WNBA announces sale of Atlanta Dream from ex-senator Kelly Loeffler

[TexasTowelie]

The WNBA and the NBA’s board of governors unanimously approved the sale of the Atlanta Dream on Friday, ending defeated Republican senator Kelly Loeffler’s tumultuous stint as a WNBA owner.

Larry Gottesdiener, chairman of the Massachusetts-based real estate private equity firm Northland Investment Corporation, will head a three-member investment group comprised of himself, Northland president and chief operating officer Suzanne Abair and former Dream star Renee Montgomery, who will become the first former player to become both an owner and executive of a WNBA team.

“With the unanimous WNBA and NBA votes, today marks a new beginning for the Atlanta Dream organization and we are very pleased to welcome Larry Gottesdiener and Suzanne Abair to the WNBA,” league commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “I admire their passion for women’s basketball, but more importantly, have been impressed with their values. I am also thrilled that former WNBA star Renee Montgomery will be joining the ownership group as an investor and executive for the team. Renee is a trailblazer who has made a major impact both in the game and beyond.”

Players around the league called for Loeffler to sell her 49% stake in the Dream after she wrote a letter to Engelbert over the summer objecting to the league’s initiatives to advocate for racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/feb/26/atlanta-dream-sale-kelly-loeffler-wnba

[sheshe2]

1. Looks like a lot of Black Women took Kelly the Loafer down!

They persisted. Bravo.

A campaign organized by Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird three months before the November election, which saw players throughout the league wear “Vote Warnock” T-shirts to games rather than broadcast criticism of Loeffler, was credited as key factor in elevating Warnock’s profile.

Link to tweet

A campaign organized by Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird three months before the November election, which saw players throughout the league wear “Vote Warnock” T-shirts to games rather than broadcast criticism of Loeffler, was credited as key factor in elevating Warnock’s profile.


The sale of the team was celebrated on Friday by prominent WNBA figures who have decried Loeffler’s views as antithetical to everything the 24-year-old league stands for.

“It is time for the women of the Atlanta Dream and their fans to have an opportunity to heal and move forward. It is our fervent wish that we shall never see again such an abuse of power and arrogant display of privilege,” Terri Jackson, the executive director of the players’ union, said in a statement. “It is our hope that no one will ever again attempt to use the players for individual political gain or favor. Those actions were unbelievably selfish, reckless and dangerous. And those who would conduct themselves in that manner have absolutely no place in our sport.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/feb/26/atlanta-dream-sale-kelly-loeffler-wnba

[Oldem]

2. And Atlanta Dream players sang in unison, "Hallelujah!"

Kudos to the Dream women for standing up to racism. From Loeffler to Montgomery: "The Times They Are A-Changin' "

[MichMan]

3. Good, maybe they can start paying salaries comparable to the men

The women athletes in the WNBA make a pittance of what the players in the NBA are paid.

[Angleae]

4. That's because the WNBA's revenue is a pittance compared to the NBA.

$60 million vs $7.4 billion (in 2019)

https://www.wsn.com/nba/nba-vs-wnba/

[MichMan]

5. The NBA owns them both.