WOJ: Hawks owner Bruce Levenson to sell team after racist email

[Akrazotile]

this is silly. what did he say that was wrong or worthy of selling the his share of the team.

He probably just wants to cash out anyway, and is putting this out there to avoid any disruption from it being released down the road at an inconvenient time.

[D-FENS]

[QUOTE=Dr. Ice]

[Akrazotile]

It pisses me off that they will yell louder for a t-shirt then for our players.

[IGOTGAME]

What's wrong with this fool? Atlanta is about 55% black. What does he expect? Instead of focusing on this shit, why not focus on why black people in Atlanta don't have disposable incomes? Why not have a marketing campaign aimed at fathers bringing sons to the games?

A lot of assumptions about race here, I'm glad this tool quit.

- why would he care about this?

[Real Men Wear Green]

I bet he's just sick of owning the Hawks.

[Inactive]

His email doesn't seem that bad to me.

He supposes that large black crowds, and hip hop music scared away racist southern whites. I don't know if he's right, but it sounds plausible, and isn't racist. He supposes that season ticket sales are low, because the affluent black community isn't large enough to support a significant season ticket base. That sounds plausible, and isn't racist. He supposes that merchandise sales are low, because their fanbase doesn't have much disposable income. Sounds plausible, isn't racist. He thinks "a lot of blacks dont seem to go as crazy cheering as whites", which seems weird, but still isn't exactly racist.

Where is the racist part?

[Shade8780]

inb4 SuperSonics.

Nvm, too late.

[navy]

Trying to cash in.

[Akrazotile]

His email doesn't seem that bad to me.

He supposes that large black crowds, and hip hop music scared away racist southern whites. I don't know if he's right, but it sounds plausible, and isn't racist. He supposes that season ticket sales are low, because the affluent black community isn't large enough to support a significant season ticket base. That sounds plausible, and isn't racist. He supposes that merchandise sales are low, because their fanbase doesn't have much disposable income. Sounds plausible, isn't racist. He thinks "a lot of blacks dont seem to go as crazy cheering as whites", which seems weird, but still isn't exactly racist.

Where is the racist part?

To be fair, I don't see it reported as "racist" by anyone other than Woj's tweet. Levenson called it inappropriate and potentially offensive.

[Haymaker]

I think he was talking about the specifics of the whole demographic clientele. There was nothing racist or hateful about the email. He was talking about target audience. That kind of talk is the daily bread of ad agencies and marketing firms. The problem is that if the email got leaked, someone could've used it and twist it to cause harm. There's no reason to sell the team, but maybe he just wanted damage control and decided it was not worth going through a PR crisis. That way he saves face and sells the team for a profit.

[fpliii]

I don't know if the email itself is racist (and since I'm not black, it shouldn't be up to me to determine whether or not it is), but some of the implications are. Some of it is just the discussion of simple demographics, but to suggest that you want to not only increase the # of white fans but reduce the # of black fans (as well as white-wash fan involvement at the games) is pretty problematic.

[swagga]

To be fair, I don't see it reported as "racist" by anyone other than Woj's tweet. Levenson called it inappropriate and potentially offensive.

****k wrong with this country? inappropirate and potentially offensive my ass. Them ATL ****** don't got the cash wtf this man supposed to do? Give them money from his pocket? There was nothing racist right there, that was some cold hard truth and this fagggot sensationalist press is aching to get more shit after the sterling monkey business.

LMAO at this forum, what a sensitive bunch. Man the fucck up, it's business. If he wrote something like: "we should take some measures to kick these ****** out so we can get that white confederate cotton cash" that would be racist. Dude was just wondering why can't he sell tickets when ATL is a big market and their services were quality.

[navy]

****k wrong with this country? inappropirate and potentially offensive my ass. Them ATL ****** don't got the cash wtf this man supposed to do? Give them money from his pocket? There was nothing racist right there, that was some cold hard truth and this fagggot sensationalist press is aching to get more shit after the sterling monkey business.

LMAO at this forum, what a sensitive bunch. Man the fucck up, it's business. If he wrote something like: "we should take some measures to kick these ****** out so we can get that white confederate cotton cash" that would be racist. Dude was just wondering why can't he sell tickets when ATL is a big market and their services were quality.

Who are you talking too? lol, mad for no reason.

The dude leaked an email nobody knew about and said it was offensive and then proceeded to put his team on the market despite nobody asking him too.

Nobody caught feelings except for you.

[swagga]

I don't know if the email itself is racist (and since I'm not black, it shouldn't be up to me to determine whether or not it is), but some of the implications are. Some of it is just the discussion of simple demographics, but to suggest that you want to not only increase the # of white fans but reduce the # of black fans (as well as white-wash fan involvement at the games) is pretty problematic.

that is racist tbh. Black or not black we are all human beings, there are no distinctions, you can determine it as well as any other guy, being black doesn't make one an expert on social issues.

And btw he didn't say he wants to decrease the number of black attendents.

Have I stayed too long in europe that I don't understand US anymore? WTF 15 years ago this type of thinking was unheard of.

[swagga]

Who are you talking too? lol, mad for no reason.

The dude leaked an email nobody knew about and said it was offensive and then proceeded to put his team on the market despite nobody asking him too.

Nobody caught feelings except for you.

lol I'm not mad, you don't hear such shit in germany so it dazzles me to see replies such as "it was racist" or that a white guy can't say if it was racist or not.