BallerBlogger pointed me to an article at the Sports Business journal on the Atlanta Spirit. I don't have access to the original piece, but BallBlogger excerpt it enough for me to gather that the Atlanta Spirit are looking for minority owners and are using Goldman Sachs to aid the process.
Considering the team has lost 20 million annually owning two Atlanta franchises it makes sense. And while I find it a bit cheesy and filled with more fluff than the Spirit are probably wanting, I would not mind seeing the ownership group venture into Miami Dolphin territory and pick up some celebrity ownership. Can you say Terrell Owens?
Kidding aside (sort of), Atlanta has its fair share of celebrities, many of whom attend games, and I am not going to pretend to know if those people have enough money to invest or if they have already chosen to put most of their money in other things that lose value at extreme rates, but it seems like no sport can benefit from a celebrity investor more than the NBA. So why not go for it. Maybe Joe will sign at a discount rate if T.I. is signing his checks. And hey Clifford will be out of jail just in time for a playoff run!
The article also states that the Spirit are not looking to sell either team unless a really good offer comes along. Which is basically like saying we are not looking to sell the team unless we sell it and then we were looking. I remain very confident that the generic use of noun "team" is specifically referring to the Thrashers. And more and more, I think when the Steve Belkin situation resolves itself (in the next decade) the Spirit will be less coy about their desire to become a one team ownership.
So let me have it. Who is your top choice for a celebrity investor?
****Update****
Discussion is now over. Grassroots effort has begun. Outkast for Hawks investors!