Hawks for sale! Thrashers for sale! But only one stands to exit
At least one of the Spirit's teams will be here next year. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
According to esteemed colleague Tim Tucker, the Atlanta Spirit — corporate motto: Everything Must Go! — has entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with outgoing San Diego Padres owners John Moores to buy the Hawks and Philips Arena. This is major news. But here we offer a couple of caveats:
• Exclusive negotiating agreements aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, especially when it concerns the Hawks, the Thrashers and Philips Arena. the Texas car dealer David McDavid had one of those with Time Warner in April 2003, and you see what it got him. (Actually, it got him $281 million from Time Warner after the conglomerate sold the teams and the building to the Spirit instead.)
• That the Spirit has entered into a negotiating agreement with someone who would agree to keep the Hawks in Atlanta — and it’d be pretty hard to uproot Philips Arena and move it to Manitoba — shouldn’t be taken as a sign that the Thrashers’ apparently imminent departure is any less imminent. On the contrary.
The Spirit has now taken the corporate step of separating its teams. So far as we know, there’s no exclusive negotiating agreement in place for anyone regarding the Thrashers. The issue of Atlanta’s hockey club remains as it was 24 hours ago: With no credible buyer willing to take the team and keep it here, the Spirit has begun discussions with True North Sports and Entertainment, which has an arena sitting open in Winnipeg.
The Hawks, as Tucker notes, were never going anywhere: The bonds floated when the arena was being built maintain that the Hawks have to play their home games in Philips until the bonds are paid off — in 2028. There’s no such legal constraint holding the Thrashers here.
Regarding this complicated tale — by now, we should know that anything involving the Spirit will have permutations by the boatload — here’s where we are: The Hawks are staying, though possibly under different ownership, while the Thrashers inch ever closer toward the door.
By Mark Bradley
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198 comments Add your comment
DHD
May 18th, 2011
6:38 am
“ATL is still a backwater town filled with rednecks and ignorant people.” Really? Atlanta? The #1 city for the black entrepreneur? The city with a black mayor? The #2 city for gays? When did you do your survey? Wow.
Youalreadyknow
May 18th, 2011
7:02 am
Atlanta do not deserve any sport teams, fans only support them when it’s the place to be seen for that day, or when they are winning, or big teams in town. The Falcons fans are just as bad, when they were losing you could not give away tickets, now it’s the place to be only because they are winning. I say SELL EM ALL…
sports fan
May 18th, 2011
7:19 am
Bradley, you know nothing about the business of sports, and your uninformed sniping over the years has done nothing but cause harm to our teams. I guess it makes you feel big that you can influence readers, but it’s a sad testament to Atlantans that they actually believe the crap that you spew and have no brains of thier own. Compare the Hawks success over the last five years with the Falcons. Hawks have a higher payroll relative to the other teams in their league, and the Hawks have done better on the court, including playoff wins. Why aren’t you complaining about the Falcons’ low payroll, crappy stadium, and terrible on-field performance (not to mention that the team doesn’t have one bona fide star). I get so tired of the “we love Arthur Blank and hate the Spirit” crap when it is not backed up by facts. Hockey is gone, as well it should be. It doesn’t work in the south. Period.
reebok
May 18th, 2011
7:23 am
darn…when i saw that headline, for one brief shining moment i thought we were on the verge of having the thrashers AND the hawks put out of our misery…
bob from account emps
May 18th, 2011
7:35 am
a bunch of little boys with big-boy toys that they can not afford. they showed off to their friends but must now hang their heads. their pockets are empty just like thier words. i feel sorry for the operations people. another round of wondering if they will be outsourced.
new owners
May 18th, 2011
7:40 am
Altanta is an African-American city—hopefully, the new owners are minorities and will make efforts to get more African-Americans to the games by cutting ticket prices. The city should step up and offer the new owners money to make a big profit so they can an African-American ownership group to buy the team—maybe Magic Johnson.
Steve
May 18th, 2011
7:40 am
Quite frankly I would prefer the Hawks to go and the Thrashers to stay. The Thrashers attendance was nearly as good as the Hawks despite a lack of wins which says to me it can outpace the Hawks easily. Get rid of the Hawks who will never win anything and at least give another sport a chance.
The Hawks have spent money and wasted picks for over three decades. Meanwhile the Thrashers are still what you have to consider a fledgling franchise that hasn’t had an owner willing to really make it happen.
If one has to go from a fans perspective, it should be the Hawks, a team of continual ‘mediocrity at best’.
jhfth
May 18th, 2011
7:41 am
jusr me@12:41 – check the thrasher line up – i think there are a couple of non-white guys on the team and as for the hawks, they have their nba required 2 white guys.
Steve
May 18th, 2011
7:44 am
new owners – they can’t cut the ticket prices and pay the salaries needed to put a winning team on the floor.
And no .. I do not want my tax-payer money being doled out to already rich owners in an effort to make the Hawks a more ‘minority’ team.
That is ridiculous given that we don’t have the money to hire more teachers, improve schools, hire police or firefighters, improve our infrastructure and a whole ton of other things. If the Hawks can’t lure minority owners to Atlanta without a tax-payer bailout, then the Hawks can go bye bye. No one would miss them judging by the rampant fan apathy for 90% of the season.
ken
May 18th, 2011
7:53 am
the last thing magic johnson bought in atlanta went bankrupt
The Real JC
May 18th, 2011
7:56 am
Probably too late to get a Bradley comment, but do you know what kind of owner Moores is? Will he actually dip into the luxury tax to field a winning Hawks team?
Renee
May 18th, 2011
7:57 am
I hear a group headed by former LSU basketball player Bernard Woodside has an offer on the table for 500M for the hawks and thrashers and is committed to keeping them both in Atlanta. Woodside has family and business ties to Atlanta and runs a hedge fund and swiss asset management firm.
ASG = JERKS
May 18th, 2011
8:00 am
Someone give me your best explanation that the ASG is a good ownership – anyone?
Atlanta Hawks also for sale? – Yahoo! Sports | Free NBA Videos
May 18th, 2011
8:05 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
K T
May 18th, 2011
8:13 am
It takes more than a group of fans with strong local connections and some money to manage a professional sports franchise. This group has sent Atlanta basketball and hockey back a decade.
KT
Thomas Magnum
May 18th, 2011
8:23 am
KEEP THE THRASHERS IN ATLANTA!
Seek the truth
May 18th, 2011
8:39 am
The AJC needs to dig up what is really going on.
Gearon has no interest in keeping thrashers in Atlanta. They are chilling any offer along with a thought out plan to isolate thrashers therefore making it unattractive for an owner. They kept Waddell on because he was doing a great job devaluing it here in Atlanta.
Mike and Bruce are worth over a billion combined. Do you really think they would keep a poor performer in their private businesses? I do not think so!
There is more to this and it’s time to call Gearon out…..this is a blow to Atlanta and this guy walks away with making money ( that he does not need) while the fans and children lose.
SWAT Native
May 18th, 2011
8:52 am
I hope everything works out, but I have to wonder about the business judgement of someone that would buy an NBA team at this moment with an expiring collective bargaining agreement and a pending lockout or strike.
StungByAYellowJacket
May 18th, 2011
8:54 am
“Everything Must Go’!!!!!! Kind of sounds like a furniture or car commercial…. lol
John
May 18th, 2011
9:02 am
Is hockey still considered a major sport? I cannot understand why people actually care that the thrashers will leave town! Bye bye… go play in Canada where Canadians actually appreciate the sport!
the truth...
May 18th, 2011
9:04 am
WHO CARES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jerry West
May 18th, 2011
9:07 am
new owners,
Who cares if the new owner is a minority. I just want him/ them to have loads of money to spend on the Hawks, they keep the team in town, and the hire front office people that make good decisions and field and a hard-playing competitive team.
And black people can’t afford to go to the games? Really?
they're not losing money people
May 18th, 2011
9:26 am
It’s so disgusting that this ownership group can bleed a franchise to death and then pawn it off to the highest bidder to recoup their “losses”. I put losses in quotes there b/c they didn’t actually lose money on the team. They just moved it over to the Hawks side of the house. However, they could only keep that up for so long and now they’re having to sell.
This also explains why they’re now having to sell the Hawks. They won’t have the “Thrashers money” to fund their Hawks expenses.
timthebrave
May 18th, 2011
9:27 am
Please keep the Thrashers in Atlanta
kb
May 18th, 2011
9:30 am
And now the chickens are coming home to roost. I hope that Steve Belkin is still insterested in buying the Hawks. The ASG mgt team made some horrible decisions (giving J. Johnson all that money, picked Acie Law and then getting rid of him, drafting M. Williams, and the lot.) Belkin would not made these foolish decisons. As for the Thrashers, let them go to a town is committed to hockey. Atlanta should never be allowed to buy another NHL team. There are too many fair weather fans here. I would go down to Philips and watch the team. I just knew deep in my heart that this ownership team wasn’t the right type for this team. They hired that crumb bum Waddell as a their GM who ran most of the talent off the team (Remember when this team first got hear they were near the surface the playoffs. They gone down hill ever since.) Let ASG go away (especially the Geasons) and never be heared again.
Pete
May 18th, 2011
9:38 am
The Hawks will stay in Atlanta ??
For what purpose ??
There are 5 or 6 truly competitive NBA teams who have a legitimate shot at the championship every year. The rest of the boring bunch are nothing but wanna-bees who do nothing but pretend and take cash out of fans pockets.
Wake up…………….and bid the Hawks good riddance.
and another thing...
May 18th, 2011
9:38 am
It’s comical to me how this ownership group has the nerve to complain about empty seats but yet ticket prices for both teams are very expensive. It’s simple supply and demand you morons! If you’re not selling tickets, lower the prices!
Arthur Blank understands this. That’s why he lowered ticket prices when he bought the Falcons. He wanted the stadium full. Then…when you build your franchise and sustain some success, you can get away with raising the prices a little bit.
Dr. Warren
May 18th, 2011
10:00 am
Let’s figure out more about this ex-Padre owner before we celebrate. Heard much from the Padres in the past 15 years? Yes, I’d love to see the ASG go. But least the ASG, for all their annoyances, eventually provided us a regular playoff qualifier.
Dave
May 18th, 2011
10:34 am
I’m sorry to see the Thrashers go. But, in my mind, Atlanta is not, and never has been, a hockey town.
HEY BRADLEY
May 18th, 2011
10:40 am
MARK BRADLEY — Could you possibly look more smug in your picture up there? You are laughable. You should be writing for the Winnipeg Free Press.
Bulldog Blackout
May 18th, 2011
10:45 am
Thrashers, don’t let the door hit you and please take Jon Kincade with you.
JASon
May 18th, 2011
11:05 am
Kudos to the spirit group for doing the $119 million Joe Johnson deal and then selling the team the very next year. Makes a lot of sense.
BulldogBen
May 18th, 2011
11:09 am
There is only one way to bring in casual fans to a sport in a region where there has never been any history nor any hockey culture at all. You’ve got to win.
I don’t buy that hockey can’t succeed down here. Look at the Hurricanes and the Lightning. Non-traditional hockey towns with really passionate fan bases. What do they have in common? Both have won Stanley Cups in their first 20 years in existence AND have had several deep playoff runs. The Thrashers have ONE playoff appearance and ZERO wins in the playoffs.
Why should people invest their time and money in a bad product? The ASG didnt even invest in it.
Win and they will come. Keep the Thrashers, dump the ASG.
Bail Out!
May 18th, 2011
11:15 am
The city of atlanta and state of ga needs to pump big money into the thrashers and hawks to keep them both in Atl, ASAP! These owners are losing big money and the only way they will keep the teams in town is a ton of new money from the city and state. It will be worth it since the teams generate a lot of sales tax revenue. Just pay the owners what they want.
nique
May 18th, 2011
11:35 am
If the outgoing Padres owner buys the Hawks does that mean he’ll want to run them on a shoestring budget too?
SAL
May 18th, 2011
11:53 am
Let the Hawks go! Atlanta’s a football town!!!
Atlanta Spirit joke
May 18th, 2011
12:06 pm
Can those assclowns GET OUT OF MY TOWN NOW, PLSKTHXBYE?!
Good grief, what a bunch of idiotic tools! Go sit in a corner somewhere, count your money, pull each others dongs, and stay out of the public eye.
ChippersLoveChild
May 18th, 2011
12:08 pm
Luckily for Thrasher fans, Mark Bradley’s predictions are always wrong.
Reddy
May 18th, 2011
12:44 pm
This group has been a bunch of losers from the start! The best thing that can happen is the the Thrashers and Hawks are both sold and both leave Atlanta. Then they would own an arena with nothing to open the doors for! I don’t know about any of the rest of you but I am just ready for the drama to end and this point I don’t care if we have hockey and basketball in Atlanta ever again!
gunga din
May 18th, 2011
1:37 pm
don’t think anyone can make a profit with the Thrashers. let’s face it , hockey is a northern cold weather sport and there are just are not enough yankees and canuck transplants to draw a crowd.
MB Guy
May 18th, 2011
1:39 pm
First off, let me say I live in Manitoba, and am also a 30 year+ die hard Atlanta Falcon fan…so I have some interest in an Atlanta sports scene thread.
Second, as much as I’d like an NHL team back in the Wpg, this is not the way I want it to happen. (Getting the Jets back from the desert was – but Glendale apparently has $25m to toss away, talk about ridiculous management!). I understand what it’s like to have awful owners, piss-poor managers, another city circling like a vulture over your team, and the NHL fiddling their thumbs and looking the other way.
I suppose my point in this is that not all Jets fans are happy about this situation either – we know what the other end of the equation feels like, and it’s helpless kick in the gut. Hopefully the Thrashers stay in Atlanta with new owners that have a clue, and Wpg can reclaim the Coyotes next year.
dre
May 18th, 2011
1:42 pm
What a laughingstock the Spirit has become. Inbreeding can have consequences. “Oh Ruthafohd, how could you! Daddy is just broken up about this.” “Uh Beau, frankly, I don’t give a damn about you any moh.” “Mike Jr, son, after all that money I gave you and after all those years letting you sit in my courtside seat while I wear my loafers without socks, you do this to me?”
bull
May 18th, 2011
2:29 pm
saying that hockey is nothern sport is bull… it’s all about management and how thrashers are advertised in local media. whenever you get to walmart or target you’ll find bunch of goods with hawks, bulldogs and nothing about thrashers. only rarely can hear about thrashers on radio and tv. For the last year or so, it looks like Atlanta Spirit purposely were removing thrashers from atlanta’s life, so less people would be worried when franchise will leave the city.
Keep Hockey in Atlanta
May 18th, 2011
2:57 pm
“don’t think anyone can make a profit with the Thrashers. let’s face it , hockey is a northern cold weather sport and there are just are not enough yankees and canuck transplants to draw a crowd.”
The Flames and Knights both drew very well and were regularly in the playoff hunt. So no don’t sit there and say hockey is a northern cold weather sport when it’s been proven that people will show up for hockey in the ATL.
bye now
May 18th, 2011
3:00 pm
good riddance to this loser franchise—take the owners and terrible players and get out of town!
HEY BRADLEY
May 18th, 2011
3:06 pm
@ bye now — you’re pathetic. Whether you know what you’re talking about or not is irrelevant. They’re our team. They play with ATLANTA on their shirts. If you can’t get behind them then get the hell out of the city. Oh wait — you’re probably from like kennesaw and think we care what you think.
LETS GO THRASH
Keep Hockey in Atlanta
May 18th, 2011
3:27 pm
Fan support wasn’t the reason why the Flames or Knights left. Both enjoyed great support from the fans.
Keep Hockey in Atlanta
May 18th, 2011
3:44 pm
Hockey history in Atlanta suggests than fans will support hockey in the ATL. Fan support was not the reason why the Flames or Knights left. Both teams were highly competitive and the Knights won the Turner Cup in their 2nd season.