Bright future predicted for pro basketball in Cape Breton

Professional basketball in Cape Breton has been"a success" both on the courtand as a business venture, according to Tyrone Levingston, founder and president of the Cape Breton Highlanders.

The team wrapped up its first season in the National Basketball League of Canada in April with a 15-25 record, narrowlymissing out on a playoff spot.

In the face of widespread skepticism that pro basketball would work in Cape Breton, Levingston pushed his dream into reality by setting a modest goal for attendance.

"My budget was for 1,100 people," he said. When he crunched the numbers at the end of the season that figure was around 1,400, he said, with more season-ticket holders than in some other NBL cities.

The league's commissioner, David Magley, is impressed by what the Highlandersorganization achieved in its first year.

"I literally stand in awe of Tyrone Levingston," he said, outlining how the team's president moved to Sydney from Detroit "without knowing a soul" and began knocking on doors to sell potential investors on the idea of forming a pro basketball franchise in Cape Breton.

"The crowd support in Cape Breton was wonderful," said Magley.

He added that Levingston made sure game days were broadly entertaining with a mix of uptempo music, dancingand contests. It also didn't hurt that many of the home games were nail-biters, he said.

"When you've got multiple games at home that you either win or lose by three points, you can't do much better than that."

Keeping investors happy

Magleyis also impressed by Levingston's management skills, especially with limited resources. "He really knows how to run a business," he said.

Levingston said he kept team investors happy by staying "away from their cheque books."

"The biggest thing for us this year is that we didn't have to go back to our investors to say 'we're short' or 'we need more.'"

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Magley is confident the Highlanders can reach business stability soon.

"We typically budget for three years to get to break even. I think Tyrone has a legitimate shot to do that in year two."

Developing a team mascot for next season is the club's latest project, said Levingston. He plans to hold a contest in the community over the summer to come up with one.