Two Groups Interested In Hawks, Thrashers, Philips... Really...???

((HT: AJC/Vivlamore))

Not much to update off the headline except the idea that neither group is close to signing anything on the line which is dotted. No paperwork has been filed. Both groups want to keep the teams in Philips, and one idea has some "developmental" aspects added to the proposed purchase.

Presumably, that means that what is referred to as "The Gulch," the undeveloped parking lot area adjacent to the railroad tracks and the arena itself, would be developed. Into what, no one has said. And the space for variances to construct anything other than parking decks would come, instantly, into question...

Vivlamore adds that it would take at least two months for any kind of vetting process to get an ownership swapping point. But out of town groups have been mentioned in efforts to move the Thrashers to three Canadian towns- Hamilton, Winnipeg, and Quebec City.

A group has surfaced on the Internets: Keep The Thrashers at keepthethrashers.com

Chris Ciovacco has surfaced as the leader of the pack, and was recently interviewed by our friends at WXIA-TV in Atlanta.


They're planning rallies of support at upcoming home games.
The HQ anticipates tens of people to turn out.

Here was the mention of just how dire the situation is for trades with the Thrashers as we get to the Trade Deadline Monday. The comments are from Pierre LeBrun, Ron McLean, and Glenn Healy on CBC-TV and the "Satellite Hotstove" from Saturday night.
((HT: CBC/youtube))


The clock tick-eth...

BREAKING NEWS: NY Post Report Has Atlanta Spirit Throwing In The Towel, Spirit Saying "Stay Calm, All Is Well..."

In a move surprising no one at the HQ, and long-anticipated really, one of the most ill-fitted groups to ever decide they wanted to play big-boy games is throwing in the towel.

Atlanta Spirit, LLC, the owners of the Atlanta Hawks, Thrashers, and Philips Arena have decided that they've had all they can stands and they can't stands no more.

The New York Post is reporting that everything associated with Spirit has a "For Sale" sign attached...

Questions of their ability to maintain long-term viability as owners dated all the way back to their beginnings as the group of nine owners in three cities picked up property from Time-Warner to the tune of US$250M.

From there, the profound lack of capital for investing in their franchises was extremely evident and the lawsuit of eight of the Spirit group against Boston-based Steve Belkin in 2004 seemed both sad and fitting.

In Josh Kosman's article, Spirit/Hawks posted an operating loss of US$20M before servicing debt. The Thrashers are being sold separately and lost about US$30 million in the last 12 months.

The owners have hired the Raine Group, a New York investment bank, to sell the teams. The interesting angle in all of this is that if the Hawks were to be sold and the idea of entertaining a move was to be floated, a rider would kick in, according to Kosman, that would accelerate the payments on Philips Arena- the only aspect of the Spirit's portfolio that made any money last year- US$10M.

The HQ also knows that putting everything up for sale gets the Belkin lawsuit closer to getting paid off- in both sending Belkin on his way and retiring six years worth of legal fees.

The Spirit were like the Emperor: they had no real desire to invest equally in their franchises, but they couldn't be convinced of that during their run with the big boys. They couldn't and/or wouldn't compete, and they finally have done the only thing the should have done in the first place- not get involved...

Both teams deserve good homes with owners in markets willing to invest in their futures- whether that's in Atlanta for all is anyone's guess...

But the HQ's money is on Chipman/Thomson/True North for part of the toy chest, anyway...

1230 UPDATE: WSB-TV's Zach Klein, on his Twitter account, relays the following from the Spirit's Michael Gearon...

Hawks owner Michael Gearon just emailed me "I have no interest in selling"

But the HQ will point out that "not having an interest" and "needing to" are two different things...

1245 UPDATE: The Spirit has issued one of those official-statement type things...

Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon, two of the principal partners of Atlanta Spirit LLC, the parent company that owns the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Philips Arena operating rights, have released the following statement regarding the rumored sale of the teams and arena:

“As has been shared publicly for more than a year, we are interested in finding minority investors and have engaged a firm to assist us in that effort. We have no plans to move either team, and remain committed to the Hawks, the Thrashers, Philips Arena and the city of Atlanta.”

Once again... "not having plans" and "having to" are two different things...

More when we know more...all of this sounds like one of those dreaded "votes of confidence" doesn't it...???

You Cannot Stop Spirit, You Can Only Hope To Contain Him

((HT: NBA.com))

All those of us at OSG HQ can say is that the damn bird cost the Atlanta Hawks game 2in their series against the Miami Heat.

If you believe in such things...
We don't...we just wanted to see if you were paying attention...
Normally, "Spirit" is a hawk mascot that flies to his handler before the games start at Philips Arena. This time, however, before Game 2 he refused.

You'll see some of his shenanigans before he was bribed by his hander to return to ground level. The shenanigans in question lasted for the first FOUR MINUTES of the game. it takes up the first 25 seconds or so before the actual game had highlights worthy of being shown.

It got so bad the Heat players wouldn't continue until Spirit was commandeered.
Dwyane Wade was unconscious and Brother Phil predicted the margin of victory.
The series is tied at a game a piece as they head to Miami to play Game 3 in the series sometime in mid-July.

NBA Concerned About McDavid Finances in 2003

The David McDavid v. Turner Broadcasting trial continues in Fulton County Superior Court.

McDavid claims that Turner Broadcasting did an end run and sold the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers, and Philips Arena to Atlanta Spirit LLC after he had an agreement to pick up the assets on his own.

But the NBA had their own worries about McDavid and his attempted financing of the purchase of the Hawks.

According to testimony, McDavid admitted his own net worth was in the neighborhood of US$180-million. He was set to purchase the Hawks, Thrashers, and Philips for $60-million up front with another $20-million financed- all cash.

In the article from Kristi Swartz in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, NBA exec Joel Litvin expressed a league concern:

“Given that the losses this team was certain to incur, losses that probably would exceed the $20 million he had remaining, that would have been a concern,” Litvin testified. “We want to make sure that the owners of our franchises have the wherewithal to fund the teams in a first-class manner.”

The Hawks recorded losses of just over US$31-million in 2002-2003.

McDavid had negotiated with Turner and signed a letter of intent in April of 2003. His exclusivity window for negotiations closed, and Turner announced in September of that year that they were selling to "Atlanta Spirit, LLC." McDavid has since sued Turner for US$450-million in a breach of contract suit.

Turner has always maintained that the deal to sell to Atlanta Spirit was a better one for Turner- eventhough only US$8-million was put on the table up front in cash. The group had to pony up another US$115-million in personal guarantees against the projected losses of the franchises.

Those losses were close to US$250-million from 2002 through 2005 according to internal projections from Turner Broadcasting.

If all these figures haven't confused the ever-loving hell out of you by now... the trial is set to conclude some time next week.

That is, of course, until there is an appeal.

That will mean the only winner in the case to date will be the corporate lawyers on both sides.