It finally did it. AOL Time Warner (NYSE:AOL) is finally getting rid of its Thrashers. Unfortunately we're not talking about the short-selling cynical naysaying stock thrashers, but, rather, the company's Atlanta Thrashers hockey team. The National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks will also be flying the coop.
AOL Time Warner is just the latest public company to bow out of the trying arena of professional sports. Other media conglomerates like Disney (NYSE:DIS) and News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) have come to the same conclusion: Team ownership isn't a moneymaking proposition. It's a vanity plate.
The fact that the teams, along with the operating rights to the home arena, were put up for sale is not news. The company had been in negotiations with Texan businessman David McDavid since April. However, fans are probably breathing easier now that an Atlanta-based group of buyers is looking ready to close the deal.
So AOL Time Warner may eventually be the home of the hoops and hockey free, but it's still the home of the Braves. Whether or not Ted Turner will get a shot at buying back the baseball team that plays in the field that bears his name, this is probably not a game worth winning.
Media companies bought teams as a means of controlling programming content, but it was a flawed model. Sure, everybody tunes in when the team is winning, but you can't exactly cancel a struggling squad the way you would a fall-season bomb.
