NEW YORK – The Thrashers are gone.
The NHL’s Board of Governors approved the sale and relocation of the Thrashers on Tuesday in separate votes. Now, they belong to Winnipeg.
For the second time, Atlanta lost its professional hockey team to a Canadian city. The $170 million sale of the team from the Atlanta Spirit to True North Sports and Entertainment cleared its final hurdle. Both the sale and relocation were approved unanimously. The Manitoba-based ownership group will bring the yet-to-be-named team north of the border to begin play next season in the Southeast Division.
The official end of the Thrashers came in a hotel conference room at the Westin at Times Square – almost 1,000 miles from the city where the team spent 11 seasons. The vote of the league’s governing body came four days shy of the 14th anniversary of a similar meeting in New York, just 12 blocks away, when Atlanta was awarded an expansion franchise.
Atlanta was a shoo-in for one of four new teams, along with Columbus, Minnesota and Nashville, because its bid included solid ownership in Turner Broadcasting/Time Warner, the nation’s largest television market without an NHL team and a new arena.
The Atlanta Spirit began looking to sell the Thrashers soon after buying the franchise, part of a purchase from Turner that included the NBA’s Hawks and the operating rights to Philips Arena. Reported losses of $130 million over six years, dwindling attendance and the failure to make the playoffs in 10 of its 11 seasons were major issues.
As the search for an owner willing to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta failed, the Atlanta Spirit opened negotiations with True North. The deal was completed in less than a month after the NHL approved the start of talks.
“It’s pretty emotional,” Thrashers president Don Waddell said. “You know it’s coming and you try to prepare for it but this is the final straw that broke the camel’s back. We have to find the positives and move forward but it’s difficult.”
Waddell represented the Thrashers at the meeting. Co-owner Bruce Levenson, who served as the franchise’s governor, was out of the country and not in attendance.
The transfer of ownership required a 75 percent approval from the board. Relocation needed a simple majority approval. The sale agreement must now close, which should happen within the week. Shortly after, True North will come to Atlanta to take possession of the physical assets of the franchise. The lease on the practice facility expires at the end of August, which will end the team’s tenure.
“The way it all went down was unsettling,” Thrashers forward Chris Thorburn said. “We’ve had a chance to think about it for awhile. I really feel bad for the fans in Atlanta but at the same time we are going to a city that is excited to have us. It’s a new chapter in my life.
“Hockey takes us to different places. To play hockey in Canada is something that you dream of as a kid. I’m excited about that but at the same time I don’t want to sell Atlanta short.”
True North will pay $170 million for the Thrashers with $110 million going to ownership and $60 million going to the NHL as a relocation fee.
“Obviously everybody is sorry and distressed and unhappy that we found ourselves in the circumstance where our franchise was leaving Atlanta,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We are particularly sorry for the fans that are there but obviously based on the reception we have gotten everyone is extremely excited about the opportunities in Winnipeg for our return.”
Michael Alexander and his parents were Thrashers season-ticket holders for the past five years. He attended the team’s select-a-seat event in May, even as it was clear relocation was days away.
“Even though there was both good hockey, and a lot of bad hockey, in the arena, it was still hockey,” Alexander said. “And that’s better than no hockey.”
True North is led by Winnipeg businessman Mark Chipman and billionaire David Thomson and owns Winnipeg’s arena, the MTS Centre, and the American Hockey League team that plays there, the Manitoba Moose. The group turned its attention to the Thrashers after a deal, that involved public money, was reached to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona. The City of Glendale committed $25 million for next season to cover operating expenses for the NHL owned franchise.
The Coyotes’ surprising one-year reprieve in Arizona made Winnipeg a relocation option for the Thrashers. The Thrashers’ owners had said they were unwilling to keep funding the team's operating losses, pegged at $20 million per year in court documents. Although the Thrashers hardly are the only NHL franchise with financial difficulties and/or for sale, most teams have arena lease arrangements that would complicate or preclude relocation. In the Thrashers’ case, their ownership group also owns the arena operating rights, making them the only movable franchise after Phoenix.
“Everything is taken individually,” New Jersey CEO, President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello said. “In my opinion, the right decision was made with the way it was handled in regard to Winnipeg and also the right decision was made with Phoenix to try to keep it in that market. The city is trying very hard. They are separate situations that have been handled for the best of the league first and also for the individual franchise.”
Co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in February that there was a sense of urgency to find a solution for the struggling franchise and that relocation was a possibility.
“College football in the south is like hockey in Canada,” Waddell said. “It’s the number-one sport. When UGA plays football on a Saturday, the party starts on Thursday. We have a lot of competition in the market place.”
Relocation has become stark reality.
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