In 2012, Tampa is going to have its own American Basketball team, the Tampa Bay RAIN. This addition to the Tampa Bay sports scene adds another entertainment venue for fans. The CEO of the Tampa Bay RAIN, Stephen L. Davis, bought the right to the franchise early in 2011. He guaranties that besides some known faces of former NBA stars and famous university players, the RAIN will enrich the community in many ways.

   The original American Basketball Association existed from 1967-1976. Today’s league, the ABA 2000, was founded in 1999. The ABA now offers 86 professional basketball teams in more than 80 cities throughout the United States and Canada. The league is divided into twelve divisions, plus four traveling teams. Seven teams, including the Tampa Bay RAIN, will join in 2012.

   The RAIN will play in ABA’s southern division against teams from Orlando and Jacksonville. Davis and Marketing Director Dennis Casazza are ready to flood Tampa with information regarding The RAIN’s first ABA basketball season. Both men sat down to answer some questions on what fans can expect from the RAIN.

   Who will be on the team? Are there some known names coming?

   Davis: “We are going to do an extensive search for talent. One important thing for us is to find someone with a marketable name. There is a team in Jacksonville, who just signed Christian Laettner. We probably won’t start to look hard for that signature name until Jan. 2012.”

   What is The RAIN doing to promote the team to local colleges and universities?

   Davis: “We haven’t really done anything, as far as marketing towards the colleges at this point, or even to the community as a whole. First, we want to be sustainable, and then we will offer, for example, a program for college students who would love to make an extra few dollars while they are going to school. We will actually make it very easy and seamless for them to make extra money while they are in school by allowing them to sell season tickets.”

   Casazza: “I might add that from a marketing standpoint, we are not only giving back a portion of our season ticket sales to the community and youth groups, we also plan to do a lot of community work once we get the team together, like playing games in different areas of the community; like meet and greet sessions at hospitals and children’s organizations, and so on. It’s about developing a relationship with the community.

   Davis also indicated that in order for this professional franchise to be successful, it’s going to take all of our efforts. Everything that this organization is about is self-sustainability.