A-town down?

Atlanta sports teams are making national headlines. But maybe not quite the kinds one would hope for. Both the New York Times and Washington Post had some fun with an AP story on Atlanta sports following the Braves’ epic collapse and failure to reach the postseason. The headline in the Times read:

“In Atlanta, Hopes for a Title This Fall Rest on the Dream.” And included the ever-so-clever lede, “The Braves blew it. The Falcons are struggling. The Thrashers are gone. The Hawks? Who knows when they will play another game.”

The Post took their own spin on the same story:

“While Atlanta mopes over its sports teams, Dream provides hope with second trip to WNBA finals.“

Well, it’s nice to know that Atlanta’s WNBA team  is getting some recognition, but did it have to come at the expense of our other teams?

“The Braves squandered a seemingly comfortable lead for a baseball wild card and were eliminated from the playoffs on the final day. The Falcons, expected to be a Super Bowl contender, are off to a sluggish 1-2 start. The Hawks are sidelined by the NBA lockout, which shows no signs of ending before at least some games are lost. The Thrashers moved to Winnipeg after last season, costing the city its second NHL team.”

The Falcons take on the Seahawks this afternoon on Fox. The Dream play the Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals tonight on on ESPN. Let’s hope these two teams can give the city a little redemption on the national stage.

The details of the sale of the Hawks by the Atlanta Spirit Group to Alex Meruelo were recently released. Meruelo’s purchase of the team was made official on Monday but the financials were not released at the time.

It looks like the final price tag was $300 million. This figure includes an 80 percent stake in the team as well as the operating rights to Philips Arena. It also includes the arena’s remaining debt of $120 million.

By means of comparison, the Atlanta Spirit sold the city’s NHL team, the Thrashers for $170 million. While the Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg, Canada, the Hawks remain tied to Atlanta through 2029: the $120 million debt is in bond obligations to the city.

According to a recent study conducted by On Numbers, the Hawks are the 4th most difficult team in the NBA for fans to get behind. Only the Kings, Bucks and Clippers were behind Atlanta. None of those teams had winning records, and none of those teams made the playoffs this past season.

Somehow though, the findings didn’t surprise me that much. Hawks fans boo their own players on a consistent basis, hockey supporters were so few and far between that the team was shipped off to Canada, and you can usually buy playoff tickets to Braves games the day of. So what makes Atlanta such a tough place for sports fans to get really riled up?

In the Hawks’ case, taking a look at the study’s methodology sheds some light on the findings. There’s a lot in here on standard deviations, consistent terminology across the four sports evaluated, different weighting of categories, etc. But it basically looks at a team’s record over the past 10 years, number of playoff wins/appearances (with more points for championships), and time elapsed since the most recent “landmarks,” i.e., chamionships and appearances in title games/playoffs.

While the Hawks’ 13-win season in 2004-2005 surely didn’t help, the team has at least made the playoffs pretty consistently over the past ten years. What really killed them was likely the “time elapsed since the most recent landmark” part. The last time Atlanta won an NBA championship? 1958.

I’m not sure if this is good news or bad news: justification for going to support your pro team and feeling like you’re at a high school basketball game?; or just the sad realization that your team hasn’t given you much of a reason to cheer over the past decade…

Last Thursday, USA Today reported that a minority investment group had put in a $500 million bid to buy the Atlanta Spirit Group including the Hawks, Thrashers and operating rights to Philips Arena. W/C Holdings, led by former LSU basketball player Bernard Woodside, expressed interest in the Atlanta market, particularly for the group’s influence in the African American community:

“It’s critical and something that weighs heavily on our entire team of African Americans because we look at this as something that would be favorable for the African-American community and representing the community correctly,” Woodside said. “It’s an important aspect we never lose sight upon.”

The group acknowledged the recent sale of the Thrashers to True North and stated that it would adjust its offer for the Hawks and Philips Arena down once the Thrashers’ move had been made official.

However, it looks like the deal may be nothing more than speculation. A source close to the Spirit stated that the bid was

“another crazy rumor,” “there was no truth to it,” and they were “surprised USA Today printed it.”

Check back for more updates on this supposed deal as it unfolds!

It’s official. The Atlanta Thrashers are on their way up north. The Atlanta Spirit Group, owner of the Hawks and operating rights to Philips Arena, sold Atlanta’s professional hockey team to True North Sports and Entertainment earlier today. The team will play in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the 2011-12 season.

Economics drives a lot of transactions in sports, and the sale of the Thrashers was no exception. Atlanta Spirit, which had been under financial stress, will receive $170 million, and the NHL will take in a $60 million relocation fee from True North.

The move doesn’t necessarily erase the financial difficulties of operating a team in the league, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman acknowledged the challenges True North will face, particularly with the Thrashers playing in the 15,015-seat MTS Centre, the smallest arena in the NHL:

“It isn’t going to work very well unless this building is sold out every night,” Bettman said.”

However, Winnipeg just might be better suited to bear some of the financial burdens. The Thrashers will no longer be competing with the likes of the Braves, Falcons and Hawks for fans, and Winnipeg has been itching for a pro hockey team ever since the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996.

While several Thrasher players and fans are outraged about the move, some are looking on the bright side. Atlanta goalie Chris Mason stated:

“I remember growing up watching the Jets, and I’m just excited to know NHL hockey is coming back to a city that has always wanted hockey.”

And Vancouver Canucks player Alex Burrows pointed out:

“I’d rather play in a rink that holds 15,000 and feels like it’s 20,000 than go into a building with 20,000 seats and just 5,000 fans.”

And besides, the Canadian dollar is stronger than the U.S. dollar now anyways, right?

Well, it looks like the Hawks and Philips Arena will remain under Atlanta Spirit ownership despite earlier talks with John Moores who had expressed interest in buying the team. The prior exclusive negotiating period was ended without any agreements before the window closed on Friday. According to Spirit partner Michael Gearon, Jr., the decision was not provoked by one side or another, but rather “ended by mutual agreement after preliminary discussions.”

On the other side of the house, it looks like the Thrasher are getting closer and closer to a move up north. The AJC indicated that the Spirit was nearing a finalization of the sale of Atlanta’s hockey team to True North Sports and Entertainment, which would move the team up to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

While Atlanta’s pro baseball, basketball and football teams are clearly the city’s focus (SB Nation calls out the AJC outright for prioritizing an inconsequential regular season Braves game over the potential sale), the Thrashers had developed a loyal following in their 11 years in the city.

It’s like the unfortunate consequences for two kids caught in the middle of an ugly divorce– you go with mom, you go with dad. Atlanta Spirit, LLC, the ownership group of the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena was recently criticized by Thrashers forward Chris Thorburn for how the group has handled the proposed sale of the Thrashers. Thorburn commented to Fox 5 News at a public appearance last Saturday:

“For owners to turn your [sic] backs on you, it kind of makes you mad. Obviously, we don’t know every aspect of the deal and where they’re coming from because it hasn’t been publicly noted in the papers. From everything we heard and rumors we heard, it’s discouraging knowing that they’re not behind us and they’re trying to dump us. That makes a guy mad.”

While the details of both deals are still in the works, it looks like any potential sale of Atlanta Spirit’s holdings would be separate: the Thrashers to a Winnipeg investment group; the Hawks and Philips Arena to former San Diego Padres owner John Moores. Doesn’t seem like there’s a whole lot of “Atlanta spirit” going around…

Will the Hawks soon be the sole pro sports team owned by the Atlanta Spirit?! The lone defender of Philips Arena?! No more fighting for mom and dad’s attention?! (And wallet, for that matter.)

The possibility isn’t that far fetched. Atlanta Spirit, LLC, owner of both the Hawks and the Thrashers since 2004, move closer and closer to divesting its ownership of the Thrashers due to financial troubles. There has been speculation that the team would move to Winnipeg where an investment group, True North has expressed interest. In its 11 seasons in Atlanta, the Thrashers have made the playoffs only once, and rank 28 of 30 in attendance for NHL teams.

Atlanta Spirit is still looking for an investor that will keep the team in Atlanta. Among the interested parties is former Atlanta Braves pitcher and hockey aficionado, Tom Glavine. Glavine stated on a local radio station that he would be interested in organizing an ownership group. And fans are doing what they can, with sites like Thrasher Backer popping up to try to garner support for keeping the team in Atlanta.

It will take a while for everything to play out, but it could be a long winter for Atlanta sports fans with the way things are looking between the Thrashers’ troubles and potential lockouts in the NBA and NFL.