Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler and the other owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream have sold the team.
The league announced on Friday that Loeffler, who has owned the team for nearly a decade but has been at odds with many of its players over her condemnation of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Mary Brock sold their stakes in the team to Larry Gottesdiener, chairman of Northland, a national real estate firm.
“Ten years ago we stepped up to keep the Dream in Atlanta, as an important asset for a vibrant and diverse city,” the women said in a joint statement. “It was also important to us to help level the playing field for women’s professional sports. We are proud of what we accomplished and wish the team well in their next chapter. We will always value the hard work and dedication, and the memories, fans and friendships that sustained our commitment to the Atlanta Dream over the last decade.”
Many Dream players endorsed Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who had challenged Loeffler for her Senate seat, and encouraged Georgians to vote for him in the Senate runoff election after she refused to sell her stake in the team. Warnock won the election.
ATLANTA DREAM CLOSE TO BEING SOLD, LOEFFLER LIKELY OUT: REPORT
The fallout between Loeffler and the league progressed after she wrote a letter in July to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert questioning the league’s decision to align with Black Lives Matter.
“This isn’t about playing basketball. It’s about playing politics,” Loeffler said after the players endorsed Warnock. “Everyone has a right to choose who they want to vote for, but because I stood up for our American flag, suggested that we replace that with the divisive idea of this political organization, Black Lives Matter, not the statement, we all agree with the statement, but this political organization that wants to defund the police, that promotes anti-Semitism, and violence. It doesn’t believe in the nuclear family — I mean, we’re talking moms and dads.”
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The three-member investor group is made up of Gottesdiener, Renee Montgomery, a former Dream player who will be joining as an executive, and Northland President and Chief Operating Officer Suzanne Abair.
“My Dream has come true,” Montgomery said in a statement. “Breaking barriers for minorities and women by being the first former WNBA player to have both a stake in ownership and a leadership role with the team is an opportunity that I take very seriously. I invite you to join me as the Dream builds momentum in Atlanta!”
