Four American Basketball Association businesses joined the NBA on June 17th, 1976.
It has taken 49 years for the Indiana Pacers basketball team to get the chance to win a National Basketball Association championship. On June 17th, 1976, four American Basketball Association’ franchises, in Denver, in Indianapolis, in San Antonio and in Uniondale, New York were invited to join the National Basketball Association. The ABA-NBA merger, absorption or expansion deal nearly killed off the New York Nets and Indiana Pacers.
Nets owner Roy Boe’s financial problems threatened to sink not only his basketball franchise but his National Hockey League New York Islanders business. Boe not only had to pay a $3.2 million fee to join the NBA, he also had to give the NBA’s Knicks a 10-year annual $480,000 fee for “invading” the New York territory. The financially strapped Boe sold Julius Erving’s contract to the Philadelphia 76ers to make ends meet. Boe would move the Nets to New Jersey after the 1976-77 season and sold the Nets in 1978 to a group of New Jersey businessmen. Boe also lost control of the Islanders in 1978. The Nets franchise is now in Brooklyn. The Indiana franchise also hit rough financial times. The franchise needed a $100,000 cash infusion to make it through its first NBA season and then held a telethon on the Fourth of July to sell season tickets for year two. Had the team not sold 8,000 season tickets by July 31st, 1977, the franchise was going to be sold to the highest bidder. The telethon worked as the team hit the 8,000 season tickets target. The Pacers business stayed in Indianapolis. The money seemed large in 1976. San Antonio has won championships but has struggled with arena generated revenue issues. Denver won an NBA championship in 2023. The Nets franchise and Indiana have lost in the finals. The basketball industry changed on June 17th, 1976.
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