Forbes: Atlanta Thrashers Will Likely Be Sold For $110 Million

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Atlanta Biz Chronicle, I believe sourcing Forbes.

 

[ThrasherMinion]

Now someone needs to bug btn about the source for that figure.

I'll make Kevin do it.

Forbes has had several as has the AJC. But only if you believe local Atlanta sources.

Wyshinski has quoted both sources on Yahoo.sports.

The Lightning will lose 30 million. Everyone loses. Maybe the NHL should just shut down.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Is there an archived version of that Gearon interview? What a putz.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

Gearon: "unfair to say we are cheap with the HAWKS! 7th highest payroll in the NBA."

Kincade: "Your hockey team is the lowest or one of the lowest payrolls."

Gearon: Let's talk about basketball.

Kincade: "what about the Winnipeg rumors? What about the fans?"

Gearon: "Blah, blah, blah. No promises. I suck, Septocluster sucks, but WE ARE BLAMING THE FANS!!!!" Yes, he blamed the fans after saying that they have a low payroll and cares more about Basketball!!!!

Nice.

Totally deflecting all questions and talking about basketball again.

I'd like to take a hobnailed boot to his jejunum.

Kincade is grilling him, Gearon is sounding like an ass. He HAS NOT disputed Kincade's buyer, in fact he started to say yes, but then said he's already been fined by the league once for talking and then he talked basketball....again.

BACK TO BASKETBALL!!! Upon Kincade's question about hockey!!!!!
This is what we hate!
He's talking Lebron and the Celtics after a hockey question!!!!!

Thanks for posting the link, I'm listening to the interview. In all fairness to Gearon, all of the questions from the hosts in the first 17-18 minutes were on basketball.

He does have a point that at one time they had a pretty high payroll but got rolled by the Rangers. He does clearly have more affinity for basketball or at least the Atlanta Hawks. I guess when you consider they are in the second round of the NBA playoffs, they must be more fun for an owner than a team like the Thrashers who have never even won a playoff game. The Hawks have a pretty strong history going all the way back to St. Louis, and they have always been a solid NBA franchise.

The Thrashers are like the Islanders with no history or the Blue Jackets. There is no question all three of those organizations have been inept. I have no interest at all i the NBA, but if I was involved with both teams, right now as the playoffs are underway, I would be much more interested in the team that's alive.

The interviewer Kincaid? is much more focused on the Hawks than the Thrashers as well.

I'm a hockey fan who goes to 50+ NHL games yearly and have been to exactly two NBA games in my life. I can understand these guys. People are naturally more interested in decent teams than crappy ones.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

Is there an archived version of that Gearon interview? What a putz.

Here you go:

http://www.680thefan.com/audiovault/buck_and_kincade.php#


I don't think he comes off as a putz. I don't think he's a diehard hockey fanatic, but rather a general sports fan. I'd love to hear your thoughts after you listen to this.

 

[Freibahlen]

Thanks for posting the link, I'm listening to the interview. In all fairness to Gearon, all of the questions from the hosts in the first 17-18 minutes were on basketball.

He does have a point that at one time they had a pretty high payroll but got rolled by the Rangers. He does clearly have more affinity for basketball or at least the Atlanta Hawks. I guess when you consider they are in the second round of the NBA playoffs, they must be more fun for an owner than a team like the Thrashers who have never even won a playoff game. The Hawks have a pretty strong history going all the way back to St. Louis, and they have always been a solid NBA franchise.

The Thrashers are like the Islanders with no history or the Blue Jackets. There is no question all three of those organizations have been inept. I have no interest at all i the NBA, but if I was involved with both teams, right now as the playoffs are underway, I would be much more interested in the team that's alive.

The interviewer Kincaid? is much more focused on the Hawks than the Thrashers as well.

I'm a hockey fan who goes to 50+ NHL games yearly and have been to exactly two NBA games in my life. I can understand these guys. People are naturally more interested in decent teams than crappy ones.

Well, I got the impression he couldn't answer many of the Thrashers questions being asked. Apparently also got fined earlier for even mentioning another city. That sorta says that the NHL will not easily give up a team to relocation. Further more, they said they wouldn't be interested in giving up the Thrashers for relocation as it would hurt their other interests.

 

[ThrasherMinion]

Thanks for posting the link, I'm listening to the interview. In all fairness to Gearon, all of the questions from the hosts in the first 17-18 minutes were on basketball.

He does have a point that at one time they had a pretty high payroll but got rolled by the Rangers. He does clearly have more affinity for basketball or at least the Atlanta Hawks. I guess when you consider they are in the second round of the NBA playoffs, they must be more fun for an owner than a team like the Thrashers who have never even won a playoff game. The Hawks have a pretty strong history going all the way back to St. Louis, and they have always been a solid NBA franchise.

The Thrashers are like the Islanders with no history or the Blue Jackets. There is no question all three of those organizations have been inept. I have no interest at all i the NBA, but if I was involved with both teams, right now as the playoffs are underway, I would be much more interested in the team that's alive.

The interviewer Kincaid? is much more focused on the Hawks than the Thrashers as well.

I'm a hockey fan who goes to 50+ NHL games yearly and have been to exactly two NBA games in my life. I can understand these guys. People are naturally more interested in decent teams than crappy ones.

Listen to the back end. After the commercials, Kincade asked NOTHING but Thrasher question after question with Gearon reverting everything to the Hawks. He DID agree that an outside source wanted all 3, but simply said he wants to keep his piece. THAT seems to be the sticking point and to me, is why he keeps crying for locals even tho he was the lone local in his current group.

AND NO, HE WAS FINED BY THE NBA FOR TAMPERING IN MAY, 2010!!! PLEASE DON'T TURN THIS FACT INTO A "MENTIONED WINNIPEG" THING!!!!!!

and yeah, if you had to hear him for years, you'd call him a putz.
He didn't even know who the Captain of the Thrashers was in an earlier appearance with Kincade.
He even spoke about the Hawks only at THRASHER town hall meetings.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

Listen to the back end. After the commercials, Kincade asked NOTHING but Thrasher question after question with Gearon reverting everything to the Hawks. He DID agree that an outside source wanted all 3, but simply said he wants to keep his piece. THAT seems to be the sticking point and to me, is why he keeps crying for locals even tho he was the lone local in his current group.

AND NO, HE WAS FINED BY THE NBA FOR TAMPERING IN MAY, 2010!!! PLEASE DON'T TURN THIS FACT INTO A "MENTIONED WINNIPEG" THING!!!!!!

and yeah, if you had to hear him for years, you'd call him a putz.
He didn't even know who the Captain of the Thrashers was in an earlier appearance with Kincade.
He even spoke about the Hawks only at THRASHER town hall meetings.

As someone who is not a Thrasher fan, I don't know the backstory. I can understand your frustration, as I am a season ticketholder of the Thrashers' twin, the Columbus Blue Jackets. My comments were based on 30 minutes of interview. If it makes you feel any better, and it may not- I've posted multiple times that I would love to see the Blue Jackets move to Hamilton or Winnipeg or for that matter Tokyo but on one single condition; they must keep the same ownership, team management and hockey operations dept. I'd love to see how well a team like the Thrashers or Blue Jackets would be supported under those circumstances- 1 playoff appearance in team history and the one appearance resulted in a sweep. ZERO playoff games won in team history. Little talent in the pipeline and no short term prospects for competitiveness. These teams are listed as synonyms in Webster's Dictionary for the term inept.

in·ept
[in-ept, ih-nept]

in·ept
   /ɪnˈɛpt, ɪˈnɛpt/ Show Spelled[in-ept, ih-nept] Show IPA
–adjective
1. without skill or aptitude for a particular task or assignment; maladroit: He is inept at mechanical tasks. She is inept at dealing with people.

2. generally awkward or clumsy; haplessly incompetent.

3. inappropriate; unsuitable; out of place.

—Synonyms
1. unskillful, bungling, Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders. 4. stupid, pointless, inane.

 

[Fugu]

Atlanta Biz Chronicle, I believe sourcing Forbes.

Forbes has had several as has the AJC. But only if you believe local Atlanta sources.

Wyshinski has quoted both sources on Yahoo.sports.

The Lightning will lose 30 million. Everyone loses. Maybe the NHL should just shut down.

I'd love a local source. btn said it was Forbes, and then AJC picked it from them.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Here you go:

http://www.680thefan.com/audiovault/buck_and_kincade.php#


I don't think he comes off as a putz. I don't think he's a diehard hockey fanatic, but rather a general sports fan. I'd love to hear your thoughts after you listen to this.

Almost fell asleep listening to the NBA chatter

I thought what he had to say about his childhood experiences and civic pride was nice. But it's pretty obvious the guy doesn't want to say anything about hockey, and that his defense of the operation involves talking about the Hawks as much as possible.

It actually sounded an awful lot like the prior interview basically shouting to the hills for an unknown ownership prospect to appear. It's the kind of behavior that doesn't bode well for Atlanta.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Question:

While reading up on the Steven Belkin lawsuit, an assertion (or conspiracy, if you will) that kept coming up was that ASG (minus Belkin) kept the Thrashers deprived of money due to a desire to lower their value so they could buy out Belkin for less.

Thrashers fans, is there any credence to this theory?

 

[headsigh]

Question:

While reading up on the Steven Belkin lawsuit, an assertion (or conspiracy, if you will) that kept coming up was that ASG (minus Belkin) kept the Thrashers deprived of money due to a desire to lower their value so they could buy out Belkin for less.

Thrashers fans, is there any credence to this theory?

I wouldn't even put it past them anymore.

 

[borno87]

Question:

While reading up on the Steven Belkin lawsuit, an assertion (or conspiracy, if you will) that kept coming up was that ASG (minus Belkin) kept the Thrashers deprived of money due to a desire to lower their value so they could buy out Belkin for less.

Thrashers fans, is there any credence to this theory?

Just want to make sure I understand what you're suggesting...

ASG intentionally tanked the franchise during the lawsuit, and incurred over $100M of losses in the process, thereby drastically reducing the value of the franchise and the price for a new investor/majority owner causing further losses to ASG.

The point of that exercise being to facilitate a scheme where the price to buy out Belkin for a lower price?

Are you serious?

 

[atl thrasher344]

Question:

While reading up on the Steven Belkin lawsuit, an assertion (or conspiracy, if you will) that kept coming up was that ASG (minus Belkin) kept the Thrashers deprived of money due to a desire to lower their value so they could buy out Belkin for less.

Thrashers fans, is there any credence to this theory?

I've actually heard that before and it actually makes sense. The lawsuit concluded after this season started, right? So that explains the low-spending offseasons of the past few years. Additionally, Dudley told the AJC that, at this years deadline, whenever he went to the owners to ask if they'll take on payroll, they've said it was fine. IMO, it was weird that they've all of a sudden were willing to spend money on the team, especially since we were pretty much out of it, and what you brought up might be the reason.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Just want to make sure I understand what you're suggesting...

ASG intentionally tanked the franchise during the lawsuit, and incurred over $100M of losses in the process, thereby drastically reducing the value of the franchise and the price for a new investor/majority owner causing further losses to ASG.

The point of that exercise being to facilitate a scheme where the price to buy out Belkin for a lower price?

Are you serious?

I didn't suggest it.

I read about it, and was checking with people more knowledgeable with the situation if it has any weight.

 

[nhlfan79]

Just want to make sure I understand what you're suggesting...

ASG intentionally tanked the franchise during the lawsuit, and incurred over $100M of losses in the process, thereby drastically reducing the value of the franchise and the price for a new investor/majority owner causing further losses to ASG.

The point of that exercise being to facilitate a scheme where the price to buy out Belkin for a lower price?

Are you serious?

As a day one season ticket holder, the widespread perception among the fanbase here is that that is not just a conspiracy theory, it's verifiable fact.

The arena has not undergone any meaningful maintenance in years, the ownership has done little to no marketing of hockey, every marquis star we've had has been allowed to leave (a virtual All Star lineup), and payroll has dropped from a near league high during our one playoff season (with Belkin still in the loop) to the very bottom every year after the lawsuit was filed. There haven't been any giveaway promotion nights in at least two seasons, and the "big" prizes won during intermission contests have gone from fairly nice swag to cheap things like signed pucks.

The on-ice operations have been similarly cheap since Belkin's suit. Heck, right away, they fired Cup-winning Bob Hartley six games into the season (debatable on the merits), but never spent $$$ to replace him, instead allowing Don Waddell to GM/coach for 76 games. During that time, both Dave Tippett and Peter Laviolette became available and were never considered. Ultimately, they went cheap and hired career minor league coach, John Anderson, who was canned after just two season for sucking on an epic level.

Bottom line, Belkin was the deepest pockets in the original Atlanta Spirit, and when he bailed, the rest of the Septotards lacked the funds to run both franchises and the arena well. Because the remaining idiots' passion is hoops, that's where the attention and money has been focused. They simply cannot afford to run both franchises and the hockey fans have every reason to feel like the redheaded stepchild.

Oh, did I mention that, for the past six years, they've repeatedly lied to fans that the team wasn't for sale and that they were committed to bringing a Stanley Cup championship to Atlanta? What about Bruce Levenson's epic performance at a ticket holder town hall meeting where he called one fan a "smartass" in front of nearly 1,000 ticketholders and their children? Or when he curtly told fans to "deal with it" when they questioned why ticket prices were going up while payroll went down and the team's superstars walked? Well, the fanbase did in fact "deal with it" by voting with their wallets and Spirit now wants to wash their hands of the hockey team while blaming the fans for the organization's plight. That's some real nerve.

By the way, for the first time this year, our season ticket renewal packages came by a simple, non-descript email. No fancy printed material, brochure, token gifts or anything. Just a stinkin' email with a link to where you could pay your invoice. They couldn't even afford postage.

 

[Freibahlen]

To be clear, there has been some advertisement of the Thrashers... it has been just lame.

Hockey imagery is just not these fellas strongsuit. Even down to our effeminate shield chest badge. The blue jersey was a stroke of genius by someone... but that was luck if you look at all the other imagery missteps.

The Blueland thing was lame... but tolerable. The Brutally Good Time was kind of embarrassing.

Thrash getting arrested was even more embarrassing. Having Thrash for anything outside of a kids' club is even more embarrassing.

That 3rd jersey....some one needs to get fired and possibly flogged.

That 10th anniversary logo... REALLY?!

Three completley different jersey themes. You don't have a strong enough face palm emoticon for this one. Nuclear facepalm. Someone please get on that.

Going further, that effeminate shield has woody the woodpecker being shoved down the toilet with a hockey stick.

Even more, woody the woodpecker is our thrasher logo.

These boys couldn't get imagery right to save their lives.

So... in this way, I am kinda glad that they haven't done much media blitz. It would just be lame-overload.

I will say this though, in our playoff apprearance a few years ago, it was all over the place.

Those games were fun. You couldn't hardly hear the announcers on the television from crowd noise. The game I was able to get tickets for was just electric. That was a riot.

 

[nhlfan79]

To be clear, there has been some advertisement of the Thrashers... it has been just lame.

Hockey imagery is just not these fellas strongsuit. Even down to our effeminate shield chest badge. The blue jersey was a stroke of genius by someone... but that was luck if you look at all the other imagery missteps.

The Blueland thing was lame... but tolerable. The Brutally Good Time was kind of embarrassing.

Thrash getting arrested was even more embarrassing. Having Thrash for anything outside of a kids' club is even more embarrassing.

That 3rd jersey....some one needs to get fired and possibly flogged.

That 10th anniversary logo... REALLY?!

Three completley different jersey themes. You don't have a strong enough face palm emoticon for this one. Nuclear facepalm. Someone please get on that.

Going further, that effeminate shield has woody the woodpecker being shoved down the toilet with a hockey stick.

Even more, woody the woodpecker is our thrasher logo.

These boys couldn't get imagery right to save their lives.

So... in this way, I am kinda glad that they haven't done much media blitz. It would just be lame-overload.

I will say this though, in our playoff apprearance a few years ago, it was all over the place.

Those games were fun. You couldn't hardly hear the announcers on the television from crowd noise. The game I was able to get tickets for was just electric. That was a riot.

To be fair, most everything you described is simply branding, not marketing. They've spent precious little on advertising since taking over. I've seen literally two billboards total, and you never see Thrashers TV ads outside of their own game broadcasts. They don't get the players out in the community or do anything creative. Their best/only effort in years was the Thrash Gets Arrested campaign, which had the production value of something a high school A/V class would slap together with a $100 budget.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

As a day one season ticket holder, the widespread perception among the fanbase here is that that is not just a conspiracy theory, it's verifiable fact.

This entire post should be stickied. Well said.

 

[Freibahlen]

To be fair, most everything you described is simply branding, not marketing. They've spent precious little on advertising since taking over. I've seen literally two billboards total, and you never see Thrashers TV ads outside of their own game broadcasts. They don't get the players out in the community or do anything creative. Their best/only effort in years was the Thrash Gets Arrested campaign, which had the production value of something a high school A/V class would slap together with a $100 budget.

You are right, it is primarily branding. However, when it is put on a jersey and it is worn by a fan or put on a billboard or a commercial, that is when it also becomes marketing. Passive as it is, but it is also marketing. Not meaning to be argumentative as I agree, but only mostly.

 

[Whileee]

To be clear, there has been some advertisement of the Thrashers... it has been just lame.

Hockey imagery is just not these fellas strongsuit. Even down to our effeminate shield chest badge. The blue jersey was a stroke of genius by someone... but that was luck if you look at all the other imagery missteps.

The Blueland thing was lame... but tolerable. The Brutally Good Time was kind of embarrassing.

Thrash getting arrested was even more embarrassing. Having Thrash for anything outside of a kids' club is even more embarrassing.

That 3rd jersey....some one needs to get fired and possibly flogged.

That 10th anniversary logo... REALLY?!

Three completley different jersey themes. You don't have a strong enough face palm emoticon for this one. Nuclear facepalm. Someone please get on that.

Going further, that effeminate shield has woody the woodpecker being shoved down the toilet with a hockey stick.

Even more, woody the woodpecker is our thrasher logo.

These boys couldn't get imagery right to save their lives.

So... in this way, I am kinda glad that they haven't done much media blitz. It would just be lame-overload.

I will say this though, in our playoff apprearance a few years ago, it was all over the place.

Those games were fun. You couldn't hardly hear the announcers on the television from crowd noise. The game I was able to get tickets for was just electric. That was a riot.

Based on the rather good performance of the Hawks in the playoffs, the clear affection that Gearon has for their NBA franchise, and recent comments, does it now seem that the ASG group is not inclined to sell all three in a package (i.e. Hawks, Thrashers, Arena Management)? It seems that they are most interested in getting new investors to help them defray the operating losses and/or sell the Thrashers outright (locally, preferably). But, as has been noted previously, the value proposition of a local sale of just the Thrashers must be questionable. For one thing, the selling price for a local sale would likely be much lower than selling out of town. Second, it seems unlikely that ASG could provide the sort of lease concessions that would be required to make the Thrashers viable in the near to mid-term. So, as long as ASG is looking for just investors or a sale of the Thrashers, it would seem that a local solution might be problematic.

For me, the question will be how heavy the NHL will be on insisting on a local sale. I suppose that they could prohibit a relocation sale, though that might seriously disturb the current owners, and perhaps create some rather unpleasant reactions and ripple effects. In any case, it doesn't appear that there will be any easy solutions, but I suppose that has been known for some time now.

 

[King Woodballs]

fans blaming owners
owners blaming fans

 

[DungeonK]

fans blaming owners
owners blaming fans

Thanks for the analysis, who do you think is right? Neither?

 

[nhlfan79]

This entire post should be stickied. Well said.

Thanks. I forgot to also mention that when you walk into the arena, all you see is giant Hawks pictures and signage. Nothing Thrashers. In the arena bowl, there are giant wall images of several Hawks players, but no Thrashers. Oh, they had big pictures of Kovy, Kozlov, and Lehtonen in the past, but took them down when they all left and never replaced them with pictures of any current players.

Philips Arena clearly is decorated as a full time NBA arena that just coincidentally happens to occasionally host hockey games.

 

[King Woodballs]

Thanks for the analysis, who do you think is right? Neither?

Tough for me to say
I am not well informed on the whole situation
But with the limited knowledge that I do have I would say I cant blame either

Dont blame the fans for not wanting to go see crap night in and night out
But without the fans going tough for the owners to spend money on building a decent team

just a vicious circle that keeps getting worse with time....
something will eventually have to give in