Still No NBA, but Anaheim Might Get Basketball Team

With an NBA team possibly on the move--but not to Orange County--a minor league basketball franchise Friday announced its intention to play at the Arrowhead Pond.

The proposed ABA 2000, a league that hopes to start play next year, has awarded an Anaheim franchise to a group of Phoenix investors led by attorney and businessman Gary Elboggen. Although Elboggen said the team wants to call the Pond home, Pond assistant general manager Mike O’Donnell said arena executives have yet to speak with any of the team investors.

“Orange County is a great area and can certainly support a professional basketball team,” said Elboggen, a graduate of UC Irvine.

Pond officials heartily agree, but they would prefer that team play in the NBA. The NBA plans no further expansion, however.

The Vancouver Grizzlies were sold Thursday to Bill Laurie, who also bought the St. Louis Blues and the Kiel Center this month. If Laurie ultimately moves the Grizzlies to St. Louis, as is widely expected, he could fill the Kiel Center all winter long.

Ogden Corp., operator of the Pond, has reported losses each year since the arena opened in 1993. Pond officials believe those losses could be reversed with an NBA team joining the Mighty Ducks in the arena.

But Ogden would rather run facilities than buy teams, and the pending sale of the company’s entertainment division would likely rule out any purchase of a team anyway. Disney, which owns the Mighty Ducks and the Angels is negotiating to sell its teams and get out of the sports business.

That leaves Pond officials hoping potential buyers of the Ducks might find an NBA team to buy as well, in whole or in part, and move it here. Henry T. Nicholas III, who leads an investment group talking with Disney about possibly buying its teams, has met Gavin Maloof, one of the owners of the Sacramento Kings. The two have common business associates, and Maloof said he believes the Nicholas group will buy the Ducks and Angels.

However, while the Kings easily can escape their agreement with Sacramento, Maloof said he and his family are not considering a move to Anaheim. The owners have invested $8 million in a new practice facility and another $2 million in Arco Arena, Maloof said.

“We’re very happy with Sacramento,” he said.

The proposed ABA 2000 league hopes its eight franchises will tip off in November 2000. Elboggen said the league wants to attract fans and players by keeping ticket prices affordable--in a $5 to $40 range, he said--while paying salaries averaging $150,000 to $200,000, far short of NBA riches but in excess of CBA salaries.

If no agreement can be reached with the Pond, Elboggen said the team would consider playing at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Anaheim franchise hopes to draw 8,000 to 10,000 paying customers per game, he said, and would give away thousands more tickets to children and community groups if it played in the Pond.