Two new owner-investors buy into Atlanta Dream
Atlanta Dream owner Kathy Betty will announce Tuesday that she will be joined by two new owners who are investing a total of $1 million in the WNBA team.
The new owner-investors are Mary Brock, a philanthropist and wife of Coca-Cola Enterprises chief John Brock, and Kelly Loeffler, vice president of investor relations and corporate communications at Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange.
Betty told the AJC she will go from being the sole owner to managing partner of the all-female ownership group.
In looking for investors, Betty said, “I focused on what would take the Dream and professional sports for women to the next level.” Brock and Loeffler “are about the mission and the vision of the Atlanta Dream — inspiring young girls to play sports,” she said.
That mission can get undermined by the financial realities of pro women’s sports. When Betty bought the team 15 months ago, it was losing about $3 million. But during her first year as owner, aided by a team that made it to the league finals before succumbing, the red ink was reduced — although Betty would not say by how much.
Betty hopes to reduce the financial loss further in the upcoming season and then turn a profit in 2012, which will be difficult. The Dream needs to average about 8,500 paying fans per home game at Philips Arena, but they’ve been coming up short by about 2,000 fans per game.
The added investments from Brock and Loeffler will bolster team finances as it attempts to boost its marketing efforts to attract more fans. Betty said she was “definitely open to additional investors” who shared their vision.
Brock and her husband have been active in the local community. They recently made a $3.5 million commitment for the new Georgia Tech football practice facility. They also have an interest in cancer research, funding chairs in biomedical engineering at Emory University and Georgia Tech.
Loeffler oversees investor relations, public relations, marketing and brand strategy at ICE, which operates electronic trading exchanges for investors around the world. Her husband, Jeff Sprecher, is the company’s chairman and CEO.
The team plans a news conference Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Philips Arena to introduce the new owner-investors.
- Henry Unger, The Biz Beat
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62 comments Add your comment
GEORGIA97
January 18th, 2011
8:22 am
@ Nick in Gwinnett:
Did you have an extra bowl of stupid this morning? The Falcons and Braves CAN’T move to Gwinnett and no one cares about the Hawks. Is there a football stadium in Gwinnett? Nope. Is there a baseball stadium equal to Turner Field in Gwinnett? No. People have been saying for YEARS that if the Braves built a stadium north of the ghetto they would sell out every game because no one wants to get robbed going downtown. Further, people are jonesing for a new open-air Falcons stadium on the north side away from the bums and criminals around the dome.
DAVID
January 18th, 2011
8:59 am
What’s the Atlanta Dream?
LadyVols5
January 18th, 2011
9:08 am
For all of you negative people that have never been to an Atlanta Dream game….try one game and you will be hooked!!!!! Congrats to Atlanta Dream for getting 2 new owners and can’t wait to see you all in May!!! GO DREAM!!!!!
Nick in Gwinnet
January 18th, 2011
9:13 am
@Georgia97 So you believe that these stadiums could not be built if they wanted to be built?? My more precise point is that Gwinnett is no safer than many counties…. ESPECIALLY if you start to include large stadiums and mix in mass transit. As far as safety…. I get in my car, I drive my car, I park my car in a secured parking lot and I enter building. Not sure what some of you guys are doing… but I can tell you this… (and the ajc.com can say the same) in Gwinnett there are robberies, gangs, and car thefts. From Mall of Georgia to Discovery Mall to Gwinnett Place Mall…. using a location as an excuse is weak.
Not So Casual Observer
January 18th, 2011
9:54 am
Last year’s roster:
Starters: McCoughtry, Lyttle, de Souza, Lehning, Castro Marques
Bench: C. Miller, K. Miller, Bales, Price, Leuchanka, Raven
Not so hard if you go to the games.
If you tire of watching professional athletes giving partial effort then go to a Dream game and watch a team go full speed, end-to-end for an entire game.
Avid Sports Fan
January 18th, 2011
10:51 am
I have two daughters both playing basketball and other sports and they have wonderful role models in their mother and two grandmothers. I would no more allow a female athlete to fill the role model responsibility than I would allow a male athlete to do so for my son. I am not against the Dream, I simply feel that it is not worth printing an article and taking up space in the paper. I will amend my original comment form “Nobody cares” to “not enough people care to make the franchise relevant”.
GEORGIA97
January 18th, 2011
12:53 pm
@Nick in Gwinnett
Don’t blame me if you’re too stupid to move out of Gwinnettexico. I grew up there but you couldn’t pay me to live there now. No gracias.
Nick in Gwinnett
January 18th, 2011
2:42 pm
So in your wisdom… its best to move all sporting events/concerts even further North than Gwinnett….. I think you may be on to something… you should set up a league in Helen, GA…. away from the bums and criminals of downtown. Enjoy your day….
Darren
January 18th, 2011
6:26 pm
There is a reason all the major professional sporting teams are located downtown and most of the major concerts come to Philips Arena and not in far off places like Gwinnett County. It is because downtown is more centrally located for more people throughout a region over more than 5 million people to get to. It also has access to public transit and other infrastructure.
This has been proven time and again when teams in other cities moved to the suburbs to a location that was thought to be more convenient to the fan base and “safer.” Attendance actually goes down in suburban locations and within 15-20 years, new stadiums are built back in the city.
Atlanta won’t make this mistake. The Gwinnett Center is more convenient for people that live in the northeast side of the metro area, of course. But how does having events at the Gwinnett Center make it any easier for people from Peachtree City, or with the traffic, even Marietta to get there at 7:30 on a weeknight than Philips Arena. No, it would be worse.
Ronos
January 18th, 2011
9:01 pm
I’m a season ticket holder and I live in Cobb. I don’t think I want to drive to Gwinnett for anything. Keep the team in Atlanta. Hence the Atlanta Dream! Congrats to this team! Gwinnett people need to get out of your comfort zones and live a little more.
LBK
January 20th, 2011
3:24 pm
I’m sorry to hear there are so many nay-sayers of The Dream. You obviously have never been to a game. I go often, take my kids and my friends. Everyone has a blast. It’s fun, affordable and an inspiration to young female athletes.
Glock Sights
January 21st, 2011
10:06 pm
[...] Two new owner-investors buy into Atlanta Dream – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)Atlanta Dream owner Kathy Betty will announce Tuesday that she will be joined by two new owners who are investing a total of $1 million in the WNBA team. The new owner-investors are Mary Brock, a philanthropist and wife of Coca-Cola Enterprises chief John … [...]