Hollywood Fame Folding?

[brucker]

According to the article below, the Fame looks like it will be folding soon. So much for celebrity owners being good for the league. What happened here? How can a team with such strong financial backing collapse like this. Mike Casey was just on the ABA talkshow last week talking about how great things were going.

Hollywood Fame (Saturday) ... Financial problems affected the Hollywood Fame during the last couple of months and this forced some important changes in the technical staff and in playing personnel. Mike Casey, VP of Operations, was released from the team due to financial reasons. Head Coach Don Casey left the team too, and one of the main players, Jamison Brewer left as well. The team website is also down, and there are rumors that the owners are now docking players paychecks. We could expect to say farewell to the Fame soon.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_20594.shtml

[ABA06er]

instead of researching the teams most succesfull team ( Rochester )

They ( celeb owners of the Fame ) went out and maxed out a team payroll , payed close to the max payroll to bring in a Former NBA Head Coach ( Don Casey ) experienced Front Office Staff . They essentially tryed modeling a minor league semi pro basketball team after a NBA franchise, which would have been great for the league if they had the brains to comprehen WE WONT MAKE MONEY DOING THIS WE WILL LOSE MONEY ! And with the celebrity backing they had in ownership they could have easily afforded to take a 300,000 hit every year to run it like that. They however have now bailed on the team and bailed on Hollywood and they only have thier selves to " blame for the fame " turning into a total screw up.

[sportsguy12]

instead of researching the teams most succesfull team ( Rochester )

They ( celeb owners of the Fame ) went out and maxed out a team payroll , payed close to the max payroll to bring in a Former NBA Head Coach ( Don Casey ) experienced Front Office Staff . They essentially tryed modeling a minor league semi pro basketball team after a NBA franchise, which would have been great for the league if they had the brains to comprehen WE WONT MAKE MONEY DOING THIS WE WILL LOSE MONEY ! And with the celebrity backing they had in ownership they could have easily afforded to take a 300,000 hit every year to run it like that. They however have now bailed on the team and bailed on Hollywood and they only have thier selves to " blame for the fame " turning into a total screw up.

were convinced by Uncle Joe to invest their money. I would have bailed, too, if I were them and cut my losses now rather than later. Can you blame them?

[bdaly]

L.A. isn't a great major league market. So anyone who bought into the idea that a minor league team could draw tons of people was fooling themselves. A team might be able to carve out a niche with a modest budget, but even a spectacular ABA team (by that I mean expensive) isn't going to gain enough exposure to justify the additional expenditure.

[The Magician]

could potentially be a tremendous region for the ABA, with a great # of extremely competitive teams stretching from the South to the North.

I'd even try to make a pitch to the Chico, Santa Barbara and Tri Valley teams from the IBL.

I wish the ABA executive arm had the expertise to work with organizations, to help teams get established within their individual markets. There just does not seem to be that type of presence or support system available ...

[Chuck the Writer]

Ah, and just six months ago Unca Joe was touting them as the greatest ownership group since Red Auerbach.


31-Aug-2006
Los Angeles, CA -- The American Basketball Association announced that a group of celebrity owners have formed "The Hollywood Fame," a new team that will begin play in the professional basketball league. AJ Discala, CEO of Brax Capital Group; Nick Lachey, Geoff Stults ("7th Heaven" and "The Break-Up"); Stacy Keibler ("Dancing with the Stars"), former NBA legend John Salley; former MLB All-Star Brady Anderson; NFL quarterback Kyle Boller of the Baltimore Ravens and NASCAR's Brian Vickers make up the ownership group.

"The Hollywood Fame" will kick-off its inaugural season starting this November with 18 home games to be played at The Los Angeles Sports Arena.

According to Joe Newman, ABA CEO, "This is sort of icing on the cake. Showbiz, NBA, NFL, MLB, NASCAR all wrapped up in one great package. I cannot imagine anything but sellout crowds everywhere they play. We are very pleased and excited."

"And we're excited about "The Hollywood Fame" bringing highly skilled basketball players to the fans of Los Angeles," said co-owner AJ Discala. "We are creating a unique family entertainment option at affordable prices."

Initial tryouts were held on August 29th at the Pan Pacific Recreation Center in Los Angeles to recruit professional players to join the elite squads. Many of the celebrity owners were on hand to take part in the player recruiting process and show their support for the team. Additional tryouts will be held in September to fill the remaining player spots and for "The Hollywood Fame" official team cheerleaders.

"We are thrilled to have the support of Hollywood behind "The Fame" and combining professional sports with entertainment makes this a slam dunk," said Laura Brau, President and GM of "The Hollywood Fame."

For more information, including details on the tryouts, visit www.thehollywoodfame.com or email Laura@thehollywoodfame.com.

Oh, and then there was this little nugget a month or two ago, under the headline "Postives [sic] in the ABA":


2.) New Strong Ownership - Nick Lachey, John Salley , Charlie Batch , Kyle Boller , Ann Iverson ( the mother of Allen Iverson ) , Alex Wolf ( Senior Writer for Sports illustrated.
* If owners with names as powerful as the ones listed above who are from the NBA, NFL , and famous music talents are buying into the ABA then you know the ABA is on the rise.

Or they can get ripped off just as easily as Joe Schmo from Kokomo.

By the way, the Hollywood Fame's website is kaput. And did anybody happen to notice that one of the members of the ownership group is allegedly the Commissioner of the ABA?

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

And did anybody happen to notice that one of the members of the ownership group is allegedly the Commissioner of the ABA?
And that another one of the owners is listed in the public offering as someone with the contractual right (along with Doyle) to gain a controlling interest in the league?

The crack new ABA management team was going to be the answer to the league's many failings.

But, if those people are failing as well...

Oh well; que sara. sara

[Fells]

How bad is it when the team of the alleged commisioner goes bad? I only say alleged since we haven't heard a word from him......

[jamesaba]

And that another one of the owners is listed in the public offering as someone with the contractual right (along with Doyle) to gain a controlling interest in the league?

The crack new ABA management team was going to be the answer to the league's many failings.

But, if those people are failing as well...

Oh well; que sara. sara

I too can't figure this one out.

#1) Nick Lachey, John Salley, AJ Discala, Stacey Keibler, and Kyle Bowler all have plenty of money to afford to run an ABA team thru the next 6 weeks - so why are they folding?

#2) Why would the key player in the ABA going public + the so-called commissioner (AJ + John) allow the disgrace of their own team folding. Wasn't there an article somewhere that quoted John Salley himself at the ABA meeting as saying that they were going to be tough on teams that don't make games or fold?

#3) Could this be a ploy to drop the stock price more as a tactic to oust Joe? The lower the stock price the less AJ and Doyle have to pay to acquire the 51%.

#4) Why does Casey refer to the ownership group of the Fame (in the USBASKET interview) as 'the owner'? It sounds like he was referring to one owner and not the fancy group we were led to believe owned the team. Did that group of celebs REALLY own the Fame or was that mere hype?

....things that make you go hmmmm!!!

[boing]

The Fame went from the LA Sports Arena to the Santa Monica Civic to Santa Monica City College. I have a hunch the first two places were just talk, with no lease. The only place they had a lease for was the college, more than likely. They also only had 8 or 9 home games on their schedule, the rest road games....

[Sam Hill]

"I cannot imagine anything but sellout crowds everywhere they play."

I LOVE that. That's Joe at his best.

As for why these owners with money would let a team fold? Maybe they didn't lend much more to it than their names? I don't know, but that could account for it. Obviously, Joe Moron expected the name recognition value of the team's owners to sell tickets (no one ever buys a ticket to see an owner own anything), and it didn't.

So either the losses were more than these celebs were willing to take (didn't Lachey just buy a piece of a minor-league baseball team?) or they didn't have that much skin in the game to begin with.

[psbf]

Maybe it is a league ploy, as an earlier poster mentioned. But, on the other hand, I never took that team name seriously. A team full of celebrities knows more about signing autographs than they do about Basketball(unless it's a charity game).

[BreakersFan]

What??? A well-hyped team in the ABA folding mid-season????

[boing]

There was a release that said the Fame have a home game tonight against the Buzz in Santa Monica. Stay tuned, but at least for now, the Fame are still alive.

[The Magician]

There was a release that said the Fame have a home game tonight against the Buzz in Santa Monica. Stay tuned, but at least for now, the Fame are still alive.

Wednesday 01/31/07

Hollywood Fame 129 : 119 Maywood Buzz

[Chuck the Writer]

Wednesday 01/31/07

Hollywood Fame 129 : 119 Maywood Buzz

Anybody got a box score or a lineup? Was this game really played by the Fame or was it played by a bunch of pickup guys? And did anybody actually SEE this game being played, or was it played on a STATIS PRO board game simulator?

Honestly, if someone associated with this league ever told me the sky was blue, I'd double check by looking up.

[panchess]

Last season in the Indy Racing League, there was a lot of hype about a new team sponsored by Carmelo Anthony, the NBA star. Lots of media stories, and TV camera following Carmelo around Indy talking about "my team."

The team folded right after the Indy 500, a third of the way through the season. It turned out Anthony didn't put a nickel into the team, and the team folded when its other resources were gone. The attempt to get sponsors through "media buzz" and the use of a celebrity didn't work.

More than likely, it's the same in this case. The celebrities on the Hollywood Fame could care less than Joe Newman, somebody they probably have never met, was complaining about them in Halifax in front of the local paper. It's irrelevant to them.

[psbf]

I just read where Billy Knight, a rep from the Hollywood Fame, was selected as the All-Star MVP. I understand the team needs fan support, but I find it hard to believe that there is any shame in the fame with the fans, with a player so good.

[preeths]

The Fame will apparently not be heading East on a planned road trip. Bellingham will fill in for them at Vermont.

[The Magician]

Just breathe ... Just breathe :redface:

Let's make it through the season!!!

[The Sweeper]

Seems he was right


http://www.abalive.com/news/releases/?newsid=2007020506012

Bellingham will be play the Heaves thursday and saturday.

[Fells]

Seems he was right


http://www.abalive.com/news/releases/?newsid=2007020506012

Bellingham will be play the Heaves thursday and saturday.


DUDE!!!! Being the 13th man ROCKS!!!! I think I owe Alex an e-mail for a great choice.

I won't be at the game on Saturday as I have to go to some class about first time home buying, and have a game to call at the Civic Center that night. I will be at the game on the 15th, so if you see a guy in an ESPN 1390 shirt, please come over and say hello.