Another brilliant choice for ABA ownership

[Sam Hill]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=38&u_sid=2015058


"Michael Jefferson wanted a professional basketball team in Omaha. The Omaha resident recently filed for bankruptcy and has been taken to court at least six times to pay off debts. He has had minor brushes with the law. There are also periods in his past that he does not want to discuss."

How did he manage to get by Joe Newman's rigorous phonecall screening?

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

The whole story, if you are not registered to read it:

Owner says Omaha is right for team

BY ROB WHITE



WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Michael Jefferson wanted a professional basketball team in Omaha.

He plans one in Lincoln instead, and he believes his American Basketball Association team will be a success.

The Omaha resident recently filed for bankruptcy and has been taken to court at least six times to pay off debts. He has had minor brushes with the law. There are also periods in his past that he does not want to discuss.

"I'm not trying to give the perception that I am wealthy," he said. "All I have is an idea and a vision that it can work."

Jefferson has vocal supporters, although he was unable to generate the backing needed to get his team off the ground in Omaha.

When he shifted his ABA address from Omaha to Lincoln last month, he took over a team that had been set to join the All-American Professional Basketball League.

"You go where you're wanted and can financially afford it," Jefferson said. "That's all I've done. It's not that I didn't want to play in Omaha."

Jefferson wouldn't say what caused him to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy this year, although he did say the $20,000 market reservation fee required by the ABA wasn't a factor.

He referred to Johnny Rodgers, Steve Hogan, Mike Carter and Bob Lowery as people from his past who could speak for his character.

Rodgers is a former Heisman Trophy winner, Hogan is a teaching professional at Miller Park Golf Course, and Lowery is a former Omaha Central teacher and coach who now is part of the ownership group of the ABA team in Atlanta. Carter is a former Central classmate who operates the North Omaha and Nebraska Bears.

All of them know Jefferson from the late 1960s and early 1970s and say they believe he has the business acumen to succeed. All said it had been years since they spoke to Jefferson until recently.

"I would have liked to see him make it work here in Omaha," Carter said. "He has some great ideas. All he needs is corporate support to make it work - like all professional franchises."

Jefferson, 50, worked as an independent contractor delivering The World-Herald from 1989 through 1993 and again beginning in 1995. Until this summer, he was a distributor, handling 300 daily copies and 600 on Sundays.

"There was a parting of ways, but there was no bad feeling," said Dennis Rothschadl, a World-Herald distribution manager. "Michael had always been here and done a good job. But there was a mutual agreement that he was pursuing other things. He was concentrating more on the basketball team."

Jefferson had hoped the Omaha team, the River City Ballers, would play at either Qwest Center Omaha or the Civic Auditorium but said he didn't have the financial resources to pay in advance to play in either.

"They wanted 100 percent of the money up front," he said. "To me, that's not a good business deal. The (ABA) model is not designed for that, not to play in a venue for half a million (Qwest) or $270,000 (Civic) up front."

He wasn't interested in playing at local high schools and said negotiations with the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs and the University of Nebraska at Omaha were unsuccessful.

"My intention," he said, "was only to see if Omaha wanted to see good, quality professional basketball at a reasonable price. That's it."

The Lincoln team had already begun marketing efforts and had a season-ticket base when the All-American Professional Basketball League folded in August. The Lincoln team's front office asked Jefferson to help.

The team had secured the Pershing Center, and Jefferson could deliver his membership in the American Basketball Association, which is a minor league of 50 teams and carries a per-team salary cap of $120,000. Jefferson declined to reveal the lease price for the Pershing Center and said he was required to pay only a deposit.

Jefferson was found guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery and disorderly conduct in 2001, was fined and sentenced to six months probation. He contends he was acting in self-defense.

According to Douglas County computer files, Jefferson defaulted on his home loan in 1994. As for the six times he has been taken to court to pay off debts, one claim was dismissed, and another was transferred to a co-defendant. He paid off debt ranging from $277 to $1,675 on the other cases. Each case has been closed since at least 1998.

Jefferson owned a store called Jefferson Tapes and Compact Discs for several years in the mid-1990s and promoted an unsuccessful Salt-N-Pepa concert at the Civic Auditorium in 1994.

He said he attended Santa Rosa (Calif.) Junior College and San Francisco State University. He said he didn't complete his bachelor's degree.

He refused to say in any detail what he did from the mid-1970s until 1989, other than saying he lived in Omaha, Denver and California at various points.

He declined to say where he worked, saying only he had "odd jobs." Nor would he reveal anyone who was in contact with him at that time.

"I was a legitimate citizen," he said. "Where I worked is not important. Who cares what $3.25 an hour job I had in 1970?"

[marlthom]

Sounds like a quality individual!

[TEN]

Only in America....from paperboy to pro basketball team owner...

What's the over/under on the number of games this team will play....I set it at 0.

[exit322]

Negative 12 1/2

If it's possible anywhere, the ABA is it.

[nksports]

I hate to be the "nattering nabob of negativism" here (to paraphrase former VP Spiro T. Agnew), but didn't someone do a basic credit check in this case, or doesn't anyone who runs this league care. (And they wonder why one of the better run teams in this league dashed off to the D League.)
The owner is apparently broke, he's moving to a city that just lost a pro team to a huckster and their major competition for fans is going to be the University of Nebraska. And he thinks people are going to buy tickets and sponsors are going to pay for advertising to support this pipe dream?
I've got no money either (but I'm not in bankruptcy yet). Maybe I can become an ABA owner?

[meyes]

Hmmm. Spiro T. Agnew. There is a name I had not heard in a while. That was one great choice for VP. The guy that chose him was the first (and only) President ever to resign in disgrace. Thorough background checks might be a good idea but, often, voters don't seem to really care about the background of political candidates. The people that run sports leagues, any sport, any level, are, or could be voters. Do you suppose ther might be any connection here?

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

No meyes, I don't think there is any connection between the voting habits you're suggesting and the responsible business decisions of people who actually run sports leagues.

However, the people who are simply running a scam probably don't care about financial backgrounds as long as they are getting paid. Yes, in this case there may very well be a connection.

[tstidm]

And I thought the Baltimore team was badly managed. This takes the cake. I have still heard nothing about where they are playing, season tickets, hiring or a schedule. I am starting to wonder if this team plays one game.

[Buscemi]

Wow.. looks like Lincoln got the shaft again with a quality person. Sounds like someone I want to run my team.