Why did the Jersey Express stick around?

[PIONEERSFAN101]

So all of the decent teams from the Northeast went off and joined the PBL...Why did the Express stick in the ABA...?

[a1sports]

your right the decent teams left....Jersey is not a decent team.
Marsha cries to joe every other month for money. He gave her 7500 dollars two years ago from the ABA account which wasnt approved by the board. Then he forgave the loan. The tream bounced around NJ looking for a cheap venue every year. Players leave with out getting paid at times.

Jersey is a joke like other ABA teams

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

your right the decent teams left....Jersey is not a decent team.
Marsha cries to joe every other month for money. He gave her 7500 dollars two years ago from the ABA account which wasnt approved by the board. Then he forgave the loan. The tream bounced around NJ looking for a cheap venue every year. Players leave with out getting paid at times.

Jersey is a joke like other ABA teams

Are they a model franchise - no.

Should Marsha get a 'money person' on board to help out? I'm sure she has.

But, they have only played in two venues - first at Essex CC (in Newark) and now their second year at Drew University. Drew is in a very nice, upper-middle class area, and is not cheap to rent.

It's too bad that they aren't more successful on the court, because off it they are pretty active in the Morris County area - working with kids groups, local law enforcement and making appearances at community events. They are doing everything a team SHOULD be (or rather, what so many dozens of other ABA teams have failed to do), yet they struggle to draw fans. They even get semi-regular coverage in the local papers, which puts them far ahead of much of their fellow ABA teams.

Whether or not Joe is still pumping cash their way, I find it very difficult to think they can survive much longer with their limited income stream (spoken by a man who worked with a team in the same market that, due to the failings of our "money owner" both in planning and ultimately in pulling the plug, played a complete season out of - essentially - our owner's checkbook).

North Jersey is an amazingly tough market to sell minor league sports with the exception of baseball - and even that has seen struggles at the gate for the Newark Bears (who nearly folded this off-season), NJ Jackals, and the loss of the NJ Cardinals (and subsequent struggle at the gate by the indy-replacement Sussex Skyhawks). The most successful minor league team in Jersey is located in Somerset - Central Jersey (the Patriots of the Atlantic League).

Not posted in support of or to rip the Express; just as a local observer.

[preeths]

I know some ABA owners blamed Marsha and the Express for not making a good portion of their schedule a couple of years ago. When she ran into trouble finding opponents late last season, she found very few sympathetic ears.

[CHris902]

I certainly did not think of the Express as a quality franchise. They survive, but barely. They cancelled a home game last year on Halifax, but didn't tell the Rainmen until Halifax were already in New Jersey. I have no sympathy for them, I wouldn't not have been pleased if they ended up in the PBL.

[formerlyknownasfells]

I certainly did not think of the Express as a quality franchise. They survive, but barely. They cancelled a home game last year on Halifax, but didn't tell the Rainmen until Halifax were already in New Jersey. I have no sympathy for them, I wouldn't not have been pleased if they ended up in the PBL.

Tom requires that a team actually has money, so the Express could never play in the PBL.

[utahstarsticketholder]

The PBL actually does complete a due diligence search before accepting a team into the league. But that for another thread! jack