Pro Basketball Back in Buffalo
Another pro basketball league is coming to Buffalo. The Buffalo Dragons announced that they will start play in January. The team will compete in the Premier Basketball League. The games will be at the Flickinger Center. The team is owned by Toronto businessman Paul Riley. It will be coached by former NBA Player & Buffalo Rapid Jean Paul Afif.
No word yet on ticket prices, but Riley says it will be "family-friendly." The PBL will have 14 teams. The defending champs are the Rochester Razor Sharks, who's roster includes former Niagara players Demond Stewart and James Reeves.
Most interesting for the Buffalo team, they will try to gain an audience in China. Riley says he hopes to have the games broadcast there by 2010, and the roster will include a number or Chinese players.
Sorry if I'm skeptical. We've seen a few of these minor pro basketball teams come and go in Buffalo. These guys seem sharp, have credentials, and at least have a place to play. Good luck to them. We'll see.
No word yet on ticket prices, but Riley says it will be "family-friendly." The PBL will have 14 teams. The defending champs are the Rochester Razor Sharks, who's roster includes former Niagara players Demond Stewart and James Reeves.
Most interesting for the Buffalo team, they will try to gain an audience in China. Riley says he hopes to have the games broadcast there by 2010, and the roster will include a number or Chinese players.
Sorry if I'm skeptical. We've seen a few of these minor pro basketball teams come and go in Buffalo. These guys seem sharp, have credentials, and at least have a place to play. Good luck to them. We'll see.
posted by Paul Peck at
11:24 AM
3 Comments:
Let's Go Dragons!! I've been following the pro basketball scene here in Buffalo ever since it came into town in 2005 with the Rapids.
It's good to see we have a professional basketball team in a good league, unlike the failed ABA franchises where games would get cancelled, and teams would fold because of the lack of stability at the league level. The PBL's team played all of its games, and most, with the exception of a few were all played on the weekends! On the other hand, the ABA played less than 40% of it's games, and had over 20 teams fold.
I was in Rochester for the championship game, one of almost 10,000 in attendence. The atmosphere was amazing, the game was exciting, tickets were cheap, and every thing was 1st class and very professional, it was like almost being at an NBA game, but at a fraction of the cost!! A great experience, and I'm sure Buffalo will run their franchise as good as Rochester and seek excellence, especially with good people running it, with great intentions. Most importantly provide Buffalo with a family friendly, affordable and entertaining, and great basketball team to watch.
This team is off to a great start, and has already created a buzz with the annoucement of the name and venue, and they will be at the Buffalo Men's Show this weekend, this franchise already knows what it takes to gain fan support and interest, and the season doesn't start until January! Very impressive on the Dragons part.
Good Luck to them, can't wait until the season starts!!
sweet, pro basketball in buffalo, its about time! can't wait!
go dragons, i agree with the above posters! 'bout time pro hoops came back to Buffalo! (well at least this time it's in a great league, no more ABA crap!)
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