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Four Cities. One Owner.
The new four new NBDL franchises will be owned and operated by Southwest Basketball, LLC, which is led by former Indiana Pacers general manager David Kahn. Kahn worked for nearly nine years in the Pacers front office, where he oversaw both the business and basketball sides of the organization. He is attributed with the initial success of the Conseco Fieldhouse, one of the nation’s premier arenas, managing a staff of over 120 when the team moved there in 1999.
“We are indeed fortunate to have attracted not only an investor in four new teams, but also, in the case of David Kahn, an experienced basketball person who knows what it takes to make these teams succeed,” said Stern.
Adding ownership of the stature of David Kahn to the NBDL is a big bonus, but the success of multi-franchise owners in the same league has been a mixed bag, even for very gifted owner/operators.
Most owners of two or more teams in one league find themselves selling off one or more to concentrate on the more profitable ones after a year or two. The minor league sports business requires an incredible amount of specific franchise focus and hard work on the individual market to succeed.
The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) under multiple owners flourished and continues to do well. During the time that it belonged to one owner, Isiah Thomas, though, it almost went under.
The New & Improved NBDL
In spite of the challenges, Stern has some big dreams and even more importantly, the wherewithal to turn them into a reality.
Stern’s vision of the new and improved NBDL not only involves expansion, and affiliations, but also moving the D-league out of the boonies and into the bright lights of the big city.
Establishing the NBDL in an entirely new region may seem like a tough task to handle.
“I think the southwest is hungry for this product,” says Kahn.
How Hungry Are They?
Kahn, used to the relative tranquility of major league and college sports, will have a tough fight on his hands in many of his new home towns.
I Think I Made A Wrong Turn Back At Albuqerque
The Albuquerque market, one of the four new cities, may be the most difficult. This will be the third professional team to enter the market. While the city has become much larger, its sports politics are still old school, down and dirty.
The Silvers of the Continental Basketball Association and the Slam of the International Basketball League and the New Mexico Slam of the International Basketball League (IBL) folded after two seasons.
Even though the Slam was seating 5,000+ for many of its games, a lot of tickets were comps.
Sponsors were hard to come by, as the University of New Mexico has a huge following in town. Even though the town has grown by leaps and bounds, the insular culture of the New Mexico business community can be a tough nut to crack.
Sources at the Slam at the time alleged that Rudy Davalos, director of the UNM Athletic Department, had sponsors sign deals that precluded them from participating with more than one basketball program.
Attendance for a good chunk of the season dips in Ballon Fiesta City. March Madness, for which the PIT, the Lobos' arena, has been a home, sucks away local fans.
To establish their own ground the Slam moved to the downtown area in 2001-2002. The team folded during the season.
The Albuquerque NBDL team is slated to play in the Tingley Coliseum, at least for their inaugural 2005-06 season.
Tingley was unofficially voted best refurbished armpit by area fans, whose host of complaints about the aged arena run from the roof posts interfering with viewing to its out-of-the-way location on the New Mexico State Fairgrounds.
While t here are currently two separate groups competing to build sports arenas in the Albuquerque metro area it may be years before the team would have new digs to play in.
