WNBA Awards Ron Terwilliger Expansion Franchise In Atlanta

The WNBA has awarded Atlanta-based Trammel Crow Residential real estate firm Chair & CEO Ron Terwilliger the league's 14th franchise, which will begin play during the '08 season (WNBA). In Atlanta, Tim Tucker reports the team will play its home games at Philips Arena. Sources said that Terwilliger “will pay $10[M] for the franchise, with payments spread over as much as 10 years.”  He will pay $1M “upfront, at least $1[M] during the first four years of the team’s operation and the remaining $8[M] in annual installments beginning in 2012 tied to the team’s financial performance,” with any “unpaid balance, plus interest” due in 2017. Terwilliger said that he figures the club "needs to average 7,000 fans per game ... to break even.” He added that he will hire Atlanta-based marketing firm TopRight Partner Bill Bolen “to run the business operations as team president.” Terwilliger will “seek suggestions from the public” for the team name, but said that he is "open to a name that includes 'Atlanta' or 'Georgia'"
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/17).