Moncton Miracles president says viability of team in question

The new president of the Moncton Miraclessays his number one objective is tosecure local ownership.

Steve Truemansays thelack of local ownership has raised questions about the viability of the team in the minds of fans and of the National Basketball League of Canada.

"I think people who would be considering making an investment in seasons tickets, they're wondering and the league is wondering, if the team is really viable."

Truemansays two local investors have committed to the teamand league commissioner DavidMagleyis inMonctonfor the next two weeks to meet with potential investors.

"We have to meet with them and assure them, convince them, that there's viability here that they may not be aware of at this point,"Truemansaid.

Magley also visited Moncton in September and pushed the local ownership model.

Second season with no owner

TheMiracles, who have never been owned locally, are into their second seasonwithout an owner. Kim Blancoleft the team after the third season andreturned to her home in New Jersey.

Trueman says he has toprove thatMoncton isn't just a hockey city, and find ways to get more fans in the seats at theMonctonColiseum.

"There's room in this city for a professional basketball franchise. If you recall the second season when the team made a run deep into the playoffs we had a lot of people and the place was rocking we can do that again."

However he says the recent experience of the team is "probably causing some hesitation" for investors with fewer fans coming out in the last couple of years.

"At the end of the second year there was a sense that we were looking forward to the next season," he said."We lost that momentum over the past couple of years for a lot of reasons so I think the momentum is something we need to recapture."

National Basketball League teams inSaint John and Halifax have been successful in finding local investors for their franchises.

Magley has said Moncton is critical to the league because of its location and size and that it is committed to keeping the franchise going.