Plans to create a women's professional basketball league were
announced yesterday. The American Basketball League, founded by
former Hewlett-Packard exec Steve Hams, is slated to begin in
October '96 with teams league-operated teams in Atlanta,
Portland, San Jose, and Seattle. Organizers have "lined up" nine
members of the U.S. national team to play after the Olympics.
The ABL would sell eight other franchises for $3M apiece. Teams
would then play a 42-game season followed by playoffs. Hams said
players will be paid an average of $75,000, with stars earning as
much as $125,000. Players will also own 10% of the league
(Whittaker & Clemons, ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 9/27). Hams claims
$4M in capital from six investors, including CA-based PR execs
Gary Cavalli and Anne Cribbs, Silicon Valley businessman Steve
LaVaute, and a South Bay company that has yet to be disclosed.
Hams said the league will need to raise an additional $7M from
corporate sponsors. Cavalli indicated the league was close to a
deal with Nike, but Nike Manager of Women's Sports Sue Levin
disputes that. Levin: "We're not close to a deal, but that's not
any reflection of my feelings about the ABL ... We want to have a
role in making it happen" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/27).
