The ABL held its second All-Star Game Saturday at
Disney's Wide World of Sports Fieldhouse before a crowd of
4,189 (SUN-SENTINEL, 1/19). During halftime of the game,
ABL CEO Gary Cavalli extended an invitation to the WNBA:
"Wouldn't it be great to have all the great players in
professional women's basketball on the same court together
for an All-Star Game as a way of continuing to build this
sport? So, I'll be contacting [WNBA President] Val Ackerman
and asking her if she'd be interested in pursuing the idea"
(Fox Sports Net, 1/18). Cavalli: "[W]e think it would be a
great idea to bring the two leagues together on the same
court, maybe sometime in the fall." In Orlando, Stephanie
Storm wrote that while Cavalli and his staff "are eager to
prove their belief that the ABL has better all-around talent
... some of the ABL players weren't so sure the 'friendly
invitation' was such a good idea." Xplosion F Sylvia
Crawley: "The rivalry between the players isn't really
there." Cavalli dismissed talk that the invitation "was a
step towards" merging the leagues (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/19).
NOTES: BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton reports some "last-
minute dealing" got Borden to sponsor the MVP award at the
All-Star Game. But "more intriguing is which company didn't
sponsor the slam-dunk contest." Dunkin' Donuts "was set as
a sponsor but Disney killed the deal by not allowing" the
company to sample at the event. Lefton adds that both
sponsors and would-be sponsors "have grumbled about
restrictions at the complex" (BRANDWEEK, 1/19)....ABL
sponsor Phoenix Home Mutual Insurance paid for players not
in the All-Star Game to attend the weekend festivities.
About 60 players took advantage of the opportunity (HARTFORD
COURANT, 1/20)....Cavalli said next year's All-Star Game
"likely will be held in an ABL city," with the choices down
to San Jose and Portland. The ABL "hoped the lure of Disney
would prompt season-ticket holders to invest in full travel
packages," but Cavalli said deals the league secured "were
more expensive than the league expected," and only about
400-500 packages were sold (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 1/19).
