Status report on Hawks from Jason Walker.

[Plainview1981]

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I'm wondering if Belkin would even be able to garner a 75% vote of approval, with everyone knowing that he came by control of those teams in such a sneaky, underhanded fashion?

That might end up being our final hope.

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Do you guys REALLY believe Stern or any of those other guys care about what happens to the hawks? I don't.

[Lascar78]

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Do you guys REALLY believe Stern or any of those other guys care about what happens to the hawks? I don't.

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Absolutely. Are you kidding me? I bet Stern would have someone murdured to protect his league. Ok, maybe not, but you get the point. This isn't Bud Selig we're talking about.

[Plainview1981]

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Do you guys REALLY believe Stern or any of those other guys care about what happens to the hawks? I don't.

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Absolutely. Are you kidding me? I bet Stern would have someone murdured to protect his league. Ok, maybe not, but you get the point. This isn't Bud Selig we're talking about.

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Come on man... Nobody cares about this franchise but the people on this board. I bet Stern would remove the Hawks from the league if he could.

This franchise don't benefit him I wouldn't think. It losses money, it doesn't bring in any extra fans. Heck, the seats aren't filled when there is winning going on.

Obviousally he'd like an owner just make money... Sterling did it for years didn't he? Why would Stern going out of his way to prevent that here?

[DrReality]

It's not whether they care about the Hawks or not, it's their league, their investment. And if someone wants to come in and mess with that they damn sure will care. it's not about the Hawks, it's about whether Belkin will impact their investment.

[RAHMOR]

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Sterling did it for years didn't he? Why would Stern going out of his way to prevent that here?

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Good point and I have to agree with you on it. I hope Stern steps in just as much as anybody else but in the back of my mind I know it's just wishful thinking. No owner can possibly hurt the value of the entire league. No individual owner or individual player for that matter.

[Hoosier]

I think you had it right the first time.

Stern will protect his investment, Atlanta is 9th largest U.S. city, a sports town (unlike San Diego), and was fourth in the NBA Finals ratings. Stern is very powerful, the courts will not mess with his and the NBA's authority. If Stern does not want Belkin to be an owner, he will not be an owner.

[WraithSentinel]

I wished I could say your wrong. I have to agree here. Nobody in the NBA or the Sports World for that matter give a damn about this franchise. Only Wilkins,Bruce and Bernie,the Hawks fans on this board and Realgm care about this team. If we had a stronger support instead of a city filled with bandwagoners and fairweather fans. The fans could make their voice heard. Just like the reporters in this city are complete idiots, so are the bandwagon and fairweather fans. I may disagreed with the fans opinions on here and realgm. One thing I do not question is the fans here and realgm loyalty to this team.

[AHF]

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Obviousally he'd like an owner just make money... Sterling did it for years didn't he? Why would Stern going out of his way to prevent that here?

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It is a different scenario to take a team away from Sterling that he owns versus keep the next Sterling from owning a team. Stern doesn't want owners like Sterling in the league because they are an embarssment to the league and limit the value of the franchises. People like Sterling ride the investments of the other owners - they are called freeloaders. The goal of the NBA is not to have caretaker owners like Sterling but owners that will raise the profile of the league.

From that perspective, Belkin already has several strikes against him since he has dragged this team through the mud ever since he decided he was the sole owner of the team for all effective purposes since he was named NBA governor. I agree with Lascar that Stern will protect his team. What I fear is that he might accept Belkin as a better alternative to an ongoing and long-lasting legal battle.

[Plainview1981]

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I think you had it right the first time.

Stern will protect his investment, Atlanta is 9th largest U.S. city, a sports town (unlike San Diego), and was fourth in the NBA Finals ratings. Stern is very powerful, the courts will not mess with his and the NBA's authority. If Stern does not want Belkin to be an owner, he will not be an owner.

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Well, when was the last Atlanta even sniffed the top 10 in attendence? I'm not taking shots at the Hawks here... Just talking about some facts.

[Plainview1981]

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Obviousally he'd like an owner just make money... Sterling did it for years didn't he? Why would Stern going out of his way to prevent that here?

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It is a different scenario to take a team away from Sterling that he owns versus keep the next Sterling from owning a team. Stern doesn't want owners like Sterling in the league because they are an embarssment to the league and limit the value of the franchises. People like Sterling ride the investments of the other owners - they are called freeloaders. The goal of the NBA is not to have caretaker owners like Sterling but owners that will raise the profile of the league.

From that perspective, Belkin already has several strikes against him since he has dragged this team through the mud ever since he decided he was the sole owner of the team for all effective purposes since he was named NBA governor. I agree with Lascar that Stern will protect his team. What I fear is that he might accept Belkin as a better alternative to an ongoing and long-lasting legal battle.

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Stern might prove me wrong... But I simply don't think he cares all that much. If it was most franchies I would agree with you, but the Hawks? I just don't know. Didn't he already say Steve would probably be owning a franchise in the future? He must not dislike the guy too much if he made comments like that.

[Plainview1981]

If Belkin does indeed get the team and does his price cut, I'm done as a fan. I know I've said that before, but I'll swear it on anything. While I'm not sure the Hawks have a great future under current management and ownership, it seems like this guy would make it offical that there is no hope.

And I'm NOT going to follow a team for years and decades under the Sterling type of thing. Call that a bandwagon fan or whatever you want. I really don't care. That's the way it will be.

And honestly, no moves that are made are going to effect me too much until this is ownership thing is resolved.

[DeacKillsaDevil]

Does JJ make up $20 million in salary a year? The other guys can't be making that much because they're all under rookie contracts.

[GMyrberg]

Boy, that sound scary, especially since it doesn't seem all that unlikely.

[GMyrberg]

Belkin COULD drive me to desert, but I'm not giving in to that knucklehead. I just figure that's another battle to wage. Call us the unbeatable unsurgency at that point. Amazing isn't it, how gazillionaires let the wording on a piece of paper undo their best hopes and dreams?

[Lascar78]

PREACH ON BROTHA!

[Johnnybravo4]

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I think you had it right the first time.

Stern will protect his investment, Atlanta is 9th largest U.S. city, a sports town (unlike San Diego), and was fourth in the NBA Finals ratings. Stern is very powerful, the courts will not mess with his and the NBA's authority. If Stern does not want Belkin to be an owner, he will not be an owner.

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Well, when was the last Atlanta even sniffed the top 10 in attendence? I'm not taking shots at the Hawks here... Just talking about some facts.

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Revenue is bigger than attendance. Attendance is chump change. Revenue comes from TV and merchandising. Even if we don't go to the games we still watch on TV and we still buy jerseys (albeit other teams jerseys). If you don't have the NBA in Atlanta you pretty much lose that market, including SC, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Belkin can't run the Hawks like Sterling does the Clippers because of the simple reason that we won't go to the games. Clippers fans are basically Lakers fans who couldn't get season tickets. (or even better Anti-Laker fans) Sort of like White Sox fans. Since you are drawing from a base of 20 million people, it is easy to get 16-17,000 to come to your place. The Hawks don't have that luxury. If Belkin comes in and runs it on the cheap, he better hope that they win by some sort of luck because we won't show up and either he'd have to move (afterwhich we'd immediately get another franchise (Hornets) or he'd have to sell it anyway.

[AHF]

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Belkin can't run the Hawks like Sterling does the Clippers because of the simple reason that we won't go to the games. Clippers fans are basically Lakers fans who couldn't get season tickets. (or even better Anti-Laker fans) Sort of like White Sox fans. Since you are drawing from a base of 20 million people, it is easy to get 16-17,000 to come to your place. The Hawks don't have that luxury. If Belkin comes in and runs it on the cheap, he better hope that they win by some sort of luck because we won't show up and either he'd have to move (afterwhich we'd immediately get another franchise (Hornets) or he'd have to sell it anyway.

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I'd say that teams in other sports with pathetic attendance numbers and low, low payrolls (like the Marlins, etc.) beg to differ.

[Diesel]

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Revenue is bigger than attendance. Attendance is chump change.

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I don't know.

I have read that there is a lot of money to be gained from selling Luxury suites. The Phil has 96 luxury suites...

Click

Seattle has 48 luxury boxes. They get on the average 137k per suite per year... When you finish calculating that.. that's a lot of money.

A lot of these newer arenas are being built with the premise that the profits from the luxury suites will pay for it. For instance, a luxury suite in Detroit cost $350k per yer per suite.

There's a lot of revenue to be made if he can fill up those boxes and courtside seats.

I suspect that he will trade for AI because AI can get that done...

[Plainview1981]

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I think you had it right the first time.

Stern will protect his investment, Atlanta is 9th largest U.S. city, a sports town (unlike San Diego), and was fourth in the NBA Finals ratings. Stern is very powerful, the courts will not mess with his and the NBA's authority. If Stern does not want Belkin to be an owner, he will not be an owner.

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Well, when was the last Atlanta even sniffed the top 10 in attendence? I'm not taking shots at the Hawks here... Just talking about some facts.

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Revenue is bigger than attendance. Attendance is chump change. Revenue comes from TV and merchandising. Even if we don't go to the games we still watch on TV and we still buy jerseys (albeit other teams jerseys). If you don't have the NBA in Atlanta you pretty much lose that market, including SC, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Belkin can't run the Hawks like Sterling does the Clippers because of the simple reason that we won't go to the games. Clippers fans are basically Lakers fans who couldn't get season tickets. (or even better Anti-Laker fans) Sort of like White Sox fans. Since you are drawing from a base of 20 million people, it is easy to get 16-17,000 to come to your place. The Hawks don't have that luxury. If Belkin comes in and runs it on the cheap, he better hope that they win by some sort of luck because we won't show up and either he'd have to move (afterwhich we'd immediately get another franchise (Hornets) or he'd have to sell it anyway.

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Nobody goes to games now. What would be the change? I think alot of the people that do go to games go to cheer the other teams. So I think overall, the attendence would stay close to what it is.

I doubt many people buy hawks stuff or watch the games. I've RARELY seen anything hawks related in a store.