This year the Atlanta Hawks are one of the greatest story lines in the NBA. The Hawks hold an Eastern Conference-best 27-8 record, which is also good for the third-best resume in the NBA. The Hawks are drawing interest from all around the country except one place, Atlanta.
The Atlanta Hawks rank 24th out of 30 teams in home game attendance. The mediocre attendance in Phillips Arena is being credited to racist comments coming from Atlanta Hawks management.
Most recently, owner Bruce Levenson announced in September he would be selling his stake in the team after an email surfaced that included racial comments about why attendance was so low, “the black crowd scared away the whites.”
The Levenson email was discovered unintentionally when the Hawks were under investigation after racial comments were made by general manager Danny Ferry, who is on an indefinite leave from the team.
Along with Levenson, the full ownership of the Atlanta Hawks has unanimously agreed to sell their stakes in the team. A group that in 2011 purchased the Hawks, the then-NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, and the operating rights to Philip’s Arena for a price of $250 million.
Good news for the current owners, the more the Hawks win games the more money the current owners can sell the team for.
Last year the Los Angeles Clippers, who were estimated by Forbes to only be worth $575 million, sold for a jaw dropping $2 billion. The Clippers’ sale is likely the higher value of a franchise while the Milwaukee Bucks, who sold for $550 million, are the lower tier.
The Hawks were valued at $425 million by Forbes before the sale of the Clippers and the Bucks, so if I were to take a wild shot at what the Hawks could sell for it would be around the $1 billion mark.
