Money issues in the ABA - already?????

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

As posted on OSC:

Notice to Buzz Fans Please use Edit correction
10/29/05 - American Basketball Association (ABA) Orange County Buzz
This is a notice to all the Orange County Buzz fans who planned on seeing the Buzz vs. the Gallup Talons. The Talons notified the Buzz at 2 AM PDT on Saturday morning that they do not have the money to pay for a flight to Orange County to play them.

For more information, visit www.ocbuzz.net, call 310 493 4391, email info@ocbuzz.net or visit www.abalive.com.

A couple thoughts:
1 - How much work was actually done to plan this trip if, at 2 AM on the day of the game they discovered they couldn't afford tickets to fly?
2 - I've done a lot of air travel recently, and I find that the experience goes more smoothly when I book my one ticket before the day of my flight. Gallup waits to buy tickets for their entire team until the day they are supposed to play. Is this short-sightedness a hint of things to come?
3 - This was the THIRD version of the release posted on OSC. The original referenced the NM Style, and the second had Style in place of Talons. Dear God, does anyone proofread anymore? Not that the releases from the ABA ofices are much better.

Perception is reality. Maybe if Joe "Shecky" Newman stopped trying so hard with the abismal attempts at humor concerning the NBA dress code - see his latest 'Ask the CEO' keyboard drivel on Rodman and the NBA - and spent some of the $50K he promised to Gulf Coast relief, but never sent, on someone with copyediting experience (or common sense), they might look respectable.

Oh well. The season kicks off tomorrow. Let's pull up a chair by the side of the ABA highway and wait for the bus wrecks to begin. :roll: :roll:

[nksports]

I'm shocked, shocked to find financial problems in the ABA
:oops: :oops: :oops:
One team down, about 46 more to go

[barkley34]

This is absolute B**L S**T. Legit teams, fans and sponsors are getting screwed because fly by night owners and teams cannot afford to run their business. At a VERY MINIMUM, the league should have AT LEAST a $5 million dollar revolving credit line to deal with this, and ALL teams should have credit lines of $1 million, net worth requirements of the owners of $2-3 million and $500K IN THE BANK BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS. Minimum!!!!! This would NEVER happen if they ran it like a business. Dear God.............not enough money for plane tickets? What happened to chartering a plane like a normal team.
"Idiocy is not all that bad, I am an idiot and I turned out all right" Sam "Newman" Hill

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

Just for fun, I went to Travelocity.com to check prices from NM (Albuquerque) to LA, booking them for tomorrow until Wednesday (since planning in advance seems to be a foreign concept).

About $280 per person, X 10 players (or even less, if necessary), 2 coaches and 1 other staff person (trainer, front office, whatever).

About $3600 total - maximum (remember, the home team is required in the ABA to pay for the housing and travel from the airport for their opponents). :shock:

Heck, the team president could have put the trip on his Visa, MC, etc. and settled the bill later.

As The Carpenters sang so eloquently all those years ago....

"We've only just begun......."
:P :P

[nksports]

This is absolute B**L S**T. Legit teams, fans and sponsors are getting screwed because fly by night owners and teams cannot afford to run their business. At a VERY MINIMUM, the league should have AT LEAST a $5 million dollar revolving credit line to deal with this, and ALL teams should have credit lines of $1 million, net worth requirements of the owners of $2-3 million and $500K IN THE BANK BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS. Minimum!!!!! This would NEVER happen if they ran it like a business. Dear God.............not enough money for plane tickets? What happened to chartering a plane like a normal team.
"Idiocy is not all that bad, I am an idiot and I turned out all right" Sam "Newman" Hill

If they did that, they wouldn't have any owners at all. In reality, most minor-league teams use buses or vans. In the case of minor-league basketball teams with a roster of 10-12, you could rent a couple of vans from Hertz or Avis for about $50 a day (before taxes and insurance, make sure you get an unlimited mileage plan). Some teams lease vans.
If people ran credit checks on some of these owners, again, the ABA wouldn't have any.

[barkley34]

I stand corrected! But my God, they should have AT LEAST, I mean at the very LEAST $500,000 in the bank BEFORE the season starts. $3,600 for plane tickets and they cannot afford that@!!?? WHat the hell kind of league is this? $3,600????? Thats a first class plane ticket from LA to NYC for one and thse bozo's cannot afford to buy 12-14 tickets at this price??? Why didn't the league step in and pay it?
"Idiocy is not all that bad, I am an idiot and I turned out OK" Sam Newman Hill, OSC Legend.

[afdave]

Of course, all this discussion about the ABA's "problems" has to start on the preposition that the ABA is a "real" professional league. Many of us I don't think believe even that.

I prefer to look at it the other direction. Congratulations to Joe Newman on bringing his local rotiserrie fantasy basketball league to "life". Myself, I am planning on getting a few dozen owners to say they'll play football games at their local high school and bring my Yahoo fantasy football league to the next level next year.

[Pounder]

I've DRIVEN from Gallup to Anaheim at an acceptable pace (and made face off of Mighty Ducks v Kings) in 11 hours. These guys couldn't rent a couple vans?

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

Of course, all this discussion about the ABA's "problems" has to start on the preposition that the ABA is a "real" professional league. Many of us I don't think believe even that.

The us named Ken certainly doesn't believe the ABA is a real professional league. :)

It was obvious to me that this new version of the ABA was a scam since day one. What amazes me is that potential suckers continue to buy into this league year after year.

Maybe these people have never been on the receiving end of a scam before, therefore not knowing what to look for.