Owner Bruce Levenson Selling Atlanta Hawks Over Allegedly Racist Email He Wrote

[starbigd]

That's football. The one sport that basically has little trouble selling itself in Georgia, whether its pro or college. You want to talk history, all you need to do is look at why Atlanta has the reputation it has as a sports city. It doesn't support its teams all that well, whether they have stars, if they are winning, whatever. That reputation isn't a myth. This isn't as simple as you think it is.


Read some more stuff from Woj today. Looking more and more like what I narrowed this down to, an internal fight and power struggle amongst management.

Dude I LIVE in Atlanta......I know what this city supports and what it doesn't.

And NO, the Falcons were not selling tickets or season ticket packages before Vick......when Blank took over, he was virtually giving away tickets and "party passes"- seating that cost 20 bucks or less

The DAY AFTER Vick played for the first time, they SOLD OUT on the season. This is history. A star player makes that much of a difference.

The same was true when Dominique was here. If you don't have a winning team in this town, or a marketable star, nobody is going to spend their money to see it.

It IS that simple. History supports this.

 

[BusSport]

Dude I LIVE in Atlanta......I know what this city supports and what it doesn't.

Uh-huh, sure you do:

 

[starbigd]

Uh-huh, sure you do:

Moved from Austin last December, unfortunately......now I live in Southwest ATL, and was born here.

 

[wildturkey]

Dude I LIVE in Atlanta......I know what this city supports and what it doesn't.

And NO, the Falcons were not selling tickets or season ticket packages before Vick......when Blank took over, he was virtually giving away tickets and "party passes"- seating that cost 20 bucks or less

The DAY AFTER Vick played for the first time, they SOLD OUT on the season. This is history. A star player makes that much of a difference.

The same was true when Dominique was here. If you don't have a winning team in this town, or a marketable star, nobody is going to spend their money to see it.

It IS that simple. History supports this.

You may live there but you're still too narrow minded. If you did know, you'd realize the Falcons success has just as much to do with football's exponentially growing popularity and Arther Blank just as much as it does Vick. Vick helped, but the Falcons didn't dramatically wither away once he left. If your logic stood true, their attendance would drop off just like the Hawks (sans Wilkens) or the Braves teams. But they still have great attendance despite not having a star attraction as bright as Vick. But I'm sure you'll say that's because the Falcons are still good. Well the Braves and Hawks have been good and they still have middling to low attendance numbers. So it's exactly like I said it was in that there are a lot more factors going into it other than just getting a big marketable star.

 

[starbigd]

You may live there but you're still too narrow minded. If you did know, you'd realize the Falcons success has just as much to do with football's exponentially growing popularity and Arther Blank just as much as it does Vick. Vick helped, but the Falcons didn't dramatically wither away once he left. If your logic stood true, their attendance would drop off just like the Hawks (sans Wilkens) or the Braves teams. But they still have great attendance despite not having a star attraction as bright as Vick. But I'm sure you'll say that's because the Falcons are still good. Well the Braves and Hawks have been good and they still have middling to low attendance numbers. So it's exactly like I said it was in that there are a lot more factors going into it other than just getting a big marketable star.

The Hawks have been good? HUH????

All I'm saying is if you add a real star to this team, tickets will sell, and quickly. NOTHING sells like winning and winners. You can make up all the reasons in the world why people don't come, but you can't show me a SINGLE team that competes for titles and has a star that has trouble selling out games or season tickets, anywhere on this planet.

 

[Lakers+USC=#1]

The Hawks have been good? HUH????

All I'm saying is if you add a real star to this team, tickets will sell, and quickly. NOTHING sells like winning and winners. You can make up all the reasons in the world why people don't come, but you can't show me a SINGLE team that competes for titles and has a star that has trouble selling out games or season tickets, anywhere on this planet.

I don't know the attendance history of Atlanta, so i don't know who is right, but this statement is true.

 

[bksballer89]

He made an honest mistake....This is a bit ridiculous.

 

[wildturkey]

The Hawks have been good? HUH????

All I'm saying is if you add a real star to this team, tickets will sell, and quickly. NOTHING sells like winning and winners. You can make up all the reasons in the world why people don't come, but you can't show me a SINGLE team that competes for titles and has a star that has trouble selling out games or season tickets, anywhere on this planet.

Yes, they have been good. Just because you don't make the Finals doesn't mean you're not good. Don't try changing the definition because it doesn't fit your viewpoint. "Go win titles and you can sell tickets!" Yeah, because that's so easy to do. Geez. Here's some food for thought for you. There's teams in pro sports that haven't won titles nor do they have the stars on the level you're talking (Vicks, Kobes, etc) and they have no problem with attendance numbers. Wonder how they are able to do that? Because they're able to manage the other factors that go into this, which you keep ignoring. Like I said, your view point is too narrow. Going out and getting a star isn't an easy thing to do. They don't grow on trees. The level of stars that make significant impact on gate draws are rare, there are only 4 or 5 in a league of 30ish teams at any one time. And in the case of Atlanta, its more than just being good because Atlanta has a track record of low to middling attendance across multiple sports even when their teams are good.

 

[starbigd]

Yes, they have been good. Just because you don't make the Finals doesn't mean you're not good. Don't try changing the definition because it doesn't fit your viewpoint. "Go win titles and you can sell tickets!" Yeah, because that's so easy to do. Geez. Here's some food for thought for you. There's teams in pro sports that haven't won titles nor do they have the stars on the level you're talking (Vicks, Kobes, etc) and they have no problem with attendance numbers. Wonder how they are able to do that? Because they're able to manage the other factors that go into this, which you keep ignoring. Like I said, your view point is too narrow. Going out and getting a star isn't an easy thing to do. They don't grow on trees. The level of stars that make significant impact on gate draws are rare, there are only 4 or 5 in a league of 30ish teams at any one time. And in the case of Atlanta, its more than just being good because Atlanta has a track record of low to middling attendance across multiple sports even when their teams are good.

Playing at or below .500 ball is not good......I don't know what your definition is, but that isn't it. You can't break .500 you are not good no matter how you slice it.

Other teams that have great attendance also don't have much competition for fans interest.....something you seem to have missed.

IF ATL can find a star player, something they've lacked for 20+ years, they'll see tickets sell. IF they can find a way to actually have a GOOD team, because NO, they have not had one, they will sell tickets.

This isn't rocket science. You can keep searching for ALL these other reasons......but you address those two areas, you don't have a problem. It really is that simple.

My view is far from narrow.....it's focused on the real issue, not marketing fluff that won't put butts in seats consistently.

 

[Leroy Brown]

The commute times and other entertainment options in Atlanta make it to where people there aren't going to support it unless it's top notch entertainment. Consistently making the playoffs honestly wouldn't be enough over the long term....they would have to win with exciting players and/or an exciting style of play. Unless they are winning championships, then that's a bit different.

I used to drive from Douglasville to Duluth every day to work...if I made spent less than four hours a day in the car total, that was a win. No way I'm going back out to watch a mediocre team do mediocre things.

 

[wildturkey]

Playing at or below .500 ball is not good......I don't know what your definition is, but that isn't it. You can't break .500 you are not good no matter how you slice it.

Other teams that have great attendance also don't have much competition for fans interest.....something you seem to have missed.

IF ATL can find a star player, something they've lacked for 20+ years, they'll see tickets sell. IF they can find a way to actually have a GOOD team, because NO, they have not had one, they will sell tickets.

This isn't rocket science. You can keep searching for ALL these other reasons......but you address those two areas, you don't have a problem. It really is that simple.

My view is far from narrow.....it's focused on the real issue, not marketing fluff that won't put butts in seats consistently.

The Hawks have been in the bottom third of the league in attendance for decades. In that time, they've had several seasons where they were well above .500, including 50 win seasons. That is a good team whether you want to admit it or not. And their record made little to no difference. They didn't draw. So you're wrong there whether you'll admit it or not.

It may not be rocket science, but its not simple. It's marketing, business, and economics. And there's a reason the kind of people teams (and companies) hire for these jobs all have degrees, usually graduate level. You're wrong on this, you're just too stubborn to admit. It's an Atlanta issue, not just a matter of getting a star or being good. If it were just that, the city wouldn't have the same attendance issues with damn near every franchise it has both in good seasons and poor seasons. But by all means, keep believing that all Atlanta needs, despite strife with different franchises across multiple sports, is a guy like Kevin Durant and magically all that goes away.