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Post by BigMac15 on Jun 18, 2010 16:31:01 GMT -5
www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/06/18/sp-thrashers-owners.htmlThe owners of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and NHL's Atlanta Thrashers say they continue to look for minority partners and have no plans to sell or move either team. There have been persistent reports that the Atlanta Spirit ownership group is strapped financially and may be looking to sell one or both teams. The latest report was in Friday's New York Post. The group also owns the operating rights to Philips Arena. Atlanta Spirit principals Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon released a statement saying they have hired a firm to help in the search for minority investors but remain committed to both teams, the arena and the city of Atlanta. Their statement says "we have no plans to move either team." Read more: www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/06/18/sp-thrashers-owners.html#ixzz0rF5xFTZh
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Post by Hobble on Jun 18, 2010 16:48:39 GMT -5
I am tired of all this crap. Can we ever hear the truth?
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Post by Conan on Jun 18, 2010 17:35:12 GMT -5
Translation: please tone down the media because we don't want to lose more than the $30 million we already planned to lose in 2010-11.
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Post by The Unknown Poster on Jun 18, 2010 17:44:19 GMT -5
If they want to bring on investors, it would actually make sense to try and ditch the HUGE money losing aspect of the business (Thrashers) to shore up the core businesses (Hawks/Arena).
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Post by Guardian on Jun 18, 2010 21:58:20 GMT -5
I am tired of all this crap. Can we ever hear the truth? Of course not!!! ;D
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Post by Domi on Jun 19, 2010 11:11:40 GMT -5
www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/06/18/sp-thrashers-owners.htmlAtlanta Spirit principals Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon released a statement saying they have hired a firm to help in the search for minority investors but remain committed to both teams, the arena and the city of Atlanta. Their statement says "we have no plans to move either team." They've been looking for minority investors for a long time. What happened to that movie producer guy that was about to invest? The long and the short of it is, no one wants to just throw money into an investment that looses $30 Million annually. So the possibility of a minority investor are nil. However, someone might attempt to buy the team out right, thinking they can "market" the team better. But even that is unlikely since they won't own the arena or get a sweet deal on the arena since Atlanta Spirit owns the arena. The long and short of it is, they will not find a minority investor. They need an "injection of cash". Remember what happened to the last team we heard that needed an "injection of cash"? The Phoenix Coyotes. This team will be Chipman & Thomson's second choice come January.
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Post by The Unknown Poster on Jun 19, 2010 20:50:14 GMT -5
Where there's smoke, there's fire.
The reports that the Thrashers are being shopped around as a separate entity from the Hawks and Arena speaks volumes.
I am sure Atlanta Spirit would be thrilled if they could find some minority investors willing to put in enough money to make the Hawks, Thrashers and Arena profitable for the majority owners. But the fact this information is even out there would seem to indicate Spirit is at least willing to accept the fact that to generate investment in the core business, they might have to dump the Thrashers.
The Thrashers losing $30 million is a HUGE drag on the value of Spirit's whole holdings. If I owned two housing properties and one was a palace that needed a bit of cosmetic investment to be worth a lot of money and the other was a dump that no one would live in and cost me money...AND someone came along and said "Look, I'll invest in your business, but get rid of the dump." what would I do? Sell the dump that is dragging down my value and worth anyway.
The Hawks are more valuable without the Thrashers there anyway. One could argue there is increased concessions and naming rights with having the Thrashers there as well, but unless those rveneues are covering $30 million+ per year, they aren't worth it.
I fully intend to see the Spirit divest themselves of the Thrashers to shore up the rest of their holdings.
Does anyone know anything about contracts the Thrashers might have with the NHL as far as relocation options etc? I would assume a lease is no problem since Spirit owns the Arena.
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Post by Conan on Jun 19, 2010 22:10:28 GMT -5
I posted this in the main forum but it probably belongs here for discussion, too. When has a team ever come out and said "oh yeah, we're selling. We'll sell to anybody no matter where they might move the team. We're having an Open House on Saturday, stop on by!" It almost always starts with "we're looking for minority stakeholders" Does this sound familiar? www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=267637"Wayne Gretzky and I have had discussions with potential investors interested in joining us in continuing the team's presence in Glendale. I have met with Glendale city management, who expressed strong support for the team, and whose assistance would contribute to helping the Coyotes operate on a positive cash flow basis," Moyes stated through the release. Also: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2009/02/25/coyotes_deal_report/Sources tell Sportsnet that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the city of Glendale have come to terms on an agreement that will see Glendale concede at least $15 million per year to the Coyotes towards a new lease deal. Sources also say principle owner Jerry Moyes has had three separate out of state groups show interest with one already making a formal offer. A league source tells Sportsnet they hope to have a new ownership group finalized by the 2009 NHL entry draft in Montreal.
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