On his first full day as principal owner of the Hawks, Tony Ressler said 16-year-old Philips Arena will need to be remodeled or replaced.
“There’s do-nothing. There’s remodel. Or there’s a new arena. Do-nothing is not an option,” said Ressler, discussing the arena Thursday afternoon in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
With the Braves and Falcons already building new stadiums — both with the assistance of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money — Ressler’s comments made the Hawks the third Atlanta professional sports franchise to express dissatisfaction with its current facility.
“It is not a top-quartile arena in America, in the NBA,” he said.
Ressler, a Los Angeles-based billionaire who made his fortune in the investment business, leads a 15-person group that completed its purchase of the Hawks and Philips Arena operating rights Wednesday.
He stressed Thursday that he had no definitive answers to questions about the arena and many other issues after just 24 hours as owner, but he made it clear that the future of the arena and the need to improve the fan experience at Hawks games are top-of-the-agenda items for the team’s management and ownership.
Asked if he is committed to keeping the Hawks downtown, as opposed to considering a possible move to the suburbs, Ressler said it’s “too soon” to say.
“I wouldn’t rule out anything,” he said. “I think our job is to see what’s best for the franchise.”
He has spoken with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who Ressler described as “unbelievably supportive” and “clearly a fan of wanting the Hawks to be in the city of Atlanta.”
“Downtown is incredibly vibrant and exciting over the next 10 years, from what I can tell,” Ressler said.
Philips Arena is owned by the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority and operated by the Hawks organization. Reed conceded in an April interview that Philips Arena will need some work.
“When you are in Philips Arena, any reasonable person will realize that we are going to have to make some changes to the building to make it more competitive with other arenas around the country,” the mayor said at the time.
Major renovations of pro sports arenas, like construction of new stadiums or arenas, typically have involved public dollars. An extensive renovation of Philips Arena undoubtedly would be extremely expensive, especially given the arena’s unique design that stacks all of the suites on one side. Ressler avoided answering when asked what he thinks of that specific design feature.
“As an owner for 24 hours,” Ressler said, “you look at Philips Arena and you say, ‘Is Philips Arena, for a top-10 market and a great franchise, going to be the arena for the next 25 years in this marketplace? Does it stand up after its 16 or 17 years of existence?’ I don’t think it does.
“I think clearly something has to be done to that arena. … We have no idea what the right answer is, truly have no idea. Is it to move? Is it to rebuild there? Is it to remodel?”
The Falcons’ new downtown stadium and the Braves’ new Cobb County stadium, both slated to open in 2017, will ramp up the pressure on the Hawks to improve the fan experience in their arena, Ressler suggested.
“From what I can tell, the Falcons run a great organization, the Braves run a great organization,” he said. “Both are building new facilities, which makes the bar that much higher for the Hawks. To me, the beneficiary is the fan base.”
Ressler was more definitive about another facility project: He said the ownership group is committed to building a new practice facility for the team.
“The question is when, not if,” he said.
It hasn’t been determined where the practice facility will be built, Ressler said.
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