Saving the Indiana Fever

Last night, I wrote about the success of the MLS Seattle Sounders. Today, I read about the likely demise of the Indiana Fever. Will there ever be a better fit than to use a struggling WNBA franchise to try out fan decision-making?

What if a group of local Indianapolis businessmen and women purchased the Indiana Fever. Indianapolis is a great basketball town in a great basketball state. If the WNBA cannot survive there, I fear for the rest of the league.

The ownership group sells season ticket licenses just like NFL teams sell ticket licenses. The ticket licenses, however, would offer more than just a ticket to games. Instead, every season ticket holder would receive:

• A special edition t-shirt or jersey only for season ticket holders identifying the person as a member of the club, so to speak.
• The right to vote for an eight-person board who would make all personnel decisions.
• A season ticket package

The ownership group would appoint a CEO to run the franchise and sit on the board as a non-voting member of the board.

The ownership group would solicit applications and nominations from people in the local basketball community to sit on the board.

The ownership group would hold an election for the board (the board would be unpaid). If they were smart, they could make it into a giant party where voters could meet the players, and local sponsors could set up booths, advertise, etc.

Once elected, the Board would review the current Fever personnel. The Board would have the right to eliminate he position of General Manager and make all basketball personnel decisions or retain or hire the General Manager and empower him or her with as much or as little power as it desires.

If the Board decides to run the team, they should appoint one person to be the go-to person for players, agents and coaches. We'll call this person the president of the board. Like with many European teams, the president would not be a full-time employee.

When the time came to draft players, sign free agents or make a trade, the Board would make the decisions in concert with the coaching staff. With the Internet and satellite television, it is not that hard to scout college players anymore for a 3-round draft where basically only 1st and some 2nd Round picks make the team. The coaching staff should be able to scout college players and make their recommendations to the board.

All board members could be elected for two-year terms. Ideally, four members would be elected each year to retain some consistency from year to year, while also allowing for some change if the season tickets holders are unhappy with the franchise's progress.

Imagine the interest generated in the team if a 5th grade teacher sat on the board and talked to her class about the team and the players or a local businessman with connections in the community encouraged his friends to attend a game to see about the team that he helps manage.

Would a fan board run the team perfectly? Probably not. However, how many professionals run their teams perfectly? Every GM makes mistakes, even the best. Would the fan board and the new management style - perhaps creating transparency through a Board blog that informed all season ticket holders of the Board's decisions and meetings - generate new interest in the organization? Probably. Would a local group of businessmen and women create a better ownership structure? Probably.

No offense to NBA owners, but they do not have to work that hard to market their product. The NBA generally sells itself. The WNBA is different. Using the NBA model is not going to work with the WNBA. The WNBA requires a far more grassroots approach and the billionaire owners of NBA franchises likely are not the best candidates to run effective grassroots programs. Local businessmen and women who manage and market their small, medium or large businesses on a daily basis probably know more about marketing the Fever to the local community than the owner of the Pacers. It's a different animal. It requires an approach more similar to Triple A baseball than to the NBA. The WNBA is still a rather young professional organization and therefore has different demands and opportunities than the NBA.

If the other option is folding another franchise, what does the W have to lose?