The NBA D-League Santa Cruz Warriors' relationship with the club's new hometown in California "has blossomed into an ardent love affair" since the team moved there from North Dakota in '12, according to Maria Gaura of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Santa Cruz has "embraced its team like no other city in the NBA’s minor league." Games at the 2,500-seat Kaiser Permanente Arena "regularly sell out, and the team was the first NBA D-League team ever" to sell more than $1M worth of season tickets. The NBA "has taken note, choosing Santa Cruz as the site for this season’s D-League Showcase." The arena also has "spruced up a formerly sketchy area of downtown, and boosted business during the tourist off-season." The team "has paid back" more than $1M on a $4M loan from the city, and also "brought in roughly $250,000 in admission taxes to the city." It also has "filled the arena’s calendar with a multitude of other sporting and community events, making allies of a broad swath of residents with no particular interest in basketball." Warriors President Jim Weyermann said that the club "participated in more than 200 community events last year ... and hosted 64 community sporting events, all at the team’s expense." Santa Cruz Mayor Lynn Robinson: "It really has worked. It has all the elements that make it feel like it belongs in Santa Cruz." Still, Gaura noted there have been "challenges." The arena "is technically a temporary structure, there is no parking lot, and nearby residents say that noise levels on game nights are a persistent annoyance." But boosters believe that a permanent facility "could resolve those issues, and the city will soon begin a formal process to identify potential sites" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/15).
SPURRING ON SUCCESS: In San Antonio, W. Scott Bailey notes Spurs officials believe their D-League team in Austin "will benefit from the rebranding" to the Spurs nickname after being the Toros for nine years. Spurs Sports & Entertainment President of Business Operations Rick Pych said that the move will enable the Austin Spurs "to capitalize on the 'substantial equity' the NBA team has built with its brand, creating an 'instantly recognizable link' between the two franchises." Bailey notes San Antonio-based financial services company SWBC has signed to be the "first presenting sponsor" of the Austin Spurs. The company will get "prominent exposure at Cedar Park Center, the minor league Spurs' home arena, and will have an opportunity to grow its own brand in Central Texas." SWBC "has an ownership stake" in the NBA Spurs (SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/14 issue).
GRAND BARGAIN: In Michigan, Pat Evans reported Calvin College "stepped in to offer" the D-League Grand Rapids Drive a place to practice after the team needed one "because its home court, the DeltaPlex, also hosts other events." The team, which is in its inaugural season in Grand Rapids, now will practice at the school's Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex. Calvin College as part of the partnership "will receive advertising space at the DeltaPlex during home games and opportunities for the school’s sports management program to witness day-to-day operations at the professional level" (GRBJ.com, 11/14).
