The CBA begins its 54th season tonight with four games
on the schedule. CBA Owner Isiah Thomas, who will attend
tonight's opener in Hartford, is interviewed by Tom Yantz of
the HARTFORD COURANT. Thomas noted that last year the
league had a deficit close to $2M, but said, "We don't feel
we've truly tapped into everything each CBA city has to
offer. We need to do a better job of reaching the
communities. The CBA is the league of dreams. The influx
of sponsors that have come knocking at our door is
astounding. To be quite honest, we're going to have to get
more staff lined up rather quickly to accommodate the
sponsors." Thomas says every CBA team "has had an increase
in season ticket sales and advertising. Our league reaches
ages 6-22, 15-44, grass roots and generation Y2K." More
Thomas, on a possible national TV deal for the CBA: "I think
we can sell our All Star and championship packages. We're
also looking at possibly next year to have a game of the
week. We'll probably look to create our own CBA network in
towns we're in" (HARTFORD COURANT, 11/19). In Detroit, Steve
Crowe notes that the CBA will be featured on FSN's "Goin'
Deep" on Sunday (FREE PRESS, 11/19).
BOUND FOR A TURNAROUND? In Yakima, WA, Dave Thomas
cited current and former Sun Kings execs as saying that the
franchise lost $400,000 both last season and in '97-98.
With an average of $350 per season ticket, the "drop" from
2,200 to 1,300 season tickets from 95-'98 "represented" a
loss of more than $300,000. Thomas noted that Yakima has a
population base of about 89,000 and asked, "[Is it] large
enough in both fan base and corporate money for the Sun
Kings to at least break even?" (HERALD-REPUBLIC, 11/18).
