Group offered $500 million for Hawks/Philips Arena/Thrashers on May 20

[wjhl2009fan]

I suspect the best that Atlanta fans can hope for is that the NHL is somehow persuaded that those fans got a raw deal and grant Atlanta an expansion franchise in a few years. If I recall correctly, Seattle got the Mariners as an expansion franchise as a result of legal action over elements of the Pilots being moved to Milwaukee.

You still have to have a owner now down the road if there is a owner and if they sell a set amount of season tickets then maybe one day they will have a team again.

 

[Killion]

I'm sorry, you'll have to speak to my lawyer... Gennaro Bizzarro.

Rumor has it he put himself through Law School moonlighting as an art restorer, working on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel perched atop an 80' high pneumatically controlled uni-cycle, belting out Giuseppe' Verdi's Rigoletto in Castrato while dressed in a Green Man leotard.

 

[RoyalAir]

Based on the Atlanta market, betting on the NBA over the NHL makes sense, so I am not surprised that they dumped the Thrashers.

This isn't accurate regarding the Atlanta market. The racial demographics would suggest that the NBA would be more popular, but the Hawks have never done a good job tapping into arguably the largest black middle class in the US. Before ASG bought all three, walking about town you saw far, far more Thrashers merchandise on people and cars than you ever did Hawks stuff. When the ASG allowed the Thrashers to rust on the vine, the fanbase ignored them, but it did not create an inverse amount of support for the Hawks, even as they were getting better. Perhaps it would have been different if the Hawks had a Kobe or Lebron, but they've got one better: Joe Johnson. So, yeah.

It's impossible to prove, of course, but I'd wager everything I've ever owned that if the Thrashers had the same record and amount of playoff success that the Hawks had had under the ASG's ownership, interest in the Thrashers would be 5x what the Hawks have had. Sure, I'm biased, but I also know the market. Something else to keep in mind, is that with Stewart, Buff, and especially Kane, black interest in hockey was growing in Atlanta by leaps and bounds. I'd also wager that Thrashers games had one of the most diverse crowds in all the NHL.

But hey, the NHL gets rid of the ASG and pockets $60 million in the process. Everyone is happy.

 

[Blasto]

...But hey, the NHL gets rid of the ASG and pockets $60 million in the process. Everyone is happy.

Everyone being A$G, NHL, & TSNE/Winnepeg.

Atlanta fans get kicked in the nuts...AGAIN.

 

[Jet]

When you have Bill Daly in Winnipeg saying the relocation was in the best interests of the league yesterday, and Gary Bettman repeatedly saying nobody wanted to own the team in Atlanta.

It is hard to say that the NHL didn't want this to happen....assuming they were made aware of this offer.

Sorry, I call gigantic bull on this.

I understand the pain ATL fans are going through, but to suggest the NHL:

A> Wanted to move a team from one of the largest US markets to the smallest North American major league market.
B> Care even one iota about getting ASG more money

... is ridiculous at best. The NHL loathed the move, but were forced into it. Something else is going on here.

Also, as much as I can appreciate the supreme dooshbaggery of ASG for what they did to hockey and Thrashers fans in ATL, they have every right as businessmen to get as much for their assets as possible. If that meant splitting stuff up, then so be it.

 

[Whileee]

So instead of paying $500M for the arena, the B-ball team, and the hockey team... they will end up paying $499.99M for just the arena and B-ball team.

Yesterday, Daly said the BoG vote to allow the transfer and sale to TNSE is a no-brainer. They are voting on this, not what's happening with ASG ( which has the right to sell thier assests as they see fit )

Short of someone suing ASG to stop the sale of the hockey team, the vote will pass, and the asset will be sold.

It seems certain that the NHL already knew about this before the USA Today, so presumably they have factored this into their consideration of the TNSE sale and relocation.

 

[Blasto]

Sorry, I call gigantic bull on this.

I understand the pain ATL fans are going through, but to suggest the NHL:

A> Wanted to move a team from one of the largest US markets to the smallest North American major league market.
B> Care even one iota about getting ASG more money

... is ridiculous at best. The NHL loathed the move, but were forced into it. Something else is going on here.

Also, as much as I can appreciate the supreme dooshbaggery of ASG for what they did to hockey and Thrashers fans in ATL, they have every right as businessmen to get as much for their assets as possible. If that meant splitting stuff up, then so be it.

NHL has a conflict of interest here. 60M reloc fee (-20m back to A$G??)

 

[Confucius]

Sigh;

1) Dexter Chappell & Bernard Woodside?.
2) A quickly assembled coalition of Thrashers fans?.
3) The City of Atlanta?.

and their legal argument is? Oh, ASG didn't sell to the guy we want......

 

[Fidel Astro]

While I'll agree with most of that as I don't see much validity to this offer so far, I don't think there's ever a situation where the relocation of a team is considered a "bonus" for PR. It's never a good thing, and it never paints the league in a good light to see a market fail, especially with the sport vying for credibility in the US as it is.

It's good PR for the league in Canada. There has been a mountain of positive press about the NHL since the Winnipeg announcement, and merch with the old Jets logos is selling like crazy... not just here in Winnipeg, but across the country.

There has been a very real sentiment over the past decade and a half that the NHL (and Bettman in particular) has an anti-Canadian bias. I'm sure you've seen that come up time and again on these boards. Whether it's true or not is irrelevant -- a lot of Canadian fans feel slighted by the NHL and ignored in favour of "new" southern fans, who, as things turned out, haven't really been as interested in hockey as the league hoped.

Canada may have a small population compared to the US, but in terms of hockey fans per capita, we're huge. Bringing more teams up here, especially if they're teams that had been taken away from us years earlier, is nothing but positive for the NHL in this country.

A lot of people (especially on these boards) tend to discount Canadian fans, assuming we're so obsessed we'll watch hockey no matter what. While that's true, for the most part, it doesn't mean there hasn't been a very real sense that the NHL had been taking us for granted.

Now that Winnipeg is back in the mix, people are more positive about the NHL up here. It's a good thing for the league's image.

 

[kdb209]

Sigh;

1) Dexter Chappell & Bernard Woodside?.

Unless they have some exclusive negotiating right agreement that was violated they have no grounds.

The have no right to purchase a team that the owner chooses to sell to someone else - especially since TNSE/ASG signed the purchase agreement before this group even submitted their offer.

If anything, TNSE/ASG could have a case for tortuous interference against them.

2) A quickly assembled coalition of Thrashers fans?.

On what grounds??? I'd love to see them try to argue something before ASG gets a summary judgment dismissal - in the very unlikely event they would ever get a lawyer to take the case.

3) The City of Atlanta?.

Again, on what grounds. There is no contractual agreement with the city that the Thrashers remain. Unlike Phoenix, the Thrashers' lease is with ASG, not the city.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

I really hope that all the facts regarding this offer come out. I would be outraged if this comes to light as a legitimate offer to keep the team in Atlanta, as I would understand how it would feel if this was happening to me. Unfortunately probably the best outcome is for this deal to not be legitimate as I strongly doubt that this will in any way effect the move and might make the losing of the team slightly easier if it was true that in fact there was no real offer. At least that's how I would feel.

 

[RoyalAir]

Everyone being A$G, NHL, & TSNE/Winnepeg.

Atlanta fans get kicked in the nuts...AGAIN.

Well, yeah, but you're not real, anyway, nor do you matter as a fanbase. That's been made abundantly clear in how the NHL has done its business recently, and how some fans have been treated by others.

So, since you don't really exist, everyone that matters is happy.

 

[Jet]

NHL has a conflict of interest here. 60M reloc fee (-20m back to A$G??)

Actually there is no conflict of interest. It's a company dealing with a franchisee.

I also find it hard to believe that the NHL would seriously value a one time payment of 40MM more than the value of being in the 8th largest US market.

 

[beowulf]

I am in the group that says this will have absolutely no effect on the current sale and the team will be playing in the 'Peg in the fall.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

The problem here is that, while the NHL does have a say in whom ASG can sell the Thrashers to (as in, if two groups came forward, the NHL has the means to pressure ASG to veer toward one or the other), they have no such power concerning Phillips Arena or the NBA Hawks.

So as long as no one comes forward with 100 million to buy the Thrashers (which no one will do or would have done, for good reason), then ASG can say all they want that there "was no local interest", whether it is entirely truthful or not.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

The problem here is that, while the NHL does have a say in whom ASG can sell the Thrashers to (as in, if two groups came forward, the NHL has the means to pressure ASG to veer toward one or the other), they have no such power concerning Phillips Arena or the NBA Hawks.

So as long as no one comes forward with 100 million to buy the Thrashers (which no one will do or would have done, for good reason), then ASG can say all they want that there "was no local interest", whether it is entirely truthful or not.

And another big reason for no local interest is the arena itself. Even if you find a group willing to shell out 100 million, you still have the issue of leasing to ASG to play in the arena and I sincerely doubt that they're going to even try to help or if they even came to the table, they'd make it completely unreasonable to do business with them.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

And another big reason for no local interest is the arena itself. Even if you find a group willing to shell out 100 million, you still have the issue of leasing to ASG to play in the arena and I sincerely doubt that they're going to even try to help or if they even came to the table, they'd make it completely unreasonable to do business with them.

Exactly.

No one wants to have anything to do with these ****ers. They are a joke.

And they have made it clear, unless they make money off of hockey (read: absurd lease), then Phillips Arena will be hockey free for a long time.

That's why the only "local interest offers" we heard were package deals, either from Anson Carter, Tom Glavine or this article.

 

[Blasto]

And another big reason for no local interest is the arena itself. Even if you find a group willing to shell out 100 million, you still have the issue of leasing to ASG to play in the arena and I sincerely doubt that they're going to even try to help or if they even came to the table, they'd make it completely unreasonable to do business with them.

So why not just say it then.

There was NEVER going to be any realistic chance of a sale to anyone that wanted to keep the team in Atlanta, EVER.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

So why not just say it then.

There was NEVER going to be any realistic chance of a sale to anyone that wanted to keep the team in Atlanta, EVER.

Well, Bettman could say that there was never a realistic chance but he couldn't exactly go into detail why. If he did, there would probably be some lawsuits from ASG over slandering. I think the course of events is all the evidence necessary to show that it wasn't going to happen due to ASG.

 

[RoyalAir]

So why not just say it then.

There was NEVER going to be any realistic chance of a sale to anyone that wanted to keep the team in Atlanta, EVER.

This is the primary crux of the issue. The ASG were hellbent for leather to kick hockey out of the city, at whatever cost. They operated out of spite from the very beginning. It's not illegal, sure. But I hope this serves as a cautionary tale for the NHL when it comes to approving potential ownership groups. Had Daly and Bettman done their homework from the very beginning, we likely wouldn't have been in this mess.

 

[Fugu]

MOD: Gang, let's not rehash all the failing market stuff (in both places).

Thread is about a bid to acquire the Hawks + arena, with possibly the Thrashers having been included.

 

[codswallop]

Not getting all of the defensiveness (again). Most or all of us have accepted that it's done; signed, sealed, delivered. The vote is merely a formality.

No grasping at straws, no hope for a last second miracle. Though, could you really blame anyone if they did that? Call me crazy, but I'd say it's extremely hypocritical for a real fan to call anybody else out for having that last shred of hope.

If this story has any merit and/or if any other true offers were made, then I'd love to hear the league's explanation. I highly doubt the NHL will give us anything more than rhetoric about this fiasco though, but a guy can dream...

That's the very least that we're owed. And at this point, that's all that I'm asking for.

 

[tbcwpg]

I think ASG is screwed either way. If they dismiss the offer outright, and the offer turns out to be legitimate, they can face some pretty big legal action. If they can explain it as "we didn't want to sell the whole package", then they have to prove why they had the exclusivity agreement. It would be pretty tough to prove that somebody had no intention to sell them in the first place, but the timeline makes it look suspicious.

I don't see how ASG comes out of this with any sort of goodwill. I don't think they tried very hard to find a local owner, and they would have made it very difficult for a local owner to keep the team in the city legitimately.

 

[headsigh]

I believe I speak for everyone when I say lolA$G.

 

[kdb209]

I think ASG is screwed either way. If they dismiss the offer outright, and the offer turns out to be legitimate, they can face some pretty big legal action. If they can explain it as "we didn't want to sell the whole package", then they have to prove why they had the exclusivity agreement. It would be pretty tough to prove that somebody had no intention to sell them in the first place, but the timeline makes it look suspicious.

I don't see how ASG comes out of this with any sort of goodwill. I don't think they tried very hard to find a local owner, and they would have made it very difficult for a local owner to keep the team in the city legitimately.

Again - legal action by who??? and on what grounds???