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..I agree with the general principle. I think Lincoln would not good due to Nebraska hoops, though.

Omaha has an AHL team and a modest D-1 basketball program, in a metro of 700,000 people or so. That would be a good bet. Rapid City is a natural for the return of the CBA, and I would think Apex would have it at the top of their list. So would Des Moines, which went to the D-League.

I do believe the CBA and other minor leagues can do a much better job of screening markets, but business sense is critical too. A bad owner in a good market won't work either, nor will one far, far away from the other teams.

If the CBA can't pull Rochester from the CBA, maybe they should work on Florida. Jacksonville from the ABA would be a possibility, along with the Florida Flame if they really want to play.

Modest? Creighton's huge over there, as in nearly sell out/sell out that nice big Qwest Arena every night.

Any minor league basketball team in Omaha would be dead in two seasons. Count on it.

[quote=""rams80""]Modest? Creighton's huge over there, as in nearly sell out/sell out that nice big Qwest Arena every night.

Any minor league basketball team in Omaha would be dead in two seasons. Count on it.[/quote]


The reason I though Omaha might work was because Creighton along with the old NCC (conference that UNO played in) had alot of D-league caliber players. 700,000 should be able to support a team and other then Creighton there isn't a quality basketball proram in the area. The community offers an arena and the people, I thought that Omaha would work better then Des Moies. However it takes quality local ownership and good marketing to make these teams work.

[quote=""jjbballfan""]The reason I though Omaha might work was because Creighton along with the old NCC (conference that UNO played in) had alot of D-league caliber players. 700,000 should be able to support a team and other then Creighton there isn't a quality basketball proram in the area. The community offers an arena and the people, I thought that Omaha would work better then Des Moies. However it takes quality local ownership and good marketing to make these teams work.[/quote]

You wouldn't last long enough as a team to hope to make headways against the Bluejays.

..I had no idea Creighton drew over 15,000 a game. My apologies.

Omaha's AHL team draws about 3,300 a game. If a CBA team could do that, it would do fine.

Iowa (which is in Des Moines) does about 5,000 a game, and Drake appears to be in the 8,000-9,000 range. That could be a tough nut for a D-League team to work against, given the size of the metropolitan area, which is just over half a million. I believe they have Arena Football as well.

[quote=""panchess""]..I had no idea Creighton drew over 15,000 a game. My apologies.

Omaha's AHL team draws about 3,300 a game. If a CBA team could do that, it would do fine.

Iowa (which is in Des Moines) does about 5,000 a game, and Drake appears to be in the 8,000-9,000 range. That could be a tough nut for a D-League team to work against, given the size of the metropolitan area, which is just over half a million. I believe they have Arena Football as well.[/quote]

Des Moines most likely will have an af2 team in 2008. (think there are still some financial "i"s to dot and "t"s to cross).

'Course if we're mentioning football, can't forget the Beef in Omaha.

That sounds like a commitment to the CBA for next season to me.

So that should put the rumors of Yakama changing leagues to rest. And Pittsburgh will be hosting the All-Star game down the line also. I'm looking forward to that