Baseball HOFer and Braves Senior VP Hank Aaron "has joined a group of current owners" seeking to purchase the Hawks, according to sources cited by Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Sources said that the group "is spearheaded" by Grizzlies Vice Chair Steve Kaplan, DC United and Inter Milan Owner Erick Thohir, Indonesian coal magnate Handy Soetedjo and former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien. Sources said that the group "also includes a select and diverse group of prominent investors, including Aaron and other Atlantans." Stein noted Aaron "has spent much of his post-playing career as a baseball executive as well overseeing a business portfolio that has featured numerous car dealerships and restaurants." Sources said that Aaron's "devotion to Atlanta as a city and his longstanding fondness for the Hawks as a basketball fan led him to join this group of bidders" (ESPN.com, 1/11). In Atlanta, Chris Vivlamore notes a group headed by former Raptors President Bryan Colangelo and former NBAers Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman also is "interested in buying the Hawks." Other possible bidders for the team include a group headed by Marquis Jet co-Founder Jesse Itzler and BTIG co-Founder Steven Starker, a group including former NBAer Dikembe Mutombo and "Atlanta and overseas connections," as well as former NBAer Chris Webber and attorney Doug Davis (AJC.com, 1/12).
FLYING HIGH: In Atlanta, Steve Hummer writes the "metrics of how this team is connecting with Atlanta as seldom before are turning serious." Yesterday's game against the Wizards was the "fourth announced sellout in the last five home games." Attendance is "up more than 2,000 a game over this time last year." Hawks CEO Steve Koonin also said local TV ratings are up 40% and "trending upward." Hummer notes there have been "
inventive promotions to put butts in seats," but "nothing beats the marketing tool of a ridiculous winning streak." Koonin: "We have to keep outdoing ourselves. We’ve had some early success but we’re nowhere. We have a long way to go to make going to a Hawks game part of the culture of Atlanta" (
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 1/12).
