FSN will televise as many as 16 ABL regular-season and
playoff games during the '98-99 season, and will offer the
live telecast package to its 22 RSNs. The deal includes 10
ABL regular-season games, the ABL All-Star Game and up to
five playoff contests. Also featured in the FSN package is
the league's season opener in November, as well as three
holiday games on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New
Year's Day (ABL). In Hartford, Bruce Berlet writes that in
its deal with FSN, the ABL "went for quality, not quantity."
ABL CEO Gary Cavalli: "We feel we'll have more exposure
because we worked hard on finding dates where there was more
live clearance." Cavalli said that BET, which is not part
of the package after showing 12 games last season, "may
return" next year (HARTFORD COURANT, 7/28).
CROWDED HOUSE? On CBS SportsLine, Michelle Smith noted
the ABL's recent time-buy deal on CBS, and wrote that the
two dates that games will appear on the net "are also big
days" on next year's NBA schedule. One date, April 18, is
the final day of the NBA season, and the second date, April
24, is the day the NBA playoffs open (CBS SportsLine, 7/24).
