Chances of Hawks Moving Cities

[ncthompson11]

Is there any chance that the hawks would ever move from atlanta? I hope they always stay in the ATL but with fan support declining it would seem a new owner might would want to move them. I would not want them to go to Vegas as they said there would be a team there some day.

[bumpyphish1]

will never happen, thankfully...bball will be huge here once we get a decent product again...new owners would be stupid to move from a huge place like ATL

[ncthompson11]

Alright thats good to hear. I heard rumors of the braves leaving a few years ago. I pray the hawks and braves are here forever.

[Seano]

There is always a chance. I mean who'd have ever thought that the Supersonics- a proud franchise with a long history and a championship banner to its credit, would ever leave Seattle? I doubt that anyone ever contemplated that scenario, much less considered it a likely one. But according to their owner as of yesterday, the Sonics in Seattle are as good as gone. Sonics likely to leave Seattle

It's sad to see that. It'd be terrible to see it happen to the Hawks, but it's just a reality in professional sports that very well conceivably could occur.

[AtLaS]

Yeah I doubt it happens, ATL is a great basketball city and we are consistently in the top 5-10 in TV ratings for the playoffs every year. All we need is to put a product on the floor.

[bumpyphish1]

Seattle ain't Atlanta. And, even if (God, forbid) Belkin won the court battle, he would not move the city. There are just too many possibilities for revenue in a city like ATL. With any sort of good product, you could make big $$$ here.

[AHF]

I think basketball should stay forever in Atlanta but nothing is certain. If Belkin was offered a sweetheart deal by Vegas or elsewhere and could find a way to do it, I think he (or an owner like him without ties to Atlanta) would not hesitate to move the team.

How can we feel secure with moves by NFL teams out of the Los Angelas market; out of the fiercly loyal Cleveland and Baltimore markets (albeit with subsequent replacement teams), etc.?

[Dejay]

Everything is possible although with the lease deal the Hawks have with the arena, it is very doubtful. Belkin and his gang would have to give up an assload of $$$ to get out of that deal and any elected official who signs off on it will be left hanging out to dry come re-election time.

But as I've stated before, if it were to happen, I'd never watch another NBA game again. I don't want this team to leave, only to have the lightbulb pop on in the front office like it did with the Rams, Grizzlies (Vancouver would've loved those playoff appearances the last three years), Ravens, Avalanche, Flames, Hurricanes, etc. With the Phoenix Coyotes being the exception, every team that moves always has a quantum leap in success in terms of on-field performance. You don't think the folks in Cleveland would've loved to have seen the Browns win a Super Bowl there instead of having to stomach watching Art Modell hoist the Lombardi trophy in Baltimore? It still makes my blood boil thinking of the Flames winning a Stanley Cup and playing for two more since leaving here in 1981; those title runs in the mid-late '80s would've done wonders here, especially considering how wretched the Braves and Falcons were at the time. Not disrespecting the Thrashers because I love 'em but there was history with the Flames; they were getting big crowds when the other three teams couldn't give away tickets in the '70s. That, along with the run they had later could've made things really special here.

I want my payoff from the near 30 years of having to stomach the bad draft picks, the jacked up trades, in the form of a championship parade down Peachtree Street, not having to watch it from Louisville or Las Vegas. And judging by this board, I'm not alone.

[DrReality]

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will never happen, thankfully...bball will be huge here once we get a decent product again...new owners would be stupid to move from a huge place like ATL

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Agreed. Don't think Stern would let this happen. Atl is too important for many reasons including a huge draw for the region, players love the city, media capitol and just the population. If things got serious about moving them, Stern would do something.

That is one reason why I think the conspiracy theory could work for us this year. I thnk Stern wants us to succeed for the benefit of the league. I think we've taken a beating and Stern is not happy about it. Getting one of the top three picks would be good for the NBA in Stern's eyes.

[DrReality]

I read somewhere that Memphis could be the team to be moved. That would not surprise me since Memphis is not really that big and is a second class city. There is also talk they could be sold. That would make sense that some of the deep money in Vegas would invest to move them?

[Hoosier]

I have heard the Cavaliers may be moving to Las Vegas after the season is over. It does not make sense, but I heard it from a reliable source.

[PureGreatness]

atlanta always are in the top 10 in playoff views, all we need is to put our teams in the playoffs.

[frosgrim]

Those teams mentioned by DJ all had horrible stadiums/venues to play in. Atlanta has Phillips, which is rated as one of the BEST places to watch and play both b-ball and hockey. The owners of the Atlanta teams also have the operating rights to Phillips, meaning its a cash cow. To move the Hawks would require not only selling the Thrashers, but giving up the rights to Phillips, which makes no sense. Yes, the Hawks maybe loosing money, but the owners are doing fine with income they are getting from the arena itself.

I saw someone post that the Cavs might move to Vegas. I can't see that happening as the Gund is new and packed every night. Why would you move out of that situation, and why would the league allow it?

Seattle is the most likely team to be moved due to the horrible arena they have. Stern talked about it all year. The next most likely team are the Kings and that is only because of the Maloofs. If the Grizz move, where would they go? At this point in time the only open market for basket ball is Vegas, and I am not convinced that LV is actually a good move in terms of consistent fan support. A bad team in Vegas will get NO attendance, there are simply too many other fun things to do.

So, if I were to place an odds on the Hawks leaving Atlanta in the next 10 years I would put it at 1:1,000,000. Possible but highly improbable.

[Yeti]

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There is always a chance. I mean who'd have ever thought that the Supersonics- a proud franchise with a long history and a championship banner to its credit, would ever leave Seattle? I doubt that anyone ever contemplated that scenario, much less considered it a likely one. But according to their owner as of yesterday, the Sonics in Seattle are as good as gone.

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The Seattle situation is very different. Two problems there, first, when the (dispised) Starbucks CEO sold the team, the new owners (a group from Oklahoma) came in basically telling everyone that they wanted to move the team to Oklahoma. Oh, they'd give Seattle a chance of course. Naturally attendence dropped because people did not want to get attached to a team that was running out. Second, the team wanted the city and state fund a new arena - after they had just built new baseball and football stadiums. The city and state are refusing so far - the voters are dead against it. So the owners are using this as their excuse to do what they wanted to do all along.

Our situation could be similar if Belkin wins the team and really wants it in Las Vegas. He'd be looking for an excuse.

By the way, all the trouble in Seattle has the Portland fans worried. They were the most fanatical fans I'd ever seen 10-15 years ago, but then they entered the Jailblazer era and the attendence dropped off. Now it is recovering. The NBA team is the only major league sports team in Portland. Now with the Sonics leaving, some think that the Trailblazers might move up to Seattle. The owner is Paul Allen one of the Seattle Microsoft billionaires and owner of the Seahawks.

I think we are in much better shape than those people. I'm not worried about a move right now.