Hawks and Thrashers both on the block

ATLANTA, May 18 (UPI) -- Atlanta's hockey and basketball teams both may be for sale, people close to the negotiations say.

The Atlanta Spirit group, which owns both the NHL Thrashers and the NBA Hawks, is talking with outgoing San Diego Padres owner John Moores about selling the Hawks and the operating rights to the Philips Arena, two sources who did not wish to be identified told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The parties are in an exclusive negotiating period, which means the Atlanta Spirit will not pursue selling the Hawks to anyone else for a designated period, which is not known. Moores did not respond to a request for comment.

The Hawks would remain in Atlanta under any sale.

Meanwhile, the Spirit is negotiating a possible sale of the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, a Canadian group that would move the team to Winnipeg, Manitoba. True North does not have an exclusivity agreement, so the Spirit can entertain offers to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta.

Thrashers president Don Waddell said Tuesday no such offers had come in.

The Spirit has expressed a "sense of urgency" to sell the Thrashers because of heavy financial losses.