https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/atlanta-dream-takeover-montgomery-wnba-gottesdiener-loeffler

Former Atlanta Dream guard Renee Montgomery has become the first former player to become both an owner and executive of a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise after a consortium’s bid to buy the team was approved.

Real estate investor Larry Gottesdiener will be the majority owner of the Dream, leading an investment group that also includes Suzanne Abair, president of Northland Investment. Gottesdiener founded Northland Investment in 1991.

The deal sees former Republican senator Kelly Loeffler sell her 49 per cent stake in the Dream, with former co-owner Mary Brock also moving on. Loeffler has been under pressure to sell her shares in the franchise after stating her opposition to the league’s racial justice initiatives, resulting in direct clashes with players on the Dream and across the league.

Montgomery confirmed she would play an active role with Abair in the leadership of the team.

“I’m going to be working with Suzanne and she’s going to lead the way,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery sat out the 2020 season to focus on social justice issues and recently announced her retirement from the league after 11 seasons and two WNBA championships.

“I think it’s great that Renee has stepped up after she retired from playing the game to continue having an impact on the game,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “I’ve seen her strong work ethic. I’ve seen her advocacy and knowledge of the game and I’m sure that’s going to be an asset to Larry and Suzanne and a huge benefit to the team.”

The approval of the takeover by the WNBA and NBA board of governors is expected to pass without issue and be unanimous.

Gottesdiener confirmed the team will remain in Atlanta. He said: “This is an Atlanta asset. The Dream isn’t going anywhere.”

The financial terms of the sale were not made public, but the sale of the New York Liberty — a bigger-market outfit — saw Joe Tsai pay between US$10 million and US$14 million in 2019.

The end of Loeffler’s time as co-owner of the franchise was first revealed in January when the WNBA confirmed that a takeover deal was near.

Loeffler has been fiercely criticised since writing a letter to Engelbert objecting to the league’s decision to promote the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement during the 2020 season.

‘We need less – not more – politics in sports,’ wrote Loeffler, who added that BLM was ‘a very divisive organisation based on Marxist principles’.

The Dream players called on Loeffler to sell her 49 per cent stake, before then endorsing her Senate election opponent, Raphael Warnock. Loeffler was defeated by her Democrat rival in the runoff in Georgia’s US Senate special election on 5th January.

Talk of the Dream’s potential sale first emerged last summer, when ESPN reported that team president Chris Sienko and former majority owner Brock – who is married to former Coca-Cola chairman and chief executive John Brock – had been providing financial information to potential buyers.