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Taken from ESPN.Com

Other Team News ...


The NBA Developmental League will have a team based in Erie in the 2008-09 season, sources close to the situation told the Erie Times-News.
The team would be affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The games would be played in the 7,000-seat Tullio Arena.

Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry replied to an e-mail message this way: "At this time, the Cavs have nothing to report regarding your question." -- Erie Times-News
:banana:

[pj3000]

Have not heard about this, but I did read today that the Pittsburgh RiverRats indoor football team will be moving to Erie to replace the defunct Erie Freeze for the 2008 season.

I'd love to see a basketball team there again though. I don't thnk Erie's had one since the WBL's Erie Wave in the early 1990s. I'm sure the level of play overall wouldbe much better in the NBADL.

[Evergrey]

I've never heard of the RiverRats... terrible name

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NBA eyes Erie for D-League
Cavaliers would be team's parent club

BY DUANE RANKIN
duane.rankin@timesnews.com [more details]



Published: December 28. 2007 6:00AM


The NBA Developmental League will have a team based in Erie in the 2008-09 season, sources close to the situation told the Erie Times-News.

The team would be affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The games would be played in the 7,000-seat Tullio Arena.

Casey Wells, executive director of the Erie County Convention Center Authority,declined to comment Thursday. Theauthority operates Tullio Arena.

Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry replied to an e-mail message this way: "At this time, the Cavs have nothing to report regarding your question."

The Cavaliers are one of three NBA teams now affiliated with the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers in McAllen, Texas. Houston and New Orleans also are involved.


Considering Erie is only 102 miles from Cleveland, having a D-League team in Erie is more ideal for the 2007 Eastern Conference champions. Cleveland is 1,735 miles from McAllen.

This would mark the third team in Erie associated with a major sports league.

The Erie SeaWolves are associated with Major League Baseball as the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

The Erie Otters play in the Ontario Hockey League, whose alumni stock NHL rosters.


The last professional basketball team in Erie was the Erie Wave of the World Basketball League. The Wave joined as an expansion franchise in 1990 and disbanded during the 1992 season.

With the Otters playing in Tullio Arena, schedule adjustments would have to be made to accommodate the basketball team. The Otters' regular season started Sept. 21 and will end March 15. The D-League began its regular season Nov. 23 and is scheduled to conclude it April 12.

The NBA D-League, which is in its seventh season, has 14 teams with 12 of them having at least two NBA parent teams. The Los Angeles D-fenders (Los Angeles Lakers) and the Austin Toros (San Antonio Spurs) are the only D-League teams that have one NBA affiliate squad.

The D-League is looking to expand to 30 teams with single parent club affiliations for each NBA team. Part of its expansion is expected to take place in the Northeast.

"We'll look at having three or four teams within reasonable travel distance (in the Northeast)," D-League President Dan Reed told the Cleveland Plain Dealer last month.


"It could happen real quick or it may be a situation where we have to wait in the next year, but we are not in a rush to double the size of the league in a year," Reed told the newspaper.

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Hopefully this all works out.....:irked:

D-League idea draws Otters' ire
Cavs-owned team would compete for play dates, fans

BY DUANE RANKIN
duane.rankin@timesnews.com [more details]



Published: December 31. 2007 6:00AM


Ron Sertz is not sure Erie can handle multiple professional sports franchises playing at the same time.

So the Erie Otters co-owner and director of operations isconcerned about an NBA Develop-mental League team coming to Erie. TheD-League team and the Otters would have to share Tullio Arena at the same time of year. So would the the indoor football league team that now proposes to move to Erie from Pittsburgh for the 2008 season.

"If they do this, that tells me they don't want us," Sertz said. "... It would be like buildinganother comedy club across the street from Junior's."

Sources have told the Times-News that Erie will have aD-League team for the 2008-09 season with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers as its parent club.

The Cavaliers now are one of three NBA teams affiliated with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in McAllen, Texas.


Sertz, who said he has heard rumors about this possibility for a while, pointed out the Otters and a D-League team would compete for "prime" calendar weekend dates. The OHL regular season starts in September and runs into mid-March; the D-League season starts in November and ends in mid-April.

Sertz, whose team has been at Tullio Arena since 1996, said Erie tends to struggle at handling several entertainment options. Sertz said he could envision a smaller hockey franchise sharing Tullio Arena with a D-League team.

"There are only so many bodies in Erie," said Sertz, whose Otters have lost money the past three seasons because of declining attendance. The Otters last had a winning record in 2004-05.

"So many entertainment dollars. So many sponsors ... I don't see how they can do this if they look at it logically."

Casey Wells, executive director of the Erie County Convention Center Authority, declined to comment last week when asked about a D-League team moving to Erie. The authority operates Tullio Arena.


Last August, the authority approved terms of a three-year lease with the Otters, with a three-year option.

In September, Sertz said the Otters plan to honor the final two years of the lease.

[pj3000]

^the Otters can pack up and leave anytime. I have no interest in paying to watch 17-18 year old kids play hockey, even if they are the NHL's next stars. Bring back the AHL Erie Blades!

[pj3000]

The Pittsburgh RiverRats of the AIFA will no longer be playing in the Mon Valley. They will replace the defunct Erie Freeze franchise in this ultimate bush league. The whole league is pretty ridiculous with minimal financial backing and frequent franchises folding overnight, but what is most ridiculous is that Erie will keep the name "RiverRats".

Indoor football team relocates to Erie

Published: January 08. 2008 2:12PM

Goodbye Erie Freeze.

Hello Erie RiverRats.

The Pittsburgh RiverRats of the American Indoor Football Association will relocate to Erie for the 2008 season that starts in March, the team announced today.

The team will be known as the Erie RiverRats and will play at Tullio Arena starting with a home game March 9.

The Freeze ceased operations after the AIFA said the franchise needed a change in ownership structure. The team's Tullio Arena lease was not renewed in December.

The Rats were an expansion team in 2007, going 7-7 and winning a playoff spot. Since the end of the 2007 season, many of the Freeze's top players had signed with the RiverRats. They'll now get to play at a familiar home field.

"The decision to move our team from the Mon Valley in Pittsburgh up to Erie was simultaneously the hardest decision and the easiest decision for me personally." team president and CEO Jeff Hauser said in a news release. "Our team was born in the Valley, we recruited great local football talent there, we had the most dedicated front office staff you could imagine, and I have ties to the area. But while we had a core of dedicated fans, their numbers weren't large, and we were never able to garner the financial support from the local business community for reasons we still don't understand. We have no debt, but without business support going forward, team finances would have eventually become a problem.

"The Tullio Arena is a better venue for the RiverRats, and is closer in size and amenities to the other venues throughout our league," Hauser said. "We brought our team up to Erie last year and we have several Erie residents on our club, so we know the local fans to be passionate and knowledgeable, and they have proven they will support winning football. Our goals have been, and will continue to be, to contend for championships, provide a family-friendly game-day experience, participate in our local community, and to help promote our sponsor partners. We believe that Erie gives us the best chance to do all of that, and we can't get wait to get started."

For more, see Wednesday's Erie Times-News.

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Erie Riverats??? Terrible name... There is no river in Erie... Atleast change it to Erie Lakerats :shrug: :haha: