10-12 CBA Teams for 2006

[panchess]

The CBA announcement mentions negotiations with Montana (Great Falls, I assume), California (San Jose?), Oregon (Bend), Nevada (Reno), and Washington (?).

It also mentions inquiries from Georgia, Kansas, Michigan and Indiana. I wonder if the Indiana could be the AlleyCats, and Kansas the Kansas City ABA team that got left in the cold last year, or perhaps one of the USBL cities looking for a winter season.

The announcement does not mention New York...:(

No Northeastern city is mentioned at all, which is a shame.

The NBDL announced Anaheim today. Another step in the direction of farm teams near NBA teams, which makes a lot of sense for them. Somehow the Dakota outfits are going to have a problem here...

[bectond]

It seems like the CBA is going to make it, if they can cut the travel cost and cut the # of games back. Ga however makes no sense.

[panchess]

..the CBA would need at least one "link" team, but Georgia (particularly if it is northern Georgia) isn't as far from Michigan and Indiana as you think.

[panchess]

..how does cutting the number of games back help things? More games, more revenue.

I can see where cutting the number of weeks in the season would help things, but that is a different issue.

[mikel]

The Alley Cats play at a college I think. CBA teams have to have their own arenas I believe. Didn't the Fort Wayne owner have the rights to his market when the CBA bought out Isaiah from bankruptcy? If so, that's the only logical city I'd think. Georgia seems way off the beaten path, but so is Albany! I can't believe that an ABA team that is drawing would remain in such an unstable league. Rochester would be nuts not to go to the CBA. Where in Michigan can they play that fans would actually show up to watch a minor league game consistently?

[panchess]

The current CBA teams play in municipal arenas (or in Albany's case, an arena co-mingled with the team), but I can't imagine there is any prohibition against a college facility.

Getting the dates can be even harder there than at a municipal arena, and in some cities, there can be a perception problem if it isn't the city's prime facility. If a CBA team could fill the Carrier Dome in my hometown of Syracuse, I think it would be approved...:)

I think the Rockford Lightning were looking into a college facility to solve their weekend dates woes, for instance.

[nksports]

and Kansas the Kansas City ABA team that got left in the cold last year,
The Kansas City team was the "flagship" franchise of the ABA and went completely belly-up this season. If the CBA is going to have a KC-area team, it would probably be a start-up operation with a new ownership group.

[mikel]

Well the commish stepped down because he wanted to start his own franchise. So if he's the one going to KC, then obviously his group would have a clue of what's going on. Where would they play in KC though?

I suppose a college facility that had a good working relationship with a franchise might work. Thing is they likely wouldn't be allowed to paint the floor, so game day would operations would need to spend a long time taping it up for the pro game. At least a college floor is the same length as a pro floor. It's those high school courts that are ten foot shorter that are problematic.

Just how big would the CBA be without losing those four franchises? And why won't the NBA just buy the CBA and incorporate the front office people so they can hit their goal of 30? Once they have a team for every NBA team, they can then pick and choose who to replace. Or better yet, once they hit 30, make the NBA teams buy/invest in their affiliate team like the MLB teams do? Seems to me that the NBA would do the 15 teams this year but next year look to get it up to 30. That's a huge leap and would think the CBA would be vital to do that.

[bectond]

If the CBA teams are making money then playing more games is a great idea, however if they are losing money playing more games is a bad idea. Just think about this:
1-If your playing a shorter season you can spend more advertising bucks on each game, which should increase fans.
2-If the team shares an arena they can cut some of those weeknight games and play must of their games on the weekends the hockey team is traveling.
If they are not sharing the arena then they can play all their home games on fri, sat or sun during a 16 week season with 16 home games.
3- Travel cost would be lower due to the fact that 25% of the road games would be omitted.
I just feel that the owners should put 6 teams out west and 6 teams in the mid-west and play 20 games vs their div. and 12 games vs the other div. that way teams would only have to fly once a year and the they would earn money for a change.

[bectond]

By playing 32 games instead of 48 workers comp payments would also decline.
So all together...
airfare would decline est.50%
hotel rental for road trips would decline 33%
workers comp. would decline est. 25%
Arena rental fees would decline 33%
And if attendence rose due to the increase in weekend games and better use of advertising $ then profits could easily be made.
All by droping 1 game a week during the 16 week season.

[Chuck the Writer]

If a CBA team could fill the Carrier Dome in my hometown of Syracuse, I think it would be approved...:)

I think the Rockford Lightning were looking into a college facility to solve their weekend dates woes, for instance.

Syracuse did have a team in the CBA at one time, the 1976-77 Syracuse Centennials. That was the season where teams moved / folded / relocated on a regular basis, it was one of the most chaotic CBA seasons (well, actually it was EBA at the time), and the Centennials folded in mid-season with an 8-9 record. I'll have more on the Centennials at some point in the CBA Museum.

[BreakersFan]

Wasn't Rochester rumored to be interested in the CBA?

[toad8098]

It's being rumored that the CBA is targeting the northeast before the D-League gets there. I'd expect Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse to join and maybe a team or two along the coast(Hartford? Trenton?).

[panchess]

..there is no way Syracuse can support a CBA team given the popularity of SU basketball. They are the literal 800-pound gorilla in the room, outdrawing even NBA teams.

If you are going to have a fourth Upstate New York team, I would take Utica. Depressed, sure. But a metro of 300,000 people with no college teams to speak of and no other pro sports, along with a 4,500 seat arena, would be a reasonable CBA market. particularly with Albany set up, and Rochester and Buffalo possibly coming into the fold.

Allentown and Scranton would seem to be places on a map that fit this model better than UConn-crazed Hartford.

[Chuck the Writer]

If you are going to have a fourth Upstate New York team, I would take Utica. Depressed, sure. But a metro of 300,000 people with no college teams to speak of and no other pro sports, along with a 4,500 seat arena, would be a reasonable CBA market. particularly with Albany set up, and Rochester and Buffalo possibly coming into the fold.

Forget Utica. They lost two CBA teams in consecutive years (Mohawk Valley Thunderbirds, folded in mid-season 1978-79; Utica Olympics, 1979-80). They've also lost several different hockey teams, some also keeling over in the middle of the season. There is no income to speak of unless you work at the Saranac Brewery. That's about it. And the Civic Center ain't in the most populated part of town.

If you're going to do a fourth NY team, look at either Binghamton (which would then allow Scranton or Wilkes-Barre to come in with a travel partner) or maybe Verona, if you want to get Turning Stone Casino involved a la Mohegan Sun.

[nksports]

Well the commish stepped down because he wanted to start his own franchise. So if he's the one going to KC, then obviously his group would have a clue of what's going on. Where would they play in KC though?
The last time the ABA Knights played, they were in one of the smaller buildings of the American Royal complex next to Kemper Arena (it seated a couple of thousand and maybe drew half capacity). Kemper and Memorial Hall are both way too expensive for minor league basketball and the new arena is looking for NBA and NHL, so forget it there (Portland is in play for that arena). The Knights committed to the new Overland Park arena, but the Knights appear to be dead and the new arena is on hold. (It was supposed to be finished this summer, but it never broke ground because the OP city commission suddenly got cold feet).
There are plenty of small college gyms in the area (Rockhurst, Avila, Mid-America Nazarene, Johnson County CC, Kansas City, Kan., CC, Park are some of the bigger ones, but they aren't going to give you good dates while their teams are playing.)
Don't even talk to Topeka unless you got the money up front. They are still stinging from the AAPBL debacle.
You might wind up playing at a high school.

[panchess]

I am surprised no one has tried Poughkeepsie or Newburgh as a site for a CBA team. Affluent, far enough from NYC to have a separate market, and has some facilities that could work.

Syracuse had the same hockey history as Utica before the Crunch came along. Stable ownership means a lot.

Binghamton has hockey and a strong Division I basketball program now. I don't think there is enough room in that market.