Loeffler Sells WNBA Dream To Group Including Ex-Star Montgomery

ATLANTA — The Dream is over for former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler — specifically, the Atlanta Dream.

The WNBA announced Friday that Dream co-owners Loeffler and Mary Brock had sold the team to a three-member investor group led by Larry Gottesdiener, chairman of nationally recognized real-estate firm Northland

Renee Montgomery, a former Dream star who sat out the 2020 season to focus on social-justice issues and then retired, is one of the other investors. Montgomery will be the first former player to become both an owner and an executive of a WNBA team.

Social-justice issues made the Dream a liability for Republican Loeffler during her campaign to keep her U.S. Senate seat. WNBA players took issue with Loeffler’s repeated denunciations of Black Lives Matter, and Dream players shot back by wearing T-shirts supporting her Democratic rival, Raphael Warnock, before a nationally televised game. In a close runoff election in January, Loeffler lost her Senate seat to Warnock, making him Georgia’s first Black U.S. Senator.

In July, Loeffler blamed the player backlash against her on “cancel culture.” She also told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution then that she was unsure of whether she would sell her share in the team. By January, though, a league representative told the Atlanta newspaper that a sale of the WNBA franchise was “imminent” and was “close to being finalized.”

“Ten years ago we stepped up to keep the Dream in Atlanta, as an important asset for a vibrant and diverse city,” Loeffler and Brock said in a statement Friday “It was also important to us to help level the playing field for women’s professional sports. We are proud of what we accomplished and wish the team well in their next chapter.”

Montgomery said her new role can set a tone.

“Breaking barriers for minorities and women by being the first former WNBA player to have both a stake in ownership and a leadership role with the team is an opportunity that I take very seriously," Montgomery said. "I invite you to join me as the Dream builds momentum in Atlanta!”

Montgomery is in her first season as a studio analyst on Atlanta Hawks broadcasts for Fox Sports Southeast.

Montgomery won titles with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and 2017. She was an All-Star with the Connecticut Sun in 2011, when she set a career high with her average of 14.6 points per game. She was the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year in 2012.

Gottesdiener said he considers it "a privilege to join a team of inspiring women who strive for excellence on the court and equity off the court.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story