ABA Motown Jammers

[CMc]

I just saw the Motown Jammers logo and it looks familiar.

The Jaguar is the same one used by the IUPUI Jaguars.
Check out the IUPUI logo at http://www.espn950.com/
or at http://www.iupui.edu/~jagsport/ at the bottom of the page

Then check out the teams ABA logo at http://www.abalive.com/expansion/

The animal has been altered in color and texture, but it is the same Jag'.

I know the "Moose" GBA used existing art for their logos, but I didn't expect it from a team in the ABA. I wonder if any copyrights and TradeMarks are being violated?

[meyes]

Good catch. They are too much alike for it to be pure coincidence. However, I don't see a copyright or registered symbol with either logo. I am not an attorney but I have been a journalist for about 35 years. As I understand it, intellectual property which is not accompanied by a copyright notice has little, if any, protection.

[meyes]

CMc,
As of this morning that logo has been removed from the expansion teams page at ABAlive.

[CRUSADERSFAN]

The new logo has benn created. you can view on www.abalive.com/expansion.

[Sam Hill]

Now they're putting a team in Boston, too?

Morons.

Just put an ABA team in every NBA market.

Note to Joe: It's the NHL that might not have a season next year. Not the NBA.

[CMc]

Wy not have ABA team in NBA cities?

The ABA is only needing 2-3 thousand per game and the larger cities can, in theory, deliver that.

In Carolina, I bet they expect the Bobcats to sell out most the games the first season. Why not target those fans that can't get or afford Bobcat tickets.
Plus, the larger the league is, the perseption will be that it is a legit league. True, this ABA has had a very rocky past, but at least they seem to have someone that knows what they are doing.

6 - 10 team leagues seem to come and go in the Minor League sports world. Mainly because of travel or they are to regionalized. The question will be can a Minor league be National, but not compete against the Major league in its sport? The old IHL was the most recent league, that I can remember, that attempted this strategy. I believe they failed by not having enough teams. Travel was way too expensive, especially for the small market teams.

At this rate, the ABA should have about 24 teams for the 2004-05 season. If you have four "regions" of six teams, you can schedule 20 games, of a 36 game schedule, with in a small travel distance. Then You only need to schedule 8 - 10 long distant travel games for the whole season.

It will be a tough sell to atract ABA fans in Portland, Boston, Carolina, Georgia, and New Jersey. The Key will be who is running the teams, not the location of the teams. If they promote the teams in the market, they can attract 2-3 thousand per game. If the keep it a "secret" they be lucky to get 2-3 dozen per game.

[Sam Hill]

Besides the fact that previous minor league teams in major league cities (especially those with NBA teams) have struggled, you hit it on the head when you said it's, in the end, about the people running the show. And the history of the ABA shows us that they do virtually no due dilligence on prospective owners.

In the case of an ABA team, they're not so much competing with the NBA team in town, because that's an entirely different level of basketball and entertainment. They're competing with the movies and DVD's and school activities and Nickel Beer Night and the internet and the other sub-major entertainment options that are out there. And there are many more of those in a big city than in a small city.

Too big a city, you get lost. Too small a city, and you can't generate the crowds or the corporate support you need.

And considering price point isn't the primary reason people decide to go or not to go to an ABA game, the fact they're cheaper than the NBA isn't a huge selling point. The ABA product has been determined, in virtually every instance, to not be acceptable. You can throw marketing dollars (that they don't have) at it all you want, but just telling people there's a game isn't the same thing as selling them a ticket to the game. And ABA teams are notorious for being poor marketers.

I don't see any reason why that would be any different with 20 teams than it was with 7. They choose inept people to own and run franchises, don't hold teams to the bare minimum of standards (like, oh, I don't know - show up for games and bring your own uniforms), and those teams are undercapitalized and understaffed and then they wonder why it doesn't work.

Actually, if they wonder why it doesn't work, they don't admit it, because they keep blabbering on and on about how well it is working, despite all evidence to the contrary. In JoeNewmanland, the league is going great guns and people are beating down their doors to be a part of the league and experience teams with five players, one of them in his 50's.

Entertaining and affordable, they keep harping on. Not worth the money, I say.