The pending sale of the Hawks to a group led by billionaire Tony Ressler continues a trend in the NBA: Teams increasingly are acquired by folks who made their fortunes as financiers.
In the past five years, four basketball teams — the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors — have been bought by heavy hitters from the investment world, which is Ressler’s world.
“The trend is incredibly pronounced … in contrast to the old model where the franchise owner was the local businessman or the gentleman sportsman,” said Robert Boland, a New York University sports management professor who consults on team sales.