Cavs’ NBA ‘D’ team a possibility for here

By JOHN KOVACH

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — If the City of Youngstown chooses a Cleveland company to manage the city-owned Chevrolet Centre, then a NBA Development League franchise affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers would become a tenant at the Centre as part of an overall management package for the downtown arena.

That was the commitment made by Len Komoroski, president of the Cavaliers Operating Company of Cleveland, which owns and operates the Cavaliers’ NBA basketball team and its home center, the Quicken Loans Arena, and his key staff during a presentation made Thursday to the Youngstown Board of Control at the Chevrolet Centre’s Community Room to manage the three-year-old downtown facility.

Joining Komoroski and his staff during the first two presentations made Thursday by different companies to manage the Centre were Joe Briglia and Cindy Kamradt, vice presidents of development and operations, respectively, for International Facilities Group of Chicago, which developed and constructed 34 centers and stadiums.

“We are prepared to bring an NBA ‘D’ team here as part of our commitment,” said Komoroski, a native of Pittsburgh who has been affiliated with four professional sports franchises. “We will guarantee 24 home dates. This will be one of the most successful minor basketball leagues ever. NBA commissioner David Stern is committed to its success. We have 14 teams now but we are planning to expand to 30. We want to bring one of the teams to Youngstown.”

The D-League sent 62 players to the NBA last year. The Cavaliers now share affiliation with the Rio Grande Vipers based in McAllen, Tex., one of 14 franchises in the NBA Development League, but want to relocate its farm club to Northeast Ohio and Youngstown for geographical reasons. Most of the NBA “D” franchises are in the West or Southwest. The nearest team to Youngstown is Fort Wayne, Ind.

“We are not going to another city tomorrow to do this presentation. The threads are everywhere between Cleveland and Youngstown. We are inextricably linked by geography. This is Cavs’ country. And almost 40 percent of our organization [staff] comes from the Valley,” said Komoroski. “Failure is not an option. The Chevy Centre is an extension of what we do at the Q [Quicken Loans Arena]. We can have a great relationship. Our proximity can merge all of the opportunities together.”

Mayor Jay Williams of Youngstown was impressed by the Cavaliers’ presentation and intrigued by the possibilities the relationship offers to the Chevrolet Centre to advance to another level, and to Youngstown to capitalize on the new ties.

“I like the potential of having three key tenants [Youngstown SteelHounds, Mahoning Valley Thunder and the proposed NBA “D” team]. The Cavaliers bring credibility to the table with their NBA commitment which is significant,” said Williams. “I also like the local ownership. But I am concerned if there will be enough dates left over at the Centre for family events. Not everyone likes sports.”

The D-League franchise’s 24 home dates would give the Chevrolet Centre 64 — 32 for the SteelHounds hockey team and eight for the Thunder indoor football club.

Kerry Bubolz, executive vice president of corporate sales, said his company, which also owns the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League who also play at the Q in their first season, would add 15 new staff people to the Youngstown franchise to sell and market the new basketball team to the region. He said the Chevrolet Centre would benefit from the Q’s 200 corporate partners, marketing power, advanced technological ideas, highly-rated professional staff and successful and often-emulated model of business to complement the existing Centre personnel.

“We rank in the top five in revenue in NBA. We are rated as an NBA-best in operations and a model of success that other leagues try to emulate,” said Bubolz.

Bubolz said he expects his sales and marketing staff to sell 1,000 season tickets for the Centre. And Komoroski said that each of the 24 home games would average between 3,000-3,500 fans. Komoroski said Youngstown can share in all of the benefits enjoyed by the Cavs, the Q and the AHL Monsters.

Plus, “We would commit to bringing the Wine & Gold Scrimmage that we held at Akron on Oct. 5 to Youngstown every other year, and as soon as October of 2008.” He also said the Cavs could host preseason NBA games at the Centre.

Regarding ownership and naming rights, Komoroski said Youngstown’s franchise can be locally-owned and can have a Youngstown-related or Youngstown-chosen name.

“We can have an equity in the new team or it can be a joint ownership with a local owner or can be solely a locally-owned company. The team name can be related to Youngstown in some way,” said Komoroski.

“We will participate in the process of selecting a local franchise owner. We will add staff to the franchise. We will look to have local ownership of the franchise. We would have equity in it also.”

Mayor Williams said the city will select the new company to manage the Centre within 30-60 days.

kovach@vindy.com