Hawks owners to seek public cash for arena and practice space, because Christmas is about giving

Atlanta Hawks CEO Steve Koonin dropped a few hints last week about what he and his fellow team execs are seeking in a renovated arena and new practice facility, though most of it comes down to “we’re working on it”:

  • Arena renovations would take place in phases so that the Hawks could keep playing there throughout the process. No word on how much it would cost, but Koonin made clear he’s expecting public money, saying, “We want the city to do its fair share, and we plan to do ours.” (Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed previously floated $150 million as the city’s share, but that was a while ago now, before the new owners even bought the team.)
  • There’s no one site being targeted for the practice facility, but it’s planned to open for the 2017-18 season, which is soon. And Koonin said team execs are “talking to public officials about collaboration,” so expect more taxpayer cash there as well.

It’s all pretty nebulous for now, but will likely get more concrete in the coming weeks and months. And it makes even clearer that asking for separate practice facilities is becoming a thing for team owners seeking new ways to ask cities to buy them crap: We just saw this with the Washington Wizards, and Koonin said not having a separate practice space puts teams at “a competitive disadvantage” — which on the face of it sounds pretty silly (really, free agents won’t sign with your team if they have to practice where they play games?), but certainly sounds better as a reason to ask for public cash than “all the other kids are getting them this Christmas.” Though why being at a competitive disadvantage should be Atlanta taxpayers’ problem and not the Hawks’ owners is another question that isn’t asked often enough.

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4 comments on “Hawks owners to seek public cash for arena and practice space, because Christmas is about giving

  1. Add in the 76ers who got NJ to give them a boatload of taxes credits to build a practice facility across the river in Camden, I guess practice facilities are the new holographic scoreboard.

  2. Excellent point. Anyone who sees a practice facility as a “competitive advantage” need look no further than the “product” emerging from the taxpayer-funded facility in Camden, NJ>

  3. The Sixers facility in Camden has more to do with money laundering than the stated reason of “economic development”. South Jersey politicians are notoriously
    corrupt. It won’t surprise me when they start talking about a new Sixers arena in Camden.

  4. I think that when Ed Snider/Comcast-Spectacor sold the Sixers to the hedge fund managers the lease wasn’t modified and so still runs through 2029.

    But if they do manage to break (or buy out the lease) perhaps Newark is likelier destination. The Nets gave up their rights to North Jersey and they the Sixers owners also own the Devils.

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