ABL Downfall
- etessier
- Colleen
- goldenhoops
- Colleen
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» Colleen - Many things...
I think that the league downfall was caused by several things. Obviously, they ran out of money, and that's why they had to file for chapter 11, but there are a few things that led up to the loss.Owners who had little if any background in Sports Management. Gary Cavelli, Steve Hamms, and Anne Cribbs had never run a league, or even been involved in any type of sports league. They were acting on a dream, which is great, but maybe if they had hired somebody with a background in the business, the league might have lasted longer.
The NBA. There is evidence that the NBA blackmailed the television stations essentially telling them that if they air ABL games they will loose the right to air the NBA games. NBA games get far more viewers, so the NBA knew the stations wouldn't take that risk.
The Media. Many newspapers, news stations etc. did a GREAT job at covering the ABL, but many hardly even acknowledged their existence. Although you can't necessarily blame the television stations for wanting better ratings, in my opinion is it pitiful that they would succumb to the NBA's little ways. If the Media had given the ABL more attention, the stations might not have been as afraid to air the games. For the few contracts they had, the ABL paid the stations large sums of money in return.
Marketing. With the small budget for marketing that the ABL had, the money wasn't used too wisely. Commercials were aired, but only on Fox Sports, and mostly when ABL games were on. If they were watching the game, they would either already be a fan, or the game would do the talking.
-- posted by Colleen
» goldenhoops - ABL merchandise
As a former volunteer for the Columbus Quest, I thought there would be a place to purchase leftover merchandise after the demise of the ABL. However, I was shocked when I found out that no one knew where to find or purchase any remaining apparel. Would anyone happen to know what happened to all the merchandise, and if I could still buy any?-- posted by goldenhoops
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