The Atlanta Dream is close to being sold, a WNBA spokesman confirmed to ESPN.
“With regard to the Atlanta Dream, we understand that the sale of the franchise is close to being completed,” the league said in a statement. “As soon as the sale negotiation is completed, additional information will be provided.”
Sources told ESPN on Tuesday that up to five bidders expressed interest in buying the team, with Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Currently co-owner, who hopes to have no association with the franchise after the sale.
The franchise has been at the center of the turmoil since Loeffler wrote a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, challenging the league’s membership in the Black Lives Matter movement during the 2020 season. League players initially asked Loeffler to sell his share in the team (49%), but when she refused, they publicly endorsed their opponent in his run for the senator, Rev. Raphael Warnock.
Warnock defeated Loeffler in the second round of January 5 and will take the oath to Congress this week.
During the summer, ESPN reported that Dream Chairman Chris Sienko and majority owners Mary and John Brock, the former CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, provided financial information to potential team buyers.
It is not yet clear what role the Brock family would play with the team in the future, the sources said, but the new buyer is expected to have a majority stake. Brock and Loeffler have owned the team since 2012.
A voice message left by ESPN to John Brock on Tuesday was not returned, nor was an email to Loeffler’s campaign.
Loeffler told ESPN in July that “I have been welcoming additional partners for a long time as part of ensuring that we continue to grow the team. But I will continue to be part of the team.”
She estimated that she lost $ 10 million since the purchase of the team. According to campaign finance documents, Loeffler lent his Senate campaign $ 23 million in 2020.