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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

Imperials Announce Agreement with Florida Atlantic University
06/26/06 - American Basketball Association (ABA) Palm Beach Imperials
Boca Raton, FL - June 25, 2006 - Today the Palm Beach Imperials ( www.palmbeachimperials.com) announced that they have formed an agreement with Florida Atlantic University (www.fau.edu ) to play their games for the 2006-2007 season at the university's arena.


"As an FAU Alumnus, this is a homecoming for me. It gives me great pleasure to say that the Palm Beach Imperials will be playing their entire season at FAU. The location is great and we look to be very active within the community as Palm Beach's Hometown team," stated Dan Mangru, President of the Palm Beach Imperials.


The Palm Beach Imperials are Palm Beach's newest professional basketball franchise from the American Basketball Association (

ERROR: A link was posted here (url) but it appears to be a broken link.

www.abalive.com).


The Florida Atlantic University arena, otherwise known as "The Burrow", is currently undergoing a major renovation with section seating amongst the new features of the facility.


Recognizing the strength of local presence, the Palm Beach Imperials look to recruit the best local South Florida players to play in their hometown gym at FAU.


"South Florida is a unique environment. Not only do we attract talent from around the world, but the existing talent here is some of the best in the world. Many other teams in other cities will have to travel great and far to find the best players. In our case, they are right here in our backyard," stated Lamont Carr, who is the team's General Manager and Head Coach.


At this point, the Palm Beach Imperials have former FAU standout under Matt Doherty, Lamar Moore playing for their exhibition squad this summer.


The Palm Beach Imperials are owned and operated by the Imperiali Organization ( www.imperiali.org).


About Palm Beach Imperials The Palm Beach Imperials ( www.palmbeachimperials.com) are Palm Beach's and Treasure Coast's only professional basketball team. The team looks to bring the worlds of music, entertainment, family and basketball to create a unique product for its fans. Currently the Palm Beach Imperials have created an impressive management group of former music executive, merchandising executives, former basketball players, and international businessmen. The team is majority owned by the Imperiali Organization.

About Imperiali Organization

Imperiali Organization (www.imperiali.org) is a global development company, founded by Daniel Imperato, with diversified assets and holdings, connecting leaders of tomorrow today. Currently, the organization has taken interest both in owned and operated businesses in the areas of internet search, public relations, merchandising, publishing, film, and sports as well as other non-affiliated companies. The Imperiali Organization is currently the official communications provider for Imperato-Brooks 2008 ( www.imperatobrooks.com)

Safe Harbor Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1965: Those statements contained herein which are not historical are forward-looking statements, and as such, are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual operating results to materially differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, certain delays that are beyond the Company's control, with respect to market acceptance of new technologies, or product delays in the testing and evaluation of products, and other risks, as detailed in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For Press Inquires Contact: i1connect 561-805-9494 [email protected] www.i1connect.com

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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

What is the over/under on how long this team is in business? I say 10 games max.
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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

better qu, who's going to have the higher attendance?
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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena


Exit39 said

better qu, who's going to have the higher attendance?

That's easy. FAU will probably draw 10 times what this team does. If they get more than 100-150 per game i'll be shocked.
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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

I was wondering if this was some re-birth of the old ABA. I went to the web site. Looks like they will be using the same red, white and blue balls. Despite what you might read on the web site, it wasn't as popular as the NBA although it did do pretty good for a while. They had some of the best players in the country like Julius Irving and Artis Gilmore. I was young so I never heard the reason for the merger. I assume it was a bail out because of the high salaries they had to pay to get the best players away from the NBA.

Not to be negative but I have a feeling this may go the way of the original ABA, the WFL, the USFL and the XFL. Did I miss any? The market is just so saturated with sports.

FAU - THE REAL SLEEPING GIANT
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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

Whadda ya mean you was young then illinoiowl… ;D

You are right. The NBA had the dollars to go after the bigger stars and the ABA just couldn't afford to keep pace. Former players Dr J Erving , Artis Gilmore, George "Iceman"Gervin, Big George McGinnis, Moses Malone and the "Hawk" Connie Hawkins.

To keep up the ABA had to merge with the NBA. I caught a lot of games in New York and the Nets home games in New Jersey at Rutgers.


This may turn into a glorified instructional league or a semi-pro platform.
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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

The 'new' ABA is nothing new. It's been around for a few years. South Forida even had a team last season that was owned by Tim Hardaway(he also played) and played at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise. Not surprisingly, they drew just a couple hundred people a game and folded mid season. A similar fate awaits the Imperials. I'm not sure why people keep trying to bring minor league sports to South Florida when they never work. There have been countless minor league basketball, hockey, and arena football league teams come and go over the past 5 years. I don't know why people keep throwing money into these failures.
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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

Back in the early days of the ABA – the real ABA, that is – Miami had a team called the Miami Floridians. The name later was changed to simply the Floridians. The team even played a game or two at the old West Palm Beach Arena out on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. As best I recall, it drew almost no one. This was way back, late in the 1960s or early in the 1970s. Before that league, which was successful enough to at least merge with the NBA and have a few teams absorbed, there was another one called the ABL, the American Basketball League, which claimed to be a major league. It had teams in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and few other places, but decided against Miami, as best I recall. It didn't last long. Eventually, it folded and the NBA got a few of the stars through a dispersal draft. This probably was around the mid-1960s.

Now, a minor league team in Boca? That's going to take a heck of a lot of promotion to achieve any success, I'm afraid. But I wish them the best, and I'm sure FAU athletics can use the rental revenue. Will the team be allowed to sell beer on campus? That could be a critical factor….
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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

The Heat wore the Floridians jersies this past season when they had throwback nights.

http://www.nba.com/heat/multimedia/heat_floridians_index.html
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palmbeach imperials playing at FAU arena

Great stuff! Thanks. The Floridians uniforms were ugly then and they're ugly now…. But you had to love the ABA, the showmanship and the recognition of young talent. The NBA was a staid league (but profitable) at the time – no 3-point FG, etc. Ah, those were the days. My earliest pro basketball memory was of an NBA with eight teams (this must have been about 1957): Boston, New York, Detroit, Philadelphia (the Warriors, who subsequently moved to San Francisco, later to Oakland), Syracuse (the Nationals, who subsequently moved to Philadelphia and became the 76ers), Cincinnati (the Royals, who subsequently moved to Kansas City, then Kansas City-Omaha, then Sacramento), Minneapolis (the Lakers, who subsequently moved to Los Angeles) and St. Louis (the Hawks, who subsequently moved to Atlanta). The NBA actually played a handful of double-headers in those days (four teams, each playing one game, so fans got two games for the price of one). Those were the days – a kid could get in for about a $3 ticket. Now, that's one-half the price of a beer.
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