aba division set up

[jayme2008]

This is not nearly offical but as of now this is how i see the division set up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northeast
Boston
Detroit
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
New Jersey
Philadelphia

Southern
Nashville
Gwinnett
Charlotte
Louisville
Little Rock
Jacksonville

Northwest
Minot
Portland
Vancouver
Kansas City

Pacific
Reno
Juarez
Fresno
Tijuana
Las Vegas
Long Beach

[meyes]

Not bad, but there may be more teams added and the league has said there will be Red, White, and Blue divisions next season.
I would put Nashville, Cincinnati, and Louisville in the same division, especially Nashville and Cincinnati. I think I would put Detroit with that group also.

[Sam Hill]

I think Cincinnati is closer to Louisville than Nashville is.

Maybe they should put teams in divisions by chances of survival, so that when teams fold during the season, the other divisions aren't affected. All you'd have to do in that one division is avoid folding and you'd have a pretty good chance of making the playoffs.

Of course, this being the ABA, chances are everybody's going to make the playoffs anyway, and they'll have a tournament (after cutting the season short by a couple of weeks) with 24 teams in it, the top 8 getting first round byes, and proceeding from there.

Of course, they won't let you know the format until the night before the tournament, so good luck with your brackets. :)

[Pounder]

I have an alignment for you.

Fresno
Juarez
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Long Beach
Mahwah
Minot
Tijuana

Mahwah and Minot are the only expansion franchises that have confirmed a place to play next season... assuming that they're not lying. I've also been generous enough to assume that 6 of the 7 current franchises will actually be around, and judging from rumors about Fresno, Las Vegas, and Tijuana, I may be too generous. Philadelphia, in their press release, is unable to say where they'll be next year.

Most expansion teams I know will have the arena deal in place BEFORE they even announce the freaking team.

Now, again being generous, I suspect the following expansions might also make it next year:

Cincinnati: US Bank Arena is in a desperate enough situation that they'll bite... presuming ownership wants to pay the rent.

Gwinnett: They have a year-old arena IIRC, it's kind of hard to name the team Gwinnett rather than Atlanta without having that events center already targeted... but the indoor football fans in the house can testify about the Colorado Venom.

Jacksonville: A new arena with a brewing hockey disaster, but even this is being presumptive.

Little Rock: Somewhat abandoned arena, well...

I'm sure some of the markets I've omitted may have a 3,000-seat arena that can serve beer. That's where I'd want to play if I were held at gunpoint and told to buy into the league. Portland is D.O.A. in this regard; Vancouver has a better chance, but there aren't two investors I'd trust in that town (if confronted to do business in the Vancouver Stock Exchange, run, run really fast). Reno probably can't do business with Lawlor Events Center (U Nevada), and you do NOT want to deal with the convention center (which IIRC has hosted a CBA team many moons ago).

Of course, with a divorce pending, I need something to not take lightly, right?

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one who noticed that people (and I refrain from using the word owners) are announcing their new franchises without first securing a place to play. Call me old-fashioned, but I would rank having an arena deal already in place second behind having a line of credit enough to sustain a team for three years.

This is not an indictment of just the ABA because I first caught wind of similar interesting priorities while I was reading about the WBA. Seems like an owner in that league was all set to start this season without actually reaching an agreement with the school board to use their high school gym. I keep thinking. Didn't that guy know where he was going to play when he bought the franchise?

[JAKMAN]

Joe Newman, I don't know if you read these boards, but for the love of God, please stop. You've never had a successful ABA season so far and u are setting yourself up for failures and lawsuits. stop it now, before you end up in a place you regret.

[Pounder]

One thing I found REALLY surprising was the website(s) really not having information... other than the phone number to order tickets, and the dates for the opportunity to pay to get rejected in a tryout. That's quite the way to fund startup operations, no?

My first suggestion: look for the ABA press release that announces the Nashville team. I've come to the conclusion that league brass are better off making some things up.

If they've identified small convention centers and armories that need the business, that's one thing, though I doubt it. If they're counting on promising a franchise to a city, then attempting to browbeat facility managers into rent breaks and the like (if not, say, subsidizing their teams with free promotion), well, perhaps we should spam Lew In Denver's anti-Venom spiel all about this great rock.

[WIZ Kid]

I will go out on a VERY SHORT LIMB here and pretty much Guarentee that Minot has their arena locked up. The team in Minot will, if the ABA is still alive at that time, Play next season.
They will sell out the 1st game. and they will have one of the highest attendance records in the league. GUARENTEED !
The reason I say this you ask ?,................ I live in ND !!!!
(I live in the city that is home to the CBA Champions. ) He he he he he. Had to get that in. Sorry Ken.
And there is not too much to do in this city, Which is quite a bit larger than Minot, In the winter. ( Ice Fishing and Hunting excluded. )
ND's LOVE their basket ball. It almost as bad as in Indiana. It almost a religion in these parts.
So,...........With that said. Not even being an owner or a fan, or even living in that city,............ I will Guarentee that Minot has their arena dates pretty much already set up.