Updated: Talks continue with TNSE; no announcement Tuesday
Negotiations between the Atlanta Spirit and True North Sports and Entertainment continued over the weekend as a deal to purchase and relocate the Thrashers to Winnipeg moved closer.
As of Monday, lawyers for Atlanta Spirit, True North and the NHL were still exchanging drafts and deal terms but a deal was not finalized. Monday was Queen Victoria Day in Canada, a bank holiday, which prevented the completion of some details.
The deal could be finalized later this week. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the AJC Monday, via e-mail, that “it’s safe to say there will be no announcement on Tuesday.”
Also, the last remaining hope of a buyer willing to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta appeared to have ended. The final prospective buyer, in negotiations with the Atlanta Spirit, with such an intention is no longer interested in pursuing a sale. According to a person familiar with the negotiations, the potential buyer is “probably, but not completely” out of the picture.
True North is led by Winnipeg businessman Mark Chipman and billionaire David Thomson and owns Winnipeg’s arena, the MTS Centre, and the American Hockey League team that currently plays there, the Manitoba Moose. The group turned its attention to the Thrashers after a deal, with public money, was reached to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona several weeks ago.
Key issues between the Atlanta Spirit and True North, such as price, are believed to be settled. The price is believed to be $170 million, with $110 million going to the seller and $60 million to the league as a relocation fee.
Many issues beyond price are part of such deals, such as financing and the commitments the buyer must make to the league going forward.
Even a signing of a definitive agreement would not be the final step in the process: The deal would have to be approved by the NHL Board of Governors before it could close.
Atlanta Spirit and True North opened negotiations in mid-May, shortly after the city of Glendale, Ariz., committed to cover up to $25 million in next season’s losses of the Coyotes, who otherwise would have likely moved to Winnipeg.
The Coyotes’ surprising one-year reprieve in Arizona made Winnipeg a relocation option for the Thrashers, whose owners had made it clear the franchise was in dire difficulty. The Thrashers’ owners had said they were unwilling to keep funding the team’s operating losses, pegged at around $20 million per year in court documents, and had been unable to find a qualified buyer to assume the losses in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Spirit has been looking for a buyer or investors for the Thrashers for several years, although the group has only had clear ownership since December after officially buying out partner Steve Belkin. Co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. told the AJC in February that there was a ‘sense of urgency’ to find a solution for the financially struggling franchise and that relocation was a possibility.
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.
Atlanta would lose its NHL franchise for a second time. The city lost the Flames to Calgary in 1980.
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303 comments Add your comment
DD
May 23rd, 2011
11:22 am
SO WHERE IS TOM GLAVINE, MOVIE PRODUCER AND TED TURNER, I GUESS THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT ATL LIKE THE MAYOR wish we had the mayor that phoenix has who cares about the city. Hello bad economy welcome to ATLANTA…….
I cannot believe these owners do not care about ATL but only the money like the NHL
sk82goal
May 23rd, 2011
11:24 am
I know nobody from either side cares but the players don’t want to go to Winnipeg. I was part of a group conversation with a player last weeek and he said he and his teamates don’t want to play there. Once they finish their contracts they will go elsewhere. If they feel that way, it will be difficult for this group to lure top players into that market. I know money talks, but it isn’t the only reason for someone to play somewhere. They will not be able to build a winning team there anyway.
PMC
May 23rd, 2011
11:27 am
Isn’t Don Waddell in charge of finding local buyers?
Considering anything good done by his hand since 1998 has been in spite of his leadership how could anyone expect anything different?
PMC
May 23rd, 2011
11:29 am
Team probably winds up in Hamilton anyhow.
EA
May 23rd, 2011
11:29 am
Chris Mason wants to go. He can take a hike as far as I am concerned. He was horrible. That last game against the Pens, I could have stopped more shots then him. The game didn’t matter, but when I saw him mucking it up with his friends after the game, it made me mad. There are things I won’t miss-Atlanta residents in other jerseys acting obnoxious to Thrasher fans. This does not include the nice people who wore their home town jerseys to the Atlanta games.
dawgfan
May 23rd, 2011
11:29 am
Obviously not enough people care about hockey here in the south. Let them move to Canada where hockey belongs.
ExposMoose
May 23rd, 2011
11:30 am
Hockey belongs to Canada, go and cheer for Matty Ice. Leave the game to the real fans, thanks for 2 teams ATL!!
This Guy Right Here
May 23rd, 2011
11:31 am
Chris Vivlamore: If I recall correctly, this last potential buyer to keep the team local only submitted a term sheet. Did it ever proceed past that stage where actual finances were discussed, or an offer was made?
Also, do you think the ASG has no intentions of selling the Thrashers to a group interested in keeping the team local? I can’t help but think the negotiation exclusivity for Hawks/PA is preventing them from discussing any sort of revenue-sharing system with potential buyers, thus removing any incentive to purchase the team. It makes me very skeptical about a “good faith” effort to keep the team local. I understand if you don’t want to speculate though. Thanks.
EA
May 23rd, 2011
11:33 am
Didn’t Michael Gearon go to Marist? I think so.
PureEvil
May 23rd, 2011
11:35 am
Who care’s it’s just Hockey. The NHL should do itself a favor reduce the league to 20 teams and locate them all in the North/Northeast and Canada.
Winipeg Blows
May 23rd, 2011
11:36 am
I’ve been to Winnipeg on a couple of occasions. Eughh. What a dull, dreary, flat, old, boring city. I feel sorry for all the Thrashers who have to relocate there.
Hope Don goes and right after he gets settled. BAM!!! You’re fired!!!!
yomama
May 23rd, 2011
11:37 am
This is the dirty south…hockey is just that….HOCKEY!! We are a football nation/state and Hockey is a canadian sport and we hate canadians in the south! So if Atlanta cannot support Hockey do you think we can support, Georgia State Football, Kennesaw Football and Now a Mercer football team in Macon?
Relocation News: All Winnipeg NHL related news Day 4 | Illegal Curve Hockey
May 23rd, 2011
11:39 am
[...] Journal Constitution: Last local buyer in Atlanta likely out. That would appear to be the end of the Thrashers in Atlanta. Only possible rescue would [...]
Bobby G
May 23rd, 2011
11:40 am
I’ll miss the Thrashers but this just proves I need to move to a real sports city that can handle all sports leagues.
GoCanes
May 23rd, 2011
11:40 am
Hey loosehead- got a suggestion for ya.
If the folks in southern Ontario want a new NHL franchise, and Winnipeg beats y’all to the punch this time around, have the NHL open another franchise in the bastion and beacon of sports markets, metro Atlanta. Given what happened with the Flames and now the birds, Canada would have another ATL-transplanted franchise in 5- 12 years.
You can bank on it.
schmeckdawg
May 23rd, 2011
11:40 am
Just think of all the rockin’ concerts that will be rolling into Phillips Arena in place of those 41 wasted Thrashers home games!!
FAIL
May 23rd, 2011
11:41 am
@Don Waddell
Hey Don,
How’s that 5 year plan working out for ya?
This Guy Right Here
May 23rd, 2011
11:44 am
Bobby G., Agreed. Indifference towards professional sports in this town, yet an unhealthy obsession with lower skill college sports is not typical in a city the size of Atlanta. When people criticize Atlanta for being a bad sports town, they are correct. Very little passion or support for our teams.
loosehead
May 23rd, 2011
11:48 am
You are right,jarvis.Money pit sums it up.If I told you what it costs to go to a Leafs’ game: tickets,parking,beer,food,you’d have a stroke!! That’s to pay for the obscene wages etc.that are needed to run a franchise in the NHL.
Garth
May 23rd, 2011
11:53 am
Funny, Columbus Georgia fills their rink every game for the Columbus Cottenmouths and Gwinnett does about the same for the Gladiators, so I’m not so sure fans don’t support hockey in the South; but when you get owners and management who are pure bufoons I guess you have to expect this. Don Waddell, and I’ve met the scum bag, has been lying to Thrasher fans for years and he continued to lie to us right up until the exit. Go to Canada and freeze your lying asses.
Thrash Fan
May 23rd, 2011
11:55 am
@jw
If you’re going to troll by acting like a local Atlantan, saying things like “Our province is out of luck”, I have a word of advice: we call them states. Not provinces.
loosehead
May 23rd, 2011
11:58 am
Good logic,GoCanes,
With hockey fever here all year long and with a population in the Greater Toronto Area of over 6 million,we could support 2 more teams.Get on that,mate,another team in Atlanta and a few years down the road,Hamilton will surely get a franchise from down there.Should be another one in Toronto as well.
Eric
May 23rd, 2011
12:02 pm
You guys are nuts, this is a business that is losing millions of dollars every year. If they ASG can sell it why wouldnt they. There is an enormous difference in this situation and the one in Phoenix. The NHL had to get involved in Phonenix because the owners filed for bankrupcy and they had to take over. There was also someone willing to buy the team and keep them in Phoenix, that is not the case here. I am with you on the fact that the ASG has been a joke and the whole Thrashers organization has been a joke, but if no one is willing to buy the team and keep them here, what do you want the NHL to do?
R. Stroz
May 23rd, 2011
12:05 pm
Gearon Jr. went to Marist and played on the basketball team. Imagine that.
the NHL wants the check
May 23rd, 2011
12:05 pm
This crap about there not being anyone who wants to own the team in Atlanta is exactly that…crap. Now, maybe they don’t want to pay the price that the ASG is asking but they DO want to own the team in Atlanta.
This is simple folks. The NHL wants that $60 million dollars they’re going to get for the move.
Bob Batchelor
May 23rd, 2011
12:06 pm
Just a complete scam by Bettman and the NHL. Enjoy the Gwinnett Gladiators hockey because that is all Atlanta will have thanks to the Thrashers inept owners!
georgianativehockeyfanatic
May 23rd, 2011
12:06 pm
Heck I’m still PO’d over the Flames leaving Atlanta…
R. Stroz
May 23rd, 2011
12:07 pm
During the time Gearon Jr. went to Marist, I had several friends that attended Marist as well. They called him an idiot…..and still do.
bologna
May 23rd, 2011
12:07 pm
Eric,
If that’s the case, why does the NHL still own the Coyotes and why didn’t they let the Winnipeg group buy them?
big time bidness
May 23rd, 2011
12:09 pm
http://www.atlantaspirit.com/
Rutherford Seydel
May 23rd, 2011
12:11 pm
If anyone has a problem with me, meet me in the Applebee’s parking lot in Kennesaw off Mall Boulevard. I’ve been eating cheese fries for the last hour and half (4 orders) and I’m ready to throw up on someone.
Ed Peskowitz
May 23rd, 2011
12:16 pm
Rutherford! You owe me $20!
Cheap bastid.
glovesave29
May 23rd, 2011
12:19 pm
Oh well, it’s over, time to move forward…
Time to pack out Gwinnett. Let’s get 10K per night there and make it a great place to play and to watch a game. Maybe in a few years we move up to the AHL. I’d like to see us be a feeder team for the Preds as their “rough and tumble” style of hockey will play well here. Lets go back into hockey history and call them the Flames or Knights. I am done with NHL hockey. Bettman is forsaking us to make up for the losses over in Phoenix. There has NEVER been a relocation fee…yet there is one here. Hmmm…not too tough to figure out what’s going on here…
ASG Morons
May 23rd, 2011
12:22 pm
Does ASG not realize that they will recieve more money from a buyer willing to leave team in Atlanta even if it is 50 million less that True North? Well I guess that shows that even morons can become millionares!
Wade
May 23rd, 2011
12:30 pm
You should be used to the fact that Tampa Bay beat the city of Atlanta at something…Tampa Bay has a Super Bowl win AND a Stanley Cup…
Atlanta Flames
May 23rd, 2011
12:31 pm
I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t the Atlanta Spirit owners move to Winnepeg and leave the Thrashers. That’s known as a “Win-Win!”
wallywoo
May 23rd, 2011
12:35 pm
I’d rather watch hockey in Gwinnett anyway…no TV timeouts. Hockey played the way it should be; non-stop action !! And affordable at that…makes you want to pack up the family and take in a game. What a novel idea!
zm
May 23rd, 2011
12:38 pm
Iam a thrasher and hawks fan, if (”when”) they move the thrashers iam boycotting the hawks,,no offense to the hawks but as long as ASG owns them Iam not going to phillips,,,and Iam pretty sure the 60 million the NHL is getting should cover the coyotes loses for a while,…go braves,sorry hawks,bye thrasers
Just saying
May 23rd, 2011
12:38 pm
Atlanta Flames, poor Rutherford could not handle the cold! Rutherford Seydel -what a pompous name- apparently visited many schools before he was able to complete his high school diploma. I guess he finally grew up since he apparently has a law degree. It does help to marry Ted Turner’s daughter.
timthebrave
May 23rd, 2011
12:39 pm
Fool me once shame on you…fool me twice….f*** you spirit group and NHL. I have stopped watching NHL hockey and will refuse to watch another game. I bet there are many people like me. Only if Thrashers stay in Atlanta will I ever watch NHL again.
Just a fan
May 23rd, 2011
12:41 pm
To the real hockey fans of Atlanta….I know are out there….you gave me my first home town team in 198o (Flames) and that I live in Winnipeg your owners are finally giving back to us what stolen in 1995. We feel your pain and have felt it for 15yrs. we are grateful and we are sorry.
Winnipeg = Poverty
May 23rd, 2011
12:43 pm
The Thrashers aren’t being bought and sold as much as they are being evicted by Atlanta Spirit Group. The NHL’s hands are tied, they can’t come into Atlanta and build a brand new arena just for their NHL franchise when it’s easier to get away from the Atlanta Spirit Group, then attempt to fight with their landlord powers over Philips Arena. For NHL hockey to survive in Atlanta a brand new hockey-only arena would need to be built.
Resigned
May 23rd, 2011
12:47 pm
We are not lousy fans….we are not fans at all. Don’t really care if they go or stay…but ready for all this death throes hoopla to be over with….Go Away Thrashers, Go Away!
EA
May 23rd, 2011
12:47 pm
If you are willing to spend money on the NHL -and right now that does not sit well with me, Predators games are really fun! It has a real down home feel. It’s not the same, but if NHL is the only hockey you like, Nashville as we know is close and fun to visit. I can’t say I will wait and see if I want to see our team in Winnipeg jerseys. A lot of that is going to depend on the support the Thrashers show their fans with their comments once the move is announced. However the Preds are not a bad second choice.
EA
May 23rd, 2011
12:49 pm
type-didn’t mean to type wait and see–
time to move on from the blog!
DaveDawg96
May 23rd, 2011
1:00 pm
How many does Gwinnett Arena seat for hockey? I would image that an NHL team would do well or better in the Atlanta suburbs.
EA
May 23rd, 2011
1:02 pm
typo-the typo was can not didn’t mean to type wait and see–oh well, I am losing it, I need lunch. Stay positive fellow Thrasher fans. The loss will hurt big time come October, but life will go on without the Thrashers. Sad.
Friend of a Referee
May 23rd, 2011
1:05 pm
I think the Winnipeg team should be called:
The Winnipeg Waddells
F Waddell and F ASG!! R.I.P Thrashers…you’ll be missed!!!!
Phillip
May 23rd, 2011
1:07 pm
Although I am not an avid hockey fan, I do like to watch the Thrashers play. That being said, I feel in this situation both the ASG, but more importantly the NHL are to blame. Noone wants to spend money, especially in a down economy, on a team that does not consistently compete at a high level (blame the ASG). Plus, the NHL is a JOKE. The commissioner claims that keeping teams in their market is the number one goal, yet he has done NOTHING to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta. If the Thrashers do leave, I will NEVER support the NHL, I will NEVER want another hockey team in Atlanta, and I will start a facebook group promoting these ideas.
JR
May 23rd, 2011
1:07 pm
“I’ll miss the Thrashers but this just proves I need to move to a real sports city that can handle all sports leagues.”
Like Los Angeles?