Another one bites the dust

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 | 10:18 a.m.

The Las Vegas Bandits of the second-year International Basketball League shut down operations on Tuesday citing financial difficulties.

Players were notified late Monday night of the decision and released from their contracts this morning.

Bandits assistant coach and director of player personnel Barry Hecker spent Tuesday afternoon fielding phone calls from teams around the league and the NBA interested in signing Bandit players.

"I would think that most of them are going to get absorbed in the league or somewhere else," Hecker said. "We had one of the best teams in the league and a lot of talent.

"I was really looking forward to how far we could go with this team."

This is not the first time a minor league basketball team has failed in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Silvers of the CBA (a league that folded last month), the Las Vegas Silver Streaks of the likewise defunct World Basketball League and the Las Vegas Dealers of the old Western Basketball Association are other basketball franchises that didn't survive.

Additionally, four football teams, three hockey teams, five soccer squads and a pro volleyball franchise have also failed in Las Vegas in the last decade.

Bandits Chief Executive Officer Brad Rothermel said the team was forced to fold because it still had not received funds promised by a minority investor he refused to identify.

According to Rothermel, the Bandits were supposed to receive two payments totaling $500,000, one on Feb. 15 and one on May 1. The investor already had delivered the $1 million it promised the team in the fall.

"We had been anticipating their half a million and been told that we would receive it, but we never did," Rothermel said. "We had some payables due and couldn't operate without it.

"We have been having serious dialogue with our staff and the league since last month when we didn't receive the money. We anticipated that we really needed those dollars. And if we didn't get it, we planned how we were going to make adjustments.

"We made adjustments, but we knew if that if the money didn't materialize, we'd be in serious trouble. We literally ran out of cash."

To keep the team afloat for the entire season, Rothermel estimated that operational costs were between $4 million and $4.25 million.

Of that amount, majority team owner Jackie Robinson was responsible for more than 50 percent.

As of Tuesday, the Bandits owed about $500,000 on the team's lease at the Thomas & Mack Center, staff and player salaries and other expenses.

"If we got the money from the investor, it would have enabled us to complete the season," Bandits president Mike Olsen said. "It hurts not to be able to compete for a championship.

"All of us worked so hard to build a winning franchise."

The Bandits were 20-11 and second to the St. Louis Swarm in the IBL's West Division.

The Bandits are the second IBL team in recent weeks to announce it was ceasing operations. When the New Mexico Slam decided to fold last month, the league temporarily saved it by stepping in and absorbing the operating costs. Bandits officials were hoping the IBL might do the same for them, but the league refused.

Calls to IBL headquarters were not returned.

"We asked them to help out and they didn't," Rothermel said.

Season ticket holders and fans holding single game tickets will receive a refund for the remaining 12 home games. Call 938-3838 for information.