RE:ABA - Just a thought...

[marlthom]

Mr Newman, you should have seen it coming:

"The old ownership group (The Soular Group, LLC) kind of bailed out on us," league co-founder and chairman Joe Newman said. "... It's always money. They didn't have enough money to do it."

Just a thought - If a team folds and no one was attending games anyway, does it matter to anyone really (players excepted)? Normally, I'd say this league is the worst example of the damage independant leagues can do to the sports industry - folding in the middle of the night with season ticket and sponsor money, and ruining markets for legitimate operators. But I don't know if this league fits this situation. With the exception of about four teams, the rest of the franchises could go away tomorrow and very very few people would notice or care.

No media, no attendance, no sponsors, no business plan. I've spoken to quite a few of these ABA owners; they've contacted my company about possible consulting projects. Most have asked for free advice. The only free advice I'll give them is hire a sales staff and design a business plan. A plan that does not include a winning team as a selling point. Worth Christie of the AAPBL (another future train wreck) said in an article posted yesterday on OSC "winning is the best marketing strategy for any team". WRONG! With the exception of the hard core fan, most people really don't care if a minor league team is a winner or not. If you disagree check recent attendance figures for minor league baseball and hockey.

Most of the ABA owners don't know what they don't know. They are so unaware of the task before them, any credible league would laugh and hang up the phone upon any inquiry. The ABA phone-vetting process, whether you believe it or not, hasn't worked yet, and this league will NEVER achieve professional status if Mr Newman continues to distribute franchises as he is now.

Pay your players on time, pay your staff on time, play your games on time, provide a safe, comfortable, accessible professional facility for the fan, get out into the community, identify and communicate with your potential fans, make friends in the media, treat each customer as they deserve to be treated, don't expect the corporate community to support you simply because you exist, and produce a fun event. Start the planning process at least a year before you play your first game. And then...

"People will come. They'll come for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it...Oh, people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

[Sam Hill]

Now, see, between this guy and the guy from Utah, you have the start of something.

Is Newman listening? Is anyone listening? This can be done, folks. It's not easy. But you make it harder on yourself when you do it half-a$$ed.

[Pounder]

I should mention that I'm more a soccer fan than anything.

I've been fortunate to kind of witness at least one of dozens of controversies surrounding United Soccer Leagues. A bunch of breakaway clubs out west rebelled against what they felt were high annual fees to maintain membership a couple years ago, partnered with the Women's Premier Soccer League, and formed the MPSL. Two years, an attempted expansion, many crowds the ABA would laugh at, and a dead website later, it looks like that thing has given up the ghost.

The premise many of the owners talked about was being in control of their own finances, and how that would be the key to slowly inching towards profitability. I think it's been proven that, wouldn't you know it, we're dealing with a lot of undercapitalized people. They may have a desire, but the vision was askew, and more likely they never could get off the starting block because they couldn't afford the help they needed.

I think you know where I'm going with this, but I want to take this a step further. If I have the dosh to make a good effort at this as the owner of a club, the LAST thing I want to see is a "reduced price" entry fee. A reasonably higher entry fee is almost guaranteed to weed out the chaff, otherwise you're quite likely to get stuck in the organizational nightmare that is the ABA. Doing this WON'T draw 30-80 ownership groups in 2 years, if done right. I would highly advocate building from a regional model (USL started out in Texas and surrounding states) and build a legacy from there rather than try to go national "at speed" without the basis or infrastructure to do so. Of course, I still can't help but think that the ABA is a front for something, and some of these "owners" are in on the gig, but I do have a soft spot for certain conspiracy theories.

[marlthom]

38(?) teams at $10000 = a nice income for Joe Newman. Do ANY of these fees go towards league marketing, game officials or other infrastructure expenses?

30 new teams next year equals another good year for Mr Newman, and more potential carnage along the minor league sports highway.

[dshaw62197]

The way things have been going in the ABA lately, it's a wonder more people haven't started thinking up conspiracy theories. That's a good point about Joe N. asking $10,000 from 30-some new teams -- probably much easier to get a little from a lot, rather than asking $100,000 or whatever from a handful of expansion teams. And I wonder if any of the clubs that have folded -- oops, I mean, reformed -- and returned to the league have to pay the fee anew?

I'm sorry, but any time you try to expand a league by several dozen teams in one season, then say you're going to do the same next year... how can that be considered professional? If this were a church league or a playground association, fine. But this is supposed to be PROFESSIONAL. And sadly, very few ABA teams right now qualify for that label.

This whole debacle just makes me disgusted. I hoped this league would be a worthy successor to the original ABA. Instead, it's a sham. Yes, the original ABA had it's ups and downs, and instability was part of the program. But come on... 30 new teams in one year? This is ridiculous. :x