Atlanta Hawks now “100 percent” for sale
Earlier today, news broke that 100 percent of the Atlanta Hawks franchised would be up for sale following the racially-charged email scandal that shook up the franchise over the offseason. Chris Vivlamore, of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reported today that Bruce Levenson and his group’s 50.1 percent stake, an Atlanta-based 32.3 percent stake and a New York based 17.6 percent stake would all be put up for sale:
Breaking News: 100 percent of Hawks up for sale http://t.co/gYoeObBCqK
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) January 2, 2015
It is important to note, that this news is merely that the entire franchise is up for grabs now–not that the team has been sold yet. Vivlamore also made that clear through his Twitter account:
To clarify, The Hawks have NOT been sold. I have reported only that 100 percent of the team is available for purchase. #ATLHawks
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) January 2, 2015
At the beginning of this entire situation, it looked like only Levenson’s Washington group would be selling their stake in the franchise, but after ongoing discussions, the parties involved must feel better about selling their stakes as well. This comes after the NBA expressed preference for a large portion of the team being put up for sale:
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From Vivlamore’s story (linked above):
"The NBA has preferred a high percentage of the team be available, considering the sale of as much of the team as possible in the best interests of all parties and the city of Atlanta.Part of the sale of the Hawks includes the remaining $124 million debt on Philips Arena. Technically the debt is owned by the Fulton County Recreation Authority but payments were made by the Atlanta Spirit.Several people have expressed interest in being part of an ownership group soon after the controversy came to light. Former NBA players Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber and New York entertainment lawyer Doug Davis are known to have interest. Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed has said numerous parties have expressed interest."
We’ll continue to follow this story and give you updates and opinions as the news comes. In the meantime, be sure to follow Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) and ourselves (@ATLBeatBlog) on Twitter.