Sources: Sale of Hawks Off - ASG Owns Team

[bonethugz]

"The Atlanta Hawks are no longer for sale. Levenson said in a statement issued by the Hawks. We're excited to remain as owners of the Hawks and are committed to building on our string of four straight playoff appearances"

Meruelo was saying championship and the current group were saying playoff appearances......by the way, the nba was the one to approve, or not approve that

i never like the nba and the hawks this little.......i can't believe i didn't care at all..... well at least i'm excited about getting our 2nd wins against the colts' franchise this sunday.......

[niremetal]

Yawn.

[MaceCase]

One more question... well, a multi-part one. Are the out-of-town members of this crew still down for the struggle as well? If Mr. "More than ample resources" Meruelo still dreams of being an owner, can't he just buy the non-ATLiens out first, then purchase the rest once he gets his financial **** together? I don't get how he can go from "I'm fully committed" to "Meh" like that.

~lw3

Exactly, weren't the ASG originally claiming that they weren't looking for a majority buyer but just another business partner instead?

Meh, I guess Meruelo's business pitch to Gearon started like this at one of his local pizza shops.

[DrReality]

Don't think the FA will make much difference given that our contracts will not give us any room to be active.

[Endy9]

So the ASG looks like big winners if the season goes down. They save the 20-30 million they claim they lose every year. <grin>

[lifelong]

I bet ASG decided they can actually afford the team if David Stern gets a radically better labor deal, which it looks like he might (after a whole lot of pain, but still).

Edited November 7, 2011 by lifelong

[hawkman]

I bet ASG decided they can actually afford the team if David Stern gets a radically better labor deal, which it looks like he might (after a whole lot of pain, but still).

^^^This. The ASG and all other 'struggling' owners will benefit greatly if the union gives in to the hard line stance the league is taking on the division of revenue.

[AHF]

I bet ASG decided they can actually afford the team if David Stern gets a radically better labor deal, which it looks like he might (after a whole lot of pain, but still).

While the ASG would certainly benefit from a much better labor deal, the ASG changing its mind was not the issue. This was an issue for the NBA who nixed the deal. It was out of the hands of the ASG.

[lifelong]

While the ASG would certainly benefit from a much better labor deal, the ASG changing its mind was not the issue. This was an issue for the NBA who nixed the deal. It was out of the hands of the ASG.

True, but then why the whole "the Hawks are off the market" statement? Why don't they put it back out on the market? Is it because nobody else wants it?

[lethalweapon3]

How has David McDavid been doing lately?

~lw3

[Randy]

Seems to me that they don't want to go into the new season saying out loud "Hey anyone this team is for sale." Who wants to go to games when the owners are trying to abandon ship. I'm guessing they will probably call back everyone they've talked to so far and see who else is out there. They just will be quiet about.

[AHF]

True, but then why the whole "the Hawks are off the market" statement? Why don't they put it back out on the market? Is it because nobody else wants it?

It is because they just marketed the team and this was the best they could get....and that didn't get approved by the league. Now they might as well wait until the labor uncertainty is resolved and then put the team back up for sale. Until the CBA is settled, the team won't be at maximum sale potential.

[niremetal]

True, but then why the whole "the Hawks are off the market" statement? Why don't they put it back out on the market? Is it because nobody else wants it?

Stern might have said something to them too. Something to the effect of "table the idea of selling the team until the lockout is over." From the NBA's perspective, they don't want an owner without the (relatively liquid) financial resources necessary to purchase a stake in the team, because the NBA can't risk having an owner's stake in the team subject to bankruptcy proceedings or other similar risks. The NBA's franchise agreements, like those in all pro sports, always have made that very clear - not being able to use teams as collateral is the most obvious restriction, but it goes beyond that. In the NFL, the rules are even stricter, from what I understand.

Conversely, ASG selling the team for a significant profit would be bad for league PR/negotiating position when the team is insisting to the public that teams are losing money. So even if there were deep-pocketed investors out there somewhere willing to buy the Hawks now, it wouldn't be in the NBA's interest to announce the deal until after the new CBA is signed and sealed.

Either way, it's not in the NBA's interest to have ASG out trying to find new owners or investors until the lockout ends. If they do find them, they'll probably do it quietly and not reveal anything until after the lockout ends.

Edited November 8, 2011 by niremetal