Just WOW! (Levenson will sell Hawks)

[Afro]

Ur not serious are u lol

1 of the first rules of business is to know ur audience

What moron would start a business in ATLANTA and market to white folks instead of black folks?

Are you serious? Did you read the email?

That was his whole point... They marketed to black people but now want more money and they feel they need the white people's money too...

Thats just smart business. Or should he just say Meh f*** the white people's money. We don't need to work to get them here.

[Guest]

Before commenting in this thread you should read the email. I have my opinions however I would like to hear the opinions of what black people think about it.

 

As a "black" (lol)  I'll chime in.  I don't consider the email racist, certainly highly prejudiced.  The economics are what they are for sure, however, the notion that we're scaring our "southern" counterparts away is silly.

 

I'm sure all corporations have this conversation, but do so in a much more sophisticated fashion.  They place ads and marketing materials accordingly but typically know better than to spell it out the way Bruce did.  To do so makes it sound unnecessarily questionable.  It took hundreds of years for things to get the way they are in this country.  Bruce shouldn't necessarily be blamed for describing it.  However, there are better ways to handle the situation.  He's paying for lacking tact here.

 

Had he omitted the racist comments such as the "scared" commentary he might've been ok.

[MVP23]

By the way, nobody goes to Hawk games because of the subpar product on the floor.

[Bonkers]

The "moron" who wants to make more money and put more butts in the seats.

He was a moron as an owner becuz him and his buddies are ass

 

 

Are you serious? Did you read the email?

That was his whole point... They marketed to black people but now want more money and they feel they need the white people's money too...

Thats just smart business. Or should he just say Meh f*** the white people's money. We don't need to work to get them here.

Apparently they're marketing completely failed becuz they don't really attract black people anyway. Then he uses the excuse of black folks scaring white folks for why he's not getting white dollars lmao

[Q45T]

Even though the email was about maximizing profits he shouldn't have made it a "whites vs. blacks" issue to begin with especially since ATL is predominantly black city. (I think...)  He should've just said that they should try to attract a "wider audience".  As a black guy I don't think Levenson's comments were malicious towards our race, but they were inherently bigoted and reading them did piss me off.

 

But overall since the whole ownership is garbage:

 

Especially since releasing this on his own accord is just an excuse to sell.

Edited September 7, 2014 by Q45T

[WakaFlocka]

He was a moron as an owner becuz him and his buddies are ass

 

 

Apparently they're marketing completely failed becuz they don't really attract black people anyway. Then he uses the excuse of black folks scaring white folks for why he's not getting white dollars lmao

 

What does that even mean...?

 

"Him and his buddies are ass"

 

Do you not understand how marketing works? All Levenson was trying to do was market to a different demographic to (potentially) attract people/families who'd be bigger spenders at Hawks games.

 

Should he have chosen his words with a little more tact? Absolutely, but nothing he said was racist.

[Afro]

Even though the email was about maximizing profits he shouldn't have made it a "whites vs. blacks" issue to begin with especially since ATL is predominantly black city. (I think...)  He should've just said that they should try to attract a "wider audience".  As a black guy I don't think Levenson's comments were malicious towards our race, but they were inherently bigoted and reading them did piss me off.

 

But overall since the whole ownership is garbage:

 

Especially since releasing this on his own accord is just an excuse to sell.

 

 

Its poorly worded demographics. Every business does it. He just worded it poorly. 

 

There was no intent to hurt anyone. This isn't even remotely similar to Sterling. The whole message was "if we got more white people wed have larger crowds". No where did that demean or put down minorities. 

 

But since Levenson reported himself, I have a feeling this was used for something else

[mrhonline]

The sad reality is that Bruce is right. Many suburban "whites" don't attend Hawks' games because they're uncomfortable with the more "black" environment. I won't deny being uncomfortable myself the first few times I attended.

What I hate most about this situation is that rather than facilitate a much-needed conversation, Bruce is sliding out the back door. I suppose it's unreasonable to expect businesses like the Hawks and Braves to shoulder that heavy a social burden; they are just businesses.

I would love to see a Southerner lead the country in repairing some of these racial issues. That kind of courage and vision despite obstacles is decidedly Southern, if you ask me.

[DJlaysitup]

I thought it was just an email about marketing concerns - but then about halfway through it seemed to kind of turn. (by the way Bruce....email stands for "everybody's mail in this day and age).

 

You actually have to wonder about a guy who buys part of an NBA team and then seems to be frustrated about the racial makeup of his audience.  Earth-to-Bruce...you want a 90% white audience buy yourself a professional Lacrosse team.  You want a latin audience...buy yourself a soccer team.  It's not rocket science.

 

I would mention one thing though, the comment about Southern Whites being intimidated about the %age of Blacks at the games actually is more of a slap at whites than it is at blacks.

 

Probably the worst part of the email (IMO) was his inference that race has something to do with the crowd showing up late.  All southerners tend to be "fashionably late" no matter what the event.  Heck if the first race of the day at Churchill Downs was the Kentucky Derby - half the folks would miss it.

[hazer]

1) The Hawks are not relocating

2) Although it's only Levenson's share, hopefully this will open up the door for a single owner to swoop in and buy everyone out

[kerrypack]

compared to sterling he sounds like nelson mandela.  a lot of times it is not what you say but how you say it.  he is very clumsily dealing with sensitive topics that need much more tact.

[bird_dirt]

To be fair, wasn't he the Washington component of the group who was predominantly interested in the NHL team? Much lighter product and audience with a puck than a ball. Maybe once they sold the Thrashers, he finally realized he didn't care to continue much more.

[NJHAWK]

As long as the Hawks have the same owners they will never have success

 

So pray for new owners

 

And lol @ black fans scaring off white fans 

Dumb comments all the way around. Makes you wonder if the rest of the Hawks owners and Ferry agreed with this crap.

[DJlaysitup]

One of my first thoughts was that this would also be very bad for the recipients of the email.  I have a friend who is a big "political junkie" and I've had to tell him not to email me political stuff because people infer that a person would not send an email to people who are not "like minded".

 

Then I read the whole email and I kind of figured it was more about economics (maybe after a few Scotch Whiskies - amount of typos was a hint there).

 

I was pleased to see there were no real racial slurs...that bodes well for D.F.

 

Somebody posted that the email just wasn't "tactful" when addressing the issues - it may very well be that B.L. thought that he WAS being tactful. 

 

(shouldn't go after the cheerleaders though...cheerleaders are sacred)

[willthepureshooter]

The sad reality is that Bruce is right. Many suburban "whites" don't attend Hawks' games because they're uncomfortable with the more "black" environment. I won't deny being uncomfortable myself the first few times I attended.

What I hate most about this situation is that rather than facilitate a much-needed conversation, Bruce is sliding out the back door. I suppose it's unreasonable to expect businesses like the Hawks and Braves to shoulder that heavy a social burden; they are just businesses.

I would love to see a Southerner lead the country in repairing some of these racial issues. That kind of courage and vision despite obstacles is decidedly Southern, if you ask me.

This is a whole lot of bullshit. People don't go to Hawks games because of a history of terrible playoff exits, traffic, and shitty ownership. The Braves have the same issue when it comes to traffic. And what is this Southern Leadership trash? A true Southerner is the last person I want running anything, especially a country.

African Americans are the biggest spenders in this country. I'm tired of people using racial ideals to further divide our people. Look at what Arthur Blank did with the Atlanta Falcons. White folk and black folk tailgate and party in the Dome together. And did i not mention the Dome is downtown.

[GameTime]

Clean House. This is the South not LA. ASG needs to be bought out. Ownership/Team is done. Ferry's Free Agency 'cap space' rebuilding plan is over with now.

 

Levenson blaming it on race and not a subpar product on the court is ridiculous. Could of spent that 'dedication' on getting Dwight Howard.

 

Thank God he is gone.

 

This made me respect BK more.

 

[GameTime]

Wrong guy, that one is Belkin. He was ousted a while ago.

 

You are right. Wow they look alike.

[MaceCase]

Levenson just realized that being a racist is a billion dollar windfall in the current NBA......too bad he had to go digging through 2 years worth of spam, angry letters from Sothron, and leaked celebrity nudes to "prove" it but I guess he needed a legitimate out after his recent comments of being comitted to not selling.  The man must rather be considered a bigot than a hypocrite but he's surely looking to get paid either way.

[DJlaysitup]

"...looking to get paid either way"

 

Yeah - but wouldn't it be funny if nobody is willing to make a serious offer?  Heck, we may be able to take up a collection and buy a chunk of the Hawks! 

 

We could put Dolfan into the ownership group to pay him back for all the times we started threads in the wrong category 

 

(P.S. - once he had to deal with the ASG he might appreciate us more)

Edited September 7, 2014 by DJlaysitup

[Sothron]

Levenson just realized that being a racist is a billion dollar windfall in the current NBA......too bad he had to go digging through 2 years worth of spam, angry letters from Sothron, and leaked celebrity nudes to "prove" it but I guess he needed a legitimate out after his recent comments of being comitted to not selling.  The man must rather be considered a bigot than a hypocrite but he's surely looking to get paid either way.

To be fair my angry letters were about them stabbing me and Thrashers fans in the back.