For the Love of God please let this be true: Two groups have interest in buying Thrashers, Hawks, and Philips Arena
If you aren't familiar with the ownership group of the Atlanta Spirit then you are one of the lucky ones. The Atlanta Spitir is a group of douchebags who own the Atlanta Hawks, Thrashers, and Philips Arena. Here is some video for reference:
As you can see they would rather piss on themselves then put out a good product. They bitch and moan about fans not showing up but if they actually tried to put a quality product on the ice in case of the Thrashers people will show up. The one season when the Thrashers made the playoffs they averaged over 17,000 in attendance. The problem is they have only had one playoff season in over 12 years of existence. The Atlanta Spirit has been trying to sell the Thrashers since 2005. They are a group of idiots who have no fucking clue what they are doing. Thankfully all could be saved if Arthur Blank, Ted Turner, or some other rich dude came in and bought them out.
Well those prayers might be answered according to the AJC.com...
There are two prospective investment groups inquiring about purchasing the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena, according to several people familiar with the situation. Both groups plan to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta.
A deal is not close in either case as proper paperwork has not been filed to begin serious negotiations. However, at least one group has met with the officials from the NBA and the NHL.
With the group that has met with league officials, including the NHL on Thursday, there is one main investor with others in the group, some of whom are from Atlanta. The group is not only interested in purchasing the three properties but there is a “development element” to the deal, possibly involving the area around the arena.
The Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena, owned by the Atlanta Spirit, have been for sale and groups have expressed interest in buying the Thrashers and moving them to another city. Canadian cities Winnipeg, Quebec and Hamilton have long been rumored to be a possible destination.
Atlanta Spirit co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. recently told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that there is a “sense of urgency” to find a buyer or additional investors to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta.
According to those familiar with the situation, it would take at least a month to complete due diligence on a proposal and at least another month to complete negotiations.
The two interested parties do not include Atlanta native Stephen Rollins, who has publicly stated a desire for his multi-city investment group to purchase the Thrashers. That group is said to still be interested but a formal bid has not been made at this point.
At this point I would take anybody as an owner as long as the name Peter Angelos isn't attached to it. This looks like potentially great news in keeping the Thrashers in Atlanta. They need to stay because people will support the team if you look like you actually care about putting the best product on the ice. No more nickel and dime bull shit. No more letting your star players leave (Heatley, Kovy, Hossa, and Savard).
And while we are at it no more Hawks giving Joe Johnson max contracts when they should be giving stars like Dwight Howard and Chris Paul those type of contracts. Right now I really wish the Hawks could somehow dump Johnson and his massive contract and go full tilt for Howard and Paul in 2012.
