The Calgary Drillers aren't in the grave, but they certainly have a good view from the foul line.
After some overly optimistic hopes, the only Canadian entry in the fledgling American Basketball Association (ABA) announced earlier this month that it was suspending the remainder of the 2004-2005 season.
Al Howell and Glenn Straub, the Florida businessmen who bankrolled the team, threw in the towel and new owners have not been found.
"All efforts are being taken to ensure that local ownership will have full control of the Drillers for the coming season ...”
the club says on its website.
In an interview, ABA chairman and co-founder Joe Newman cited a variety of reasons for the Drillers' demise, among them a lack of other teams based in Canada and the northwestern U.S.
"We have to add several teams in the northwest area, and we're planning to do that for the 2005-2006 season," which commences on Nov. 15, Newman said from his office in Indianapolis, Ind.
Newman is confident the Drillers can be resurrected, and said that new franchises should be added in Vancouver, Edmonton and Vancouver, Wash., by the start of the next season.
This will make travel less expensive for the Drillers, who had to fly to every game, as well as for the visiting teams travelling to Calgary.
In an interview with Business Edge last month, Peter Young, a former CTV sports broadcaster who headed basketball operations for the Drillers, vowed that despite low turnouts for the club's games and a lack of widespread recognition, the team would soon become a fixture on Calgary's sports landscape.
"We don't anticipate this year will be profitable," Young said at the time.
The league was also unhappy with the running of the Calgary squad. For example, the ticket prices were too high, ranging between about $30 and $50, Newman said.
"We'd want to see them charging about a third of that - about $10 to $15. We want to attract families, students and kids, but they were pricing themselves out of the market."
