Once again the Atlanta Spirit & Atlanta Hawks give us a reason to hang our heads low…
To quote Atlanta’s favorite Sports-Talk caller Mel from SW Atlanta “Welcome to Loserville!”
There are 30 teams in the NBA, where do you think the Hawks rank in this year’s Forbes Magazine’s list of the NBA most Valuable teams?
Your Atlanta Hawks are ranked 28th… The only teams behind them are Memphis and Milwaukee.
Those aren’t the cold hard facts that the Atlanta Spirit want to brag about and quite honestly it’s downright embarrassing for 2 reasons:
1.) The team is currently valued at $270 million dollars and believe it or not that’s down 8% from last year’s value.
2.) The franchise is currently operating $15 million dollars in the RED.
I’m really not surprised by this information, after all this is the same team that gave sub-par Joe Johnson $124 million dollar contract. You would think the upper brass of the franchise could ask Joe to borrow $15 million so that the team can operate in the BLACK.
When you compare Atlanta’s value to other teams it’s just terrible, the average value of an NBA team is right around $393 million dollars, meanwhile the top teams on the list out value the Hawks by at least $200 million dollars.
5.) Boston Celtics $482 Million
4.) Dallas Maverick $497 Million
3.) Chicago Bulls $600 Million
2.) NY Knicks $780 Million
1.) LA Lakers $900 Million
The Lakers 40% increase in value is because of a television deal they worked out with Times Warner Cable worth an average of $200 million annually beginning with the 2012-13 season.
I’m no genius in the subject of math but I’m baffled at how the Hawks were purchased by the Atlanta Spirit in 2004 for $208 million and the team is only valued at $270 million, an increase of $62 million over an 8 year period. Compare that to a couple of teams that haven’t been around nearly as long as the Hawks; the #26 ranked Charlotte Bobcats were purchased in 2010 by Michael Jordan for $175 million the team is now worth an estimated $277 million and the same goes for the 27th ranked Minnesota Timberwolves purchased in 1995 for $88 million the Wolves are now valued at $272 million.
I’m getting more and more depressed as I write this… I’m done!
Rob Calloway can be reached at robert.calloway@cbsradio.com. Follow him on Twitter at @robcalloway3
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