Approved

[phoostal]

Finally it is done. News Conference on Wednesday.

NHL owners approve Thrashers sale

By TIM TUCKER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 3/28/04

NHL owners unanimously approved the sale of the Thrashers this afternoon, clearing the way for Time Warner to finally complete its 6 1/2-month-old deal to sell Atlanta's pro basketball and hockey franchises.

The buyers -- a group of nine investors from Atlanta, Boston and Washington -- expect to close the purchase and formally take over the teams on Wednesday.

NHL approval came shortly after 3 p.m. today by a fax vote of the league's 30 owners. NBA owners approved the Hawks sale 2 1/2 weeks ago.

The group, called Atlanta Spirit, struck a deal on Sept. 12 to buy the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena operating rights, subject to resolving ancillary issues with Time Warner and getting approval from the NBA and NHL.

A news conference is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon to mark the official change of ownership.

The Atlanta Spirit investors are Steve Belkin, a Boston entrepreneur; Bruce Levenson, Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman, partners in a Washington business information company; and five men with Atlanta ties, Michael Gearon Jr., Michael Gearon Sr., Rutherford Seydel, Bud Seretean and Beau Turner.

P

[Admin]

Free at last, free at last!!!!

[capstone21]

just in time for the offseason.

This is going to be an interesting offseason...at least now the true owners will be in charge.

New coach, new owners, new players ... hopfully new attitude. This could be the start of something great for the Atlanta Hawks.

[TheDude]

i think i've lost it..you mean this thing is done? can't be reality, must be dreaming, need to wake up, must follow the light....ouch, that was my computer screen.

[Lascar78]

the whole press conference is on hawks.com.

The Q&A isnt bad to hear about their plan and why they think they can be successful. After 18 months of silence from the hawks org , it's nice to hear the new management talk. I definitely liked everything I heard, hopefully they can carry their plans out well