Dream Seeks Victories...and Profit

Henry Unger over at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about the Dream's financial state. There are some interesting paragraphs:

Betty purchased the team, which had lost about $3 million, in late October, saving it from a likely relocation to Tulsa.

That implies that the Dream lost around $1.5 million a year during the two years of the Terwilliger Era, which correlates with what I've heard before about how much a typical WNBA team might lose.

Some of her hard work is paying off. Betty has reduced the red ink by cutting expenses, securing sponsors such as Aaron’s, Coke and Grady, and hiring an experienced sports exec, Toby Wyman, as chief operating officer.

For any reader that hasn't met Betty, you should. She radiates charisma. Is it sexist to say something about "brains and beauty"? I hope not.

But, even with a first place team, attendance is well behind where it needs to be. To break even, the Dream needs to draw about 8,500 paying fans, Betty said. This season, it has been averaging “just under 7,000,” which is similar to last year’s performance.

Interesting. I don't know if we can make 8500. Even the Braves couldn't fill up their stadium during their championship years; Atlanta sports fans that aren't solely University of Georgia football fans are hard to come by.

Next week, Henry Unger reports about Fitz Johnson and the Atlanta Beat. I'll look forward to it.

Dream Fever Hits Atlanta and Other Places

With the Dream at 6-0 on the year and the Dream heading into Seattle against the best team in the Western Conference, everyone seems to have caught Dream Fever.

1. Mechelle Voepel's newest article for ESPN is called "It's a dream of a start in Atlanta." And it definitely is:

McCoughtry was last season's rookie of the year, an honor she was expected to contend for after being the league's No. 1 draft pick in 2009. McCoughtry was a can't-miss prospect and is living up to those expectations. She has started this season making a case for already being in the WNBA's elite despite being just 23.


...

I think of Lehning as like that person in an office whom you might overlook … until something goes wrong with the copier, and she's the only one who knows how to fix it. Or a file is misplaced, and she's the only one who can find it.

2. Kathy Betty showed up for a Dream of an interview on The Zone in Atlanta at 790 AM. You can listen to the entire interview on the Atlanta Dream Facebook page. I liked the interview, it's worth a listen.

3. Angel McCoughtry got named as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second week in a row. (Someone named Candace Parker won the Western Conference Player of the Week award.)

4. SLAM magazine and Ben York tells us that "Angel McCoughtry Has Arrived". McCoughtry has arrived, her feet are up on the table, and she's watching television, and it's her house now.

Enjoy the Dream love...and enjoy the game. Tonight. 9:30 pm. ESPN2.

Major Sponsor Announcement Scheduled for Media Day

According to the Atlanta Dream, owner Kathy Betty will make a "major sponsor announcement" tomorrow. In attendance:

Atlanta Dream Owner Kathy Betty
Atlanta Dream President & COO Toby Wyman
Atlanta Dream Head Coach & General Manager Marynell Meadors
Representatives from major sponsor

Who knows what this means? Do we dare hope for a jersey sponsorship? "Major" can mean anything in the WNBA, but if the Dream wanted me to start salivating, it worked.

Top Atlanta Dream Moments of 2009

Women Talk Sports has asked its members to come up with the “Best of ‘09”, the best moments in women’s sports in 2009. I’ve had some difficulty in completing this example for two reasons:

1) Real life. Normally, real life isn’t something to be condemned. We all want as much of a real life as possible, the alternative being several orders of magnitude worse. However, this month might be the month when Real Life (all caps) has made the most demands on my time. I don’t believe that I’ve ever abandoned the blog for 10 days before, and trust me, it wasn’t because I was somewhere on a Caribbean shore drinking a glass of orange juice on a sandy beach. November and December have been months of encroachment – good encroachment and bad encroachment combined.

2) A “Dream centric” approach. The problem is that even though I religiously follow the WNBA, I have not only barely kept up with anything going on in women’s sports, I have neglected the entire realm of sports outside of the WNBA and possibly Georgia Tech women’s basketball. If you were to ask me the “Best of ‘09” in women’s sports, I would be at a loss. I don’t know who is leading the LPGA. I don’t know who won women’s singles at Wimbleton. Did North Carolina win another NCAA women’s soccer championship?

You got me, sister. Only so many hours in the day.

On the other hand – I know about the Atlanta Dream. You might have heard of them, you know, that organization where thousands of people meet on weekday nights that completely escapes the eyes of the Atlanta sports media. And I think that I can tell you what the best moments for the Atlanta Dream were in 2009.

1. The acquisition of Chamique Holdsclaw. In their inaugural 2008 season, the Atlanta Dream finished with a 4-30 record, after starting out with 17 straight losses. Undoubtedly, the hope for 2009 was simply not to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Those WNBA fans in it for the long haul thought that the Dream might contend in about five years.

However, the Dream were about to make a bold move. In December of 2008, the Dream traded the 13th draft pick in the 2009 draft to the Sparks for the rights to Holdsclaw. Would she even play? She returned from Poland in February with a bad knee and for many Dream fans, they would believe that The Claw was back when they saw it.

Well, they saw it. And how. Holdsclaw only averaged about 14 points a game, about four points off her career average. She only played in 25 regular season games and injuries limited her effectiveness. However, Dream fans saw flashes of the old Holdsclaw, who might be one of the best players in the WNBA in moving the ball. Rumor has it that Holdsclaw’s presence returned stabilitiy to the locker room after a contentious 2008 season that saw two players (Camille Little and Stacey Lovelace) essentially jump ship.

2. The drafting of Angel McCoughtry. In 2009 it was, “in with the old (Holdsclaw) and in with the new (McCoughtry).” Despite their 4-30 finish, the Dream could at least look forward to securing the #1 draft pick in the 2009 draft. There was much discussion regarding that choice, which would have an immediate impact on 2009.

Should it be Renee Montgomery? Or Marissa Coleman? Or Courtney Paris? No, it would be Angel McCoughtry out of Louisville. McCoughtry managed to lead her Cardinals to the NCAA title game in her senior year, and this got the attention of Dream head coach Marynell Meadors, who was impressed with McCoughtry putting the team on her back. Perhaps McCoughtry could do the same for the Dream.

In Meadors’s universe, rookies – even super-rookies – don’t start. Dream fans were treated to McCoughtry coming off the bench, and when she came on the floor the game of the entire team picked up. The hard part for McCoughtry was to learn not to do too much by herself – not just yet, anyway.

It became obvious that despite any perceived deficiencies in Meadors’s coaching, Meadors knows how to evaluate talent. McCoughtry scored 12.8 points a season and was the only high point of a playoff sweep by the Detroit Shock, averaging 19 points a game over both losses. The question was whether or not McCoughtry would finish in front of DeWanna Bonner. McCoughtry triumphed with a Rookie of the Year Award, was named to the United States Women’s Basketball Team in the off-season and last I heard she was tearing it up in Europe.

The frightening thing? McCoughtry will be better this year than she was last year. I don’t want to put the “game-changer” label on McCoughtry just yet; that might have to wait until 2010.

3. The surprise of Shalee Lehning. Over the course of the off-season, the Dream stocked up. They picked up Carol Ross, formerly head coach at Mississippi, to join the coaching staff. They picked up big time free agents in Sancho Lyttle and Michelle Snow. And of course, they added Holdsclaw and McCoughtry as well.

When Shalee Lehning of Kansas State was drafted in the second round, the fan reaction was “nod pleasantly”. Lehning wasn’t considered a top rank point guard, although she did score high on the Senior Prospects Metric. There was certainly no buzz about Lehning, no hint that she was overlooked – second round seemed a correct assessment. She’d most likely either get cut at training camp, or, if she was lucky, she’d ride the bench.

Then the bombshell went off in June when Meadors announced that popular point guard Ivory Latta failed to make the cut – and Lehning was going to be the point guard behind Nikki Teasley. The sound heard in Kansas was the sound of swear words from Latta fans across Atlanta. Lehning? The Dream’s starter? Realllly?

Oh yes, really. And even though her role seemed limited to pushing the ball into the post, Lehning would become the dream’s starting point guard. Lehning had a devoted following from Kansas State, each of whom became long distance Dream fans. Lehning supporters in and out of Kansas attributed to Lehning the qualities of an athlete out of a story book – soft spoken, saying “yes m’aam” and without any flash, the prototypical Selfless Athlete.

Latta returned when Teasley was dealt to the Shock – but Lehning stayed, and kept her starting role. A severe shoulder separation denied her the chance to go to the playoffs, but she was with the team to the bitter end. 2010 will reveal if Lehning has more surprises for us.

4. The Twin Towers. It seems that if you put two post players together that are each taller than 6’2”, you can call them the “Twin Towers”. I always thought of Ruth Riley and Ann Wauters being San Antonio’s version of the Towers; but Sancho Lyttle and Erika de Souza deserved that name.

Lyttle came to the Dream from the Houston dispersal draft. For Lyttle, who grew up overseas and learned basketball late in life, it seemed that she was following the quick trajectory of a person who was making quantum leaps in her acquisition of basketball knowledge.

As for Erika de Souza, Dream fans were denied seeing much of de Souza in 2009, due to injuries. What they saw surprised them. De Souza, who had come off a grueling season in the Spanish League, and who had the added burden of Euroleague games with Ros Casares, seemed to play with fresh legs every night. Meadors said something to the effect that “she is a beast”, and the Beast from Brazil was born.

The combination of Lyttle and de Souza in the post added two things that the Dream didn’t have in 2008. The first was height – with Michelle Snow as a back-up post, the Dream were the tallest team in the league. The second was toughness. In 2008, Dream opponents could waltz into a combination of Mattera and Lacy and come up with two points; in 2009 opposing teams ended up terrorized.

Lyttle and de Souza made it to the 2009 All-Star Game, their first seasons as All-Stars. Lyttle and de Souza were exactly as important to the Dream’s playoff season as Holdsclaw or McCoughtry were; all of the pieces needed to be there for it to happen.

5. Dream 106, Mercury 76. The Dream were already having a much better season, but there was still talk of the awful 2008 season. The old joke was that one person would say, “last night, the Dream were up 15 points in the fourth quarter” and the response would be “wow! Did they win?”

The Dream’s 106-76 demolishment of the Phoenix Mercury killed the ghost. There would be no asterisk next to this win – it wasn’t as if Diana Taurasi was in jail or Cappie Pondexter was recovering from a bad perm. The Dream blew out the Mercury in the first three quarters, had a 40-point lead late in the game, and near the end the Dream were trying impossible shots just to see if they would go in.

It was the first time that the Dream had not merely beaten a quality opponent – but whipped them. Granted the Dream had beaten opponents before – they beat the Sparks late in the 2008 season while on the road – but sometimes, you can stumble into a win. There was no “yes, butting” the 106-76 victory. One game doesn’t normally prove a season, but this game did. It meant that the rest of the league could no longer count on the Dream being an easy win.

6. Playoff glory. Near the end of the 2009 season, the Dream were managing to hang on to second place – barely – behind the Indiana Fever. Behind the Dream was a pack of barking dogs – the defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock, the Chicago Sky, the Washington Mystics and the Connecticut Sun. (Only the Liberty had played themselves out of contention.)

Near the end of the season one needed a calculator to determine who went where in the post season with what combination of wins and losses. In the 33rd game of the season – just before the final season game – the Dream beat the Connecticut Sun 88-64 to clinch second place and home field advantage in the playoffs.

Then it all fell apart. Shalee Lehning separated her shoulder in a meaningless final game in Washington. The Detroit Shock won easily in Detroit. The Atlanta Dream was bumped out of its home court second game by Sesame Street, of all things. At Gwinnett Arena, Deanna Nolan came back on fire from a first-game injury. The Dream played listlessly, and proved that playoff glory can be fleeting.

Dream fans took the good with the bad. Bad to lose the playoffs – but worse not to even go.

7. Coach of the Year. Head coach Marynell Meadors has been called a lot of things – even by Dream fans – but she’s never been considered Coach of the Year material.

The argument, however, could be made that we’ve never seen Meadors with a good team. Meadors was one of the eight original coaches of the WNBA, and only got two years with the Charlotte Sting before being fired in the middle of the third season. After that, she served at the college and WNBA levels in supporting coaching roles until Ron Terwilliger hired Meadors for another building project in 2008.

Meadors’s 2009 Atlanta Dream won 14 more games than the previous model, and made the playoffs. Even if Meadors were not a good coach, she was a great GM. Perhaps the feeling around the league was that she deserved it more than (relatively) new coach Lin Dunn. Meadors was given the honor of Coach of the Year in 2009, which sets the bar even higher for 2010.

8. The Dream survive. With a bad economy, a disastrous previous season and the Atlanta media treating the Dream as if it were a contagious case of cancer, the Dream’s attendance and gate suffered. Ron Terwilliger, who made his money in real estate, could now longer afford the Dream when the real estate market plunged in the off-season.

The big question was if Terwillger would find a buyer. If he didn’t, the Dream would be dispersed after just two years, the shortest life span of any WNBA team. There was also the threat that the Dream would leave Atlanta and end up in Oklahoma, as Tulsa investors were searching for a team.

The Dream, however, would be rescued. Kathy Betty, the widow of the CEO of Earthlink and a successful businesswoman in her own right, purchased the Dream, guaranteeing the survival of the team to at least the 2010 season. With the Detroit Shock ending up in Tulsa and the Sacramento Monarchs outright folding, the Dream’s survival was a close call.


So from the Pleasant Dreams blog, here's wishing all WNBA fans and Atlanta Dream fans a Happy New Year. "Next year is trophy year!"

Dream Season Ticket Holder Event at Georgia Tech

Holdsclaw and Orender at tonight's game. From @chold1 on Twitter.

There was a STH event at tonight's Georgia Tech-Oregon game. A lot of WNBA connections there. Paul Westhead was coaching the Oregon Ducks - you might remember him as the coach of the 2007 WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury if you don't follow men's basketball.

Also at the event were WNBA President Donna Orender, the new Dream owner Kathy Betty, and Chamique Holdsclaw. Since I've had the chance to meet both President Orender and The Claw, I wanted to track down Betty - but she was always where I wasn't. Dang.

Betty gave a speech at halftime. The first advice I'd give the owner is to hold the microphone closer to your mouth - coliseum acoustics don't pick up soft-spoken sound that well.

As you can guess, I was at the game. I'm exhausted. This will probably be the last blog post tonight.

WNBA Dream Faces Challenges in 2010

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Still, Betty has some tough financial obstacles to overcome, which is why she’s looking for other investors to join her. She would not disclose the troubling financial numbers, but I’m told the Dream lost about $3 million last season.

Attendance dropped to 7,500 per game last season, from 8,500 during the Dream’s inaugural season. That means the team enjoyed a very short honeymoon period, even though there was a dramatic improvement on the court — not a good sign.

Just to break even, the team will need to average about 8,500 paying fans per game. That will not be easy. Veteran sports reporters and editors I talked with doubted that it could be done, given all the competition from the major sports.

I'm assuming that that $3 million is a net loss, because I figure it has to cost between $3 million and $5 million just to run the dream. Those numbers aren't good, because my understanding of net losses for the WNBA are somewhere between $1.5 million-$2.5 million a year.

Someone (I don't remember who) posited that attendance never reflects the current season, but the previous season. In which case, the big drop in attendance might have been due to the 4-30 record in 2008. However, there is also the sophomore slump associated with the team no longer being a novelty.

All I know is, I'm going to be shortening that gap this year every way that I know how.

P. S.: Aaron's, hmm? Uniform sponsorship?

Kathy Betty's Renewal Pack Letter

Dream owner Kathy Betty has written a letter to fans about the Renewal Packs for 2010 season tickets - with some interesting information.

Early Bird $50 Credit: As a special, limited-time offer, if you renew your season tickets by December 31, 2009, you will receive a $50 credit per seat to use as you wish. You can use the credit to buy additional regular season or playoff tickets, make a donation to allow the Dream to send underserved children to games next season, or you can receive a rebate.

Crash the Court: The players will ensure an exciting performance on the court. And I want to ensure an electric atmosphere in the arena and give you a chance to get as close to the action as possible. I have opened up additional seats in the lower level reasonably priced at $149 a seat - the same price as the 200 Level seats - so come on down and move your seat today, or pick up a few extra seats for friends. These seats will fill up fast so don't miss out.

I think that the Crash the Court program is a great idea. Let's get an electric atmosphere at Philips by moving everyone up close and personal - and make sure that the enemy bench can feel the breath of the fans on the backs of their necks.

Kathy Betty Thinks Dream Can Succeed

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“If we have a good marketplace and we have a good team that wins, to me there should be a business model that works,” [Betty] said. “As I get more and more experienced, I may come back and say, ‘You can’t,’ but I’m going into it thinking that you can.”

Good article, but I don't get why they asked Betty about the Atlanta Spirit and the owners of the Hawks and Thrashers. I suspect many Dream fans couldn't name any of the owners of either team if you paid them.

By the way: click the link above and show the AJC you care about the Dream.

Dream Diary: Kathy Betty

After about five months of dormancy, Dream Diary - the official blog of the Atlanta Dream - wakes up with a post about new owner Kathy Betty.

I'm glad to see Dream Diary updated again. It looks like the Dream Front Office is stirring to life once again.

Bill Bolen out at Dream Front Office?

The new front office staff directory has been posted at the Atlanta Dream website. It seems that Bill Bolen, the former President and Chief Operating Officer of the Dream, is no longer at the DFO. He has become a director at Homrich and Berg, Inc. and remains the Chief Financial Officer at the Terwilliger Family Office. His time as President and COO of the Dream is listed as past employment.

Tonya Alleyne remains as Vice President of Media Relations. On the coaching side, Marynell Meadors, Fred Williams, Carol Ross and Sue Panek are still listed. But in terms of a president or vice-president - the positions formerly held by Bolen and Donehew - those positions aren't even listed on the new org chart.

Someone told me that Kathy Betty intends to be a hands-on owner. If so, I wish her the best of luck - my impression is that it's a steep learning curve.

Kathy Betty Press Conference

Kathy Betty speaks about her goals for the Atlanta Dream in her press conference on October 29, 2009.

Also, if you look hard, you can find the announcement of Kathy Betty as the new owner by WNBA President Donna Orender.

(Thanks to @atlantadream on Twitter.)

Atlanta Dream: Examining the Silence

I think if there's anything the season ticket holders and WNBA fans were unhappy about in the month of October, it was the silence from the office of the Atlanta Dream. If I recall correctly, there was only one official response from the club, and that was the one reported by Tara Polen at Sportspagemagazine.com, where fans were told by a Dream insider to be patient and wait. Finally, after about a month of waiting, after Danielle Donehew left for greener pastures, Kathy Betty purchased the Dream.

But why the silence? Why did the fans hear nothing from the DFO? (DFO = "Dream front office")

I've managed to piece together a few facts from sources of my own. Here's what I've managed to come up with:

* Supposedly, some front office sources knew there was going to be an actual ownership change before the information was known to the public. The club's front office couldn't sell tickets until the ownership change went through. (I wonder if when Ron Terwilliger said he was looking for other investors, it was just a euphemism for selling the club. In which case, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was right.)

* The ownership change was expected to have gone through sooner than it did...but it took longer than expected. Which meant more silence from the front office.

* The staff was taking a lot of time off (sometimes as long as a week), treading water and waiting for a conclusion of the sale. The message from the higher ups in the office was for no one to say anything, lest the deal be damaged by something inadvertenty said. Therefore, no contact with the season ticket holders.

* The old management group of the Atlanta Dream was called Women's Professional Basketball Atlanta (WPBA). Sometime in mid-October - I can't find out when - the employees of WPBA were told that WPBA would be shut down. New ownership would not be purchasing the WPBA and in essence, were going to start their own management group. The result was that everyone was, in effect, fired.

Which meant that for two weeks there was no communication from the Dream organization, because essentially, there was no staff.

* My understanding is that some of the old WPBA staff is being rehired. I assume, however, that DFO II will approach things differently than DFO I.


So, if you wanted to know what happened, that was it. It's just the way business re-orgs go, I guess, though it must have sucked for the former DFO employees. There was a lot that couldn't be told, and may never be told...but at least, Dream fans now have an inkling of what explains those cold, silent weeks of October.

Mechelle Voepel Writes About Atlanta Change of Ownership

Her new article can be read at the ESPN website:

"I am a businesswoman, first and foremost. I believe that to be successful, you have to -- at the end of the day -- make money. I can sell something when I'm passionate about the product. Developing more sponsorships and continuing to get the community active in the Atlanta Dream is something that will come naturally to me."

Betty is a graduate of Alabama, while her husband's alma mater was Georgia Tech. Both of them became very supportive of Yellow Jackets sports. But Betty said it was a talk by Georgia Tech women's hoops coach MaChelle Joseph to the school's athletic board a few years back that really hit home for her.

"I thought, 'You know, I could help,' " Betty said. "It really got me interested in supporting them at a different level, not just to be a fan. But to also reach out and make a real difference."

I'm hoping that Kathy Betty can make the Dream a success both on the court and at the turnstiles.

Dream It AND Be It: Dream Sold to Kathy Betty

Left to right: Atlanta City Council President Lisa Boarders, new Dream owner Kathy Betty, WNBA President Donna Orender, Atlanta Dream Head Coach Marynell Meadors and Dream player Jennifer Lacy.

We now have the word that we've been waiting for. No, not word about the infamous Surfin' Bird, but word that the Atlanta Dream has safely landed in the arms of a new managing partner, Kathy Betty. However, in the colloquial sense of the term, Betty is the new owner. The existence of the Atlanta Dream is assured to at least the end of the 2010 season, and hopefully, many years beyond that.

According to the WNBA news release, the Atlanta Dream will be owned by Dream Too LLC, an investment group headed by Kathy Betty. She becomes the first woman in Atlanta history to own a sports team. Here is the same article (essentially) from:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution story, one which gives more background into Betty's motivations for purchasing the Dream. This is an update from an earlier article this morning.

USA Today

Atlanta Business Chronicle

For those who haven't been following along, Betty is the widow of Earthlink CEO Garry Betty. She's been a major supporter of Georgia Tech women's basketball, so purchasing the dream is simply a logical extension of her interests. (Mr. Betty was a graduate of Georgia Tech.) She also has further Atlanta ties as a former executive vice-president of Scott Madden Inc, an Atlanta-based consulting firm.

Apparently, Dream Too LLC had some help from Atlanta mayoral candidate Lisa Borders, currently president of the Atlanta City Council. Borders "carved out time to bring sponsorships to the table and find investors who will make the Dream a continued reality for the staff, players and, of course, our fans" according to Betty. (It doesn't hurt that Borders is running for re-election.) The news has gone up on her political website as Borders claims that the Dream staying in Atlanta increases the flow of tourist money in the coffers of Atlanta businesses.)

According to Steve Visser's additions to the updated AJC article above, it is implied that Mr. Terwilliger no longer has any ownership stake in the Dream. I do not seek to condemn him, but to praise him. Just remember, without Mr. Terwilliger we might not have had an Atlanta Dream for the last two years. Thank you, Mr. Terwilliger, for all of your support of the greatest team in the WNBA. (My opinion.)

As for certain staff members of the Sports Department of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it looks like they'll have to wait at least another year to pull out that "Dream folds" article they've had queued up since 2008. To quote Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown:

The local press seems to think that we'd save everyone the time and trouble if we just went out and shot ourselves. Me, I'm for wasting sportswriters' time. So I figured we ought to hang around for a while and see if we can give 'em all a nice big shitburger to eat!

And now, let's sing! "We're a wild and an untamed thing...we're a bee with a deadly sting...!"

Negotiations Continue Regarding New Dream Owner

Tara Polen over at SportsPageMagazine.com has some heartening news for Atlanta Dream fans:

Although they may be getting near to their last time out, an unnamed Atlanta Dream official assured me today that the team is still on the court.

...Negotiations continue, and until things are comfortably settled and all assurances are made, the Dream will not be taking the next step of going ahead and selling renewals to its season ticket holders.

That said, all indications look very good for [Kathy] Betty to be the new owner, according to this Dream insider. The team personnel are in "stand by" mode, and are being asked to be "patient." Thus, they are extending this request to their fans and season ticket holders. But the mood is definitely positive.

As for rumors of a move to Gwinnett Center -- those seem to be unfounded.

You need to go over to the actual link to read the rest of it. However, it is very good news. It looks like the game might not be over just yet.

Ownership Change Rumored for Atlanta Dream

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Kathy Betty, widow of former EarthLink CEO Garry Betty and a major contributor to Georgia Tech's basketball teams, has emerged as the top prospect to buy all or part of the Atlanta Dream, Central Atlanta Progress President A.J. Robinson said.

"Talks have involved into her taking that role or taking a bigger role in the team," Robinson said late Friday morning.

Current Dream owner Ron Terwilliger told the WNBA in August that he wanted to relinquish his position of primary owner of the two-year old professional women's basketball team. Terwilliger, chairman and chief executive officer of Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential, said he intended to remain an investor in the team.


More information on Betty below:

Kathy Betty was the wife of Garry Betty, known for taking dial-up Internet company EarthLink public in 1997, a year after he joined the company. He died of cancer in 2007 at age 49.

Betty is a major contributor to the men's and women's basketball programs at Georgia Tech and is on the board of the Jimmy V Foundation.

(Note: I can't do anything about the AJC's slow-loading links. Linear B was deciphered more quickly than waiting for those pages to load.)