They have set season ticket sales records for the D-League already; about half of the 3,000ish seats in the Expo are owned by season ticket holders. They're doing very well with their marketing and merchandise sales.
Those earlier teams were of a much lower quality (more like "independent" minor-league basketball), and the Red Claws will benefit hugely from their association with the Celtics. A principal owner is Bill Ryan Jr, who also owns the very successful Oxford Plains Speedway and is one of the savviest businessmen in the state. His father runs TD Bank.
They are already doing very well, and given Maine's basketball fanaticism and their Celtics association, that should continue.
I definitely agree. Professional basketball in Maine has never been on this level before. With the affiliation to the Celtics, both player and management wise, and the business team behind the venture I think the Red Claws are going to be very successful in the mold of Portlands other two minor-league teams.
I would be interested to know what their bottom line is though. I don't know all that much about the NBDL. How many games are in a season? Do they split revenue on home games? Do the Celtics "sponsor" them or "buy in" to the affiliation? For how much? What's the salary cap in the NBDL?
All in all, clearly I have more questions then answers, but I get a really good feeling that this team is set up for long term success.
I get a funny feeling that the NBA is going to subsidize any team that falls into the red, profitably speaking. Like the WNBA, the NBADL serves a specific purposes and like all businesses, it sometimes makes sense to take losses in some areas for the over good of the entire business.
I think the WNBA is a very unprofitable venture but it generates interest in females and fathers of female basketball players. Without it the NBA would probably find it more difficult to grow the female market.
I think the NBADL, is now a useful tool for creating more jobs for NBA fringe players, keeping young players in the 13-15 area of the depth chart playing and growing, and is an excellent tool for negotiating with the NBAPA in keeping demands lower as it shows that the NBA is trying to keep as many of the membership employed and playing as they possibly can.
So as long as each team can show respectable revenue generation, whether they are profitable or not probably won't matter as I think the NBA will eventually take care of them. It's in their best interest to do so.