Atlanta mayor: 'No less than six prospective buyers' for Hawks
As the fallout continues amidst the revelations of racially insensitive conduct by Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry and owner Bruce Levensen, the mayor of Atlanta said Wednesday that as many as six separate parties have reached out to discuss a potential purchase of the franchise. From the AP:
The mayor has already heard from plenty of potential buyers for the Atlanta Hawks.
And the city is ready to kick in a hefty sum to make the deal happen.Flanked by Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins and other city leaders, Mayor Kasim Reed said Tuesday he expects the sale of the team to move briskly after racially charged comments by owner Bruce Levenson and general manager Danny Ferry.
"I have had conversations with no less than six prospective buyers," Reed said during a City Hall news conference. "All six of those prospective buyers will have to go through a process to be vetted by the NBA. That process is going to occur very quickly."
via Atlanta mayor: Plenty of potential Hawks buyers.
How much the team goes for will be fascinating to track. The small-market Sacramento Kings sold for $534 million, the mega-market Los Angeles Clippers after a racism scandal involving owner Donald Sterling went for $2 billion to Microsoft icon Steve Ballmer. Atlanta stands as something of a paradox. It's at once a huge market, so incredibly lucrative to own a sports team in, and a bad sports town in terms of attendance and Phillips arena where they play.
Could the Hawks go for as much as $750 million? It's clear after the Sterling debacle that no matter how damaged the public relations goods are, the value of the team in terms of market are what matters.
With the mayor's office so heavily involved in this process, you can expect there to be very little in the way of outside interest allowed in. So potential "buy-and-relocate" parties like Larry Ellison (who is worth $48 billion and has been shopping for an NBA team for over a half-decade) and Chris Hansen in Seattle may not even get close to the process. How much the team fetches for local ownership should be of huge interest, however, even as all the dominoes are yet to fall from the scandal.
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