The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Alex Raskin cites sources as saying that there is "real hope" that the Nets this season will "turn a profit for the first time in over a decade." Being profitable "wasn’t necessarily the goal of the Nets’ new strategy," as team Owner Mikhail Prokhorov "can afford to pay the losses." What he and the team "can’t afford is another disaster" like the '13 trade that brought Fs Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce over from Boston "while denying the Nets control of their first-round pick" until '19. GM Billy King is "pivoting away from the model that had the team spending an NBA record" $90.57M in luxury taxes in '13-14 as it "lost a reported" $144M (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/14).
LEADING THE CHARGE: In San Diego, Michael Gehlken reports uncertainty over the Chargers' long-term location "continues not to impede" ticket sales. A team official yesterday said that "only single tickets remain for three of the eight regular-season home games." A fourth "is not far behind, as an annual ticket-sales event comes Sunday." The Chargers all offseason "have been encouraged" with the '15 box-office response. It started with season-ticket sales, which "saw a high percentage of renewals and then an overall pace of sales that, as of June when individual tickets hit the market," was nearly 13% "ahead of last year at the same time" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 7/14).
NO TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE? In Chicago, Paul Sullivan writes, "It was nice to see the Cubs and White Sox honor Ernie Banks and Minnie Minoso Sunday by wearing throwback uniforms. But the Cubs dropped the ball when it came to showcasing the City Series on the new video board. ... How difficult would it have been to throw together some clips from old Cubs-Sox games for one of their between innings 'memories'?" The Cubs' videoboard has been a "nice addition to the ballpark, but if they want to make it interesting, they need to show some more imagination." Sullivan: "Check out the Blackhawks' videos at the United Center to see how it's done" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/14).
VOODOO CHILD: ARENAFAN.com’s Adam Markowitz reported the AFL early this week is expected to make an announcement “confirming the takeover” of the Las Vegas Outlaws and New Orleans VooDoo, the latter of which “has yet to have a crowd this season beyond 4,131 fans.” The VooDoo’s average attendance of 3,839 fans per game “is the lowest in the franchise’s history.” Sources said that all of the team’s employees “were dismissed last week but were retained on week-to-week contracts.” In both cases, AFL Commissioner Scott Butera is “reportedly actively seeking new ownership groups.” The league has “committed to keeping the Outlaws and the VooDoo operating through the end of the season and will not be canceling games” (ARENAFAN.com, 7/12).
