s time to pack up the sticks and uniforms and update the visa’s. It’s a joke. I went to 3 games, none were close to sellouts, yet the arena piped in crowd noise when the team was announced. When the lights were turned back on all you saw was a half empty arena and fans that supported the away team easily matched those who were there for the home team, that’s sad. Dont blame management because seats were empty, everyone knew that team was in Atlanta so let’s forget about the way this team was sold to the public, you can easily use that argument for any team in Atlanta.

OHL

May 23rd, 2011
8:53 pm

Getthepuckouttahere,

It’s great to see that there is some life down there. But what you need is about 1000x more support than what you have here on this blog. I feel bad for those in Atlanta because I would hate it too. But in the end, I look at the facts and I see a sport that was doomed from the get-go and it was before ownership/mgt/team issues even started. Is Nashville out of the question for you guys? I hope so.

cory

May 23rd, 2011
10:23 pm

hockey =canada=winnipeg jet=cup

Billsen

May 23rd, 2011
11:01 pm

OHL – nice how you mention attendance figure to determine if a team belongs in a market. By your rational, Pittsburgh should have lost the Pens – in 03-04 they were last in the league. Chicago should have lost the Blackhawks – in 05-06 AND 06-07 they were 29th. How about them amazin’ Caps? 27th in the league in 06-07, the same year the Bruins were 25th. In 07-08, the Bruins went down to 26th.

These are all “traditional hockey markets” but somehow the Thrashers outdrew all of those teams those years. Please, explain to me how that was possible.

OHL

May 23rd, 2011
11:20 pm

Billsen, you are taking 1 year snapshots when you should be looking at decade long trends. Those teams all had bumps in the road but have shown in other years they will support a team.

1 year after Boston fell to 26th, they were 16th. That is why you can’t just look at 1 year. Have the Thrashers ever shown they can climb in attendance like that?

I had shown 10 years of Atlanta statistics. You showed 1 year for certain clubs. I have also referred to things like tv ratings. I have compared you to Columbus who had the exact same product that you had. If you showed up at the arena like Blue Jacket fans and you watched hockey on tv like the Columbus market you wouldn’t be saying goodbye to your team.

coldsoul

May 24th, 2011
12:05 am

What the Thrashers fans need to get through there heads is THAT YOU NEED AN OWNER. The team moving has nothing to do with Winnipeg and the fact no one here can figure out that 97 does not equal 2011. Oh my ticket prices went up? Guess what so have housing prices, the population, the economy is doing great- things change just as they might in the future. Winnipeg will have to lock in around 10,000 fans for 3 years at real NHL prices not buy one get one free. If ATL could do the same Gary would do anything to keep a team in ATL as it is a far bigger POTENTIAL market and there is no disputing that fact.

For the sake of the argument lets say the NHL in WPG is a horrible idea and that WPG is not a true hockey hotbed like ATL how does that change ATL not having an owner? You need someone to cover the losses (PHX has glendale)- and having 200 people showing up to a rally does not show that support. Why would coke invest 4 million in the team they could give free coke for a year to every one of the Thrashers fans for less than a 100k.

THIS IS ABOUT ATL NOT WPG. If WPG fails ATL can’t turn around and tell the NHL we told you so, as the response will be told us what? That we should have lost money in ATL with no owner instead of moving a team to WPG which cost us no money and at least gave us a shot at viable market.

coldsoul

May 24th, 2011
12:08 am

No way to edit a post so here it is:

Attendance figures just give you a glimpse into the economics they do not determine if a team moves or not. AS STATED ABOVE IT IS ABOUT $$$$. Start talking about that and you will see why ATL is moving PHX got lucky but Glendale got screwed. If WPG bleeds $$$ they will move bottom line- it is pointless to argue this point as it has nothing to do with ATL moving.

Crazy Diamond

May 24th, 2011
1:50 am

PLEASE! Someone put us out of our misery!

Andrew51

May 24th, 2011
2:11 am

@ Billsen
Listen to OHL, you’ll learn something.
OHL points to the real issues that seem very hard for some to understand and/or accept.

I’ll add only this:  If you take TV out of the equation (pointless considering how monstrous, yet overlooked a factor it is) and consider the Penguins from the era you described no better off than the modern era Thrashers, you’ll notice a crucial difference – someone did step up and invest in them with the intention of keeping them in their city of origin because it was an attractive investment.  As many of you who love the Thrashers as there are, it’s a business before a sport, attendance is not the only factor that weighs into that and it is NOT an *attractive* investment in Atlanta.

Andrew51

May 24th, 2011
2:16 am

@GaVaHokie

Sincere congratulations on finding the definition of revenue sharing using google…now please go us one better (some-thing….the opposite of no-thing) and explain what bearing the concept has on the topic of discussion.

Andrew51

May 24th, 2011
2:19 am

@GaVaHokie
True North’s top dog is worth 22 Billion (that’s billion, with a “b”) *MORE* than any current NHL owner….I’m no economist, but I’m guessing he’s not the type who will be in need of a handout…..ever.

The “hold up” has nothing to do with the relocation fee, in fact,  sources are now suggesting that the NHL quietly approved the sale and transfer of the Thrashers *months* ago. 

The banks have simply been closed in Winnipeg the last 3 days due to the long weekend and therefore transfer of millions has been unavailable.  

Jeremy

May 24th, 2011
3:02 am

I can tell you the problem people. Why do we have minor league teams 40 Minutes away from the NHL or MLB teams? Do you know Thrashers attendance started going down hill once minor league team showed up. Get Gwinnett Gladiators out of town. Having other teams near by is killing attendance for NHL and MLb in Atlanta. They get close to 5,000 a game. Do you know if they went to Thrashers games we would be up with Pittsburgh and NYR in attendance at close to 19,000 a game? 4

eugene

May 24th, 2011
3:59 am

you can’t compare Columbus Blue Jackets with the Atlanta Thrashers. The Blue Jackets had a passionate owner who lived and breathed Hockey. After he died, things haven’t been so great for the franchise. The owner’s family have been trying to sell the Blue Jackets but no one wants to buy them in that market.

eugene

May 24th, 2011
4:03 am

Pittsburgh almost got sold to a group who wanted to move the team to Kansas City. The sale was cancelled when it was announced that PIttsburgh won the Sidney Crosby lottery. If the Thrashers had gotten Crosby and Malkin, there wouldn’t be any talk of relocating. Pittsburgh purposely tanked those seasons to get Crosby.

Billsen

May 24th, 2011
7:41 am

What YOU fail to understand OHL, is that winning is the best marketing a team can have. Even in those traditional markets I mentioned, if the team stinks, the fans stayed at home. That’s not spin – that’s pure fact.

Billsen

May 24th, 2011
7:45 am

Oh, and how about this fact – the Thrashers have NEVER been lower than 28th in the league. Can’t say that about the Islanders or Yotes, but yet where is the demand that the Islanders move to Canada? Even when QC sent all their fans to that Islanders game – they seemed to only covet Atlanta, as if the Islanders were untouchable.

What a load of crud.

Ukyo(ths)

May 24th, 2011
8:31 am

When they move they are going to fail in Winnipeg. The numbers just do not work, and the government will only keep them floating so long. Billionaires don’t stay billionaires by forking over money hand over fist so some die hards can see a salary cap floor team duel it out for 27th in the league. Minority billionaire backer or not, they do no have an arena that can support the current salary cap. The quickest way to become a millionaire hockey owner in Winnipeg is to start off as a billionaire. There is no way the disposable income in Winnipeg has increased 200% in 15 years. You guys paid bargain basement prices to wath your team and then cried when they left. Nothing is going to change.

Sure, you will rally the first couple of seasons and might even get close to breaking even, but it nor a sustainable model. Best of luck. You are really going to need it along with a metric ton of revenue sharing and corporate support. 15,000 seats, even at $75 average, won’t even bring you to the floor for salary requirements.

ATL Observer

May 24th, 2011
9:46 am

@Ukyo(ths) …… where did those #s come from? I can’t find yearly rankings on ticket revenue anywhere…..

GaVaHokie

May 24th, 2011
10:03 am

Andrew51… http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/province-gets-behind-bid-for-nhl-team-122138329.html

Just because someone is a billionaire doesn’t mean he’s ready to field all debt for a hockey franchise.

ATL Observer

May 24th, 2011
10:15 am

and I’m not questioning/not questioning Ukyo(ths)’ numbers, just want to actually have a look at the league as a whole at the time!

I *can* say that Tony Keller’s analysis (which favors 12 CAN teams) has Winnipeg’s high income household ranking below any CAN city that currently has a team and a “markedly lower” after-tax household income than Edmonton. So it’s not entirely a slam-dunk.

What it *is* is a slam dunk for the first 5-10 years. There’s NO way this won’t look good from 2012-2021. The love affair will be strong and people will pay whatever they have to pay.

Still…would love to see those early 90s ticket revenue #s!

Dwayne

May 24th, 2011
11:35 am

Atlanta Spirit Ass Clowns bio will read: Most influential person, John Gacy.

OHL

May 24th, 2011
11:46 am

Billsen, when you say “Oh, and how about this fact – the Thrashers have NEVER been lower than 28th in the league.” it just shows how bad things are when you brag about being #28 out of 30 because at least you weren’t last or 2nd to last.

As for the Coyotes, I have never defended Phoenix staying there. However, the fact that someone ponied up $25 million puts them ahead of you. As for the Isles, well they get more in tv revenue from Fox Sports NY and/or MSG+ then you can ever dream of getting from SportsSouth. That alone brings them to break even with the horrible attendance they have. Now add in that Wang is going to get a vote in a special election this summer for a new arena and surrounding area that will bring in major revenue. That makes the Isles a good investment to stay put whereas Atlanta can’t match what they have.

OHL

May 24th, 2011
11:49 am

eugene,

Columbus was the #10 tv market for this year’s 2011 Winter Classic. They have placed very high in other tv ratings for things like the Stanley Cup Finals, Olympics, regional Blue Jacket games. That’s when Columbus had a bad owner even. Atlanta never showed any good numbers for anything, attendance or tv ratings, even when they were owned by Turner Broadcasting.

Andrew51

May 24th, 2011
11:50 am

@ GaVaHokie

…………………So what’s your point? The building is a public asset – lol
They asked, and it’ll get approved because the province sees nothing but a good investment – sorry, but that’s something no one in Atlanta sees locally (read realistically).

When the strong Winnipeg numbers do actually come out, denial won’t be just a river in Egypt anymore…

Billsen

May 24th, 2011
11:53 am

Whatever OHL – 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.

Spin that.

Andrew51

May 24th, 2011
11:55 am

@Ukyo(ths)

Pray every night before bedtime that it does fail….
It’ll make losing the Thrashers easier to take right?

PS: It’ll be wildly successful.

OHL

May 24th, 2011
11:56 am

GaVaHokie,

Isn’t your Philips Arena (home of your Thrashers) funded with public bonds? Correct me if I’m wrong. But I’ve read that many times because the Hawks are tied to the bonds, thus staying put, whereas the Thrashers aren’t, thus they can relocate. Point being is that your city used public money as well even though a billion $ company like Turner Broadcasting owned the team(s).

OHL

May 24th, 2011
12:02 pm

Billsen,

I’m not from Winnipeg, I’m just laying out the truth as to why Atlanta is losing their team and it has not performed well as a hockey market. I’m actually for keeping the team in Columbus. I’m actually for keeping the team in Nashville. I’m actually for keeping the team in Tampa Bay even. Atlanta and Miami on the other hand should move. Dallas and Carolina I’m fine with now. Phoenix is tricky because if the public funding makes them profitable it’s hard to argue.

ATL Observer

May 24th, 2011
12:46 pm

>>>As for the Coyotes, I have never defended Phoenix staying there.
>>>However, the fact that someone ponied up $25 million puts them ahead of you.

After being given two years to do so…

radeksmom

May 24th, 2011
1:05 pm

you know i like to see all the same regulars freek fans on here. They thought the Thrasher management and coaching staff would listen to their stupid line changes and comments about staff changes. Now they are on here talking ways to save the Thrashers thinking the NHL is listening to their stupid ideas. Dont you get it nobody cares. This is not some democracy your input is not welcome.

OHL

May 24th, 2011
1:31 pm

ATL Observer,

Actually not 2 years, was the arena even built 2 years ago? More importantly, I think it just shows the difference between the 2 local govt’s approach. In Phoenix, the arena was built just for hockey, no Suns games there, so they NEED the team there. So that comes into play. But in Atlanta, it’s an afterthought by your politicians, and maybe they are right. But someone on here said it as well, if it was the Hawks, maybe people would be up in arms (people from the gov’t that is). Point still stands though, your numbers were low even when Turner Broadcasting owned the team, so maybe that’s why no local owners are stepping up other than Glavine who will only put a minority stake in the team.

Relocationist

May 24th, 2011
1:55 pm

Here’s something few people talk about. Any move of an NHL team means the NHL is moving from one marginally viable market to another. There are no ’sure things’ out there as far as NHL markets go. Winnipeg has a small population, already lost one franchise and the arena is small. KC? You gotta be kidding. Vegas? No way. There simply aren’t 30 markets in North America that can support NHL hockey on a year to year basis. One really great market that everyone seems to ignore is the northern arc of ATL above I-285. But, it wouldn’t be PC to put an arena there. PHX and ATL are this year’s problems for Mr Bettman. On the horizon loom issues with Florida and Columbus. The Islanders and Devils aren’t really tough tickets to get, either.

Leighton Batuste

May 24th, 2011
2:00 pm

Has the Thrashers organization ever thought about maybe putting in the money for better players and maybe getting a new and better coach so that we can win then more people would come to the games and we could be playoff contenders every year. They did it with the Hawks, the Braves and the Falcons soooo why not the Thrashers.

da' boomer

May 24th, 2011
2:00 pm

No ASG or Waddell…I would commit to a 3 years package..

da' boomer

May 24th, 2011
2:03 pm

I’d buy an extra year if I could kidney punch Ed Peskowitz

Surething

May 24th, 2011
4:04 pm

@ Relocationist

No, Winnipeg is a sure thing.

James

May 24th, 2011
8:47 pm

What happened to Tom Glavine’s interest in being part of a group that would keep the Thrashers in Atlanta? How about Glavine and Ted Turner ? Everyone Knows that Turner has the money. He let down the city of Atlanta in 1980, he had the money to keep the Flames in Atlanta. Tom Glavine and some of Turner’s pocket change could easily keep the team in Atlanta.

Billsen

May 24th, 2011
8:51 pm

Since “only 200″ Islander fans showed up to show support for a new arena on Long Island, I wonder how long it will be before they lose their team to Winnipeg?

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/coliseum-advocates-build-it-now-1.2895712?qr=1

OHL

May 24th, 2011
10:03 pm

Billsen,

Let’s see how many Long Islanders vote for the new arena. Also, the Isles get far too much $$ from MSG+ that the Thrashers couldn’t be in their class with the much smaller amount you receive from SportsSouth.

Ukyo(ths)

May 24th, 2011
11:20 pm

The numbers come from the NHL Marketing Report.

Anyone else find it odd that the trolls never have an answer for the facts as to why the Jets failed to start with, and how they are oblivious to the fact that not a whole lot has changed. As noted, the league got a lot more expensive in the last 15 years. The economy may hold up a couple of seasons, but reality always interferes when a dream comes true.

The Balkin

May 25th, 2011
3:04 am

The Thrashers have never, nor will ever sell 10,000 season tickets. Maybe if you got hotter “ice cheerleaders”. It’s painful to watch what american cities have to do to attract people to hockey games. Give it up already. You can keep your cheerleaders!

hockey is dumb

May 25th, 2011
8:43 am

Good riddance Thrashers. Hockey is a stupid game anyway. It’s boring and only idiots go watch.

G52PlM228

May 25th, 2011
10:16 am

na na na na
na na na na
hey hey goodbye (asslanta)

G52PlM228

May 25th, 2011
10:18 am

I bet atlanta’s mayor did not even know there was a hockey team there until this month

DekeTretiak

May 25th, 2011
6:01 pm

Here’s an idea. Why don’t the fans buy a ticket and watch the game? OOOPS, too late! So-called Thrashers fans can whine and moan all they want about poor ownership. If you want to read about truly bad ownership google “Bill Wirtz” or “Harold Ballard”.

The fact remains that the NHL was, is, and always will be a gate-driven league dependent on ticket sales and bums in the seats. “But Atlanta will support a winner” is the mournful wail of the worst kind of fan, the bandwagon jumper. Everyone loves to watch a winner, but a true fan is one who continues to go to games and support the team no matter the place in the standings or who owns the team.

Atlanta Spirit and the so-called hockey fans of the city are equally culpable in the death of the Thrashers.

45nafsbah

May 25th, 2011
8:52 pm

to keep the thrashers in atlanta, you need at least 15,000 fans to keep the team going. im sure that there are that many fans there. come on atlanta support your thrashers.

HOCKEY IS THE BEST

May 25th, 2011
9:12 pm

hockey is dumb: you apparently never skated on ice, never put the gear on, never played the game at all. your life then is a real bore. im canadian and played the game thousands of times. the game of hockey is the fastest non mechanized sport in the world. baseball is like watching grass grow, football is great but the commercials are murder, and basketball now thats “BOREING”.

I hate bettman

May 25th, 2011
9:51 pm

okay everybody, the NHL is being run buy a short little dictator some where between napoleon and hitler. he will be the ruin of the NHL. he was given a 5 year extension as president by the board of goveners. that little puke brings in a lottery like basketball. last year boston got second pick that was just outragous. get some one who knows hockey inside out and can run the league.the sooner bettman is gone then better.

Thrash

May 26th, 2011
3:09 pm

http://thrashfan.com/?p=101

Thrash

May 26th, 2011
3:10 pm

Solution 1:

http://thrashfan.com/?p=101