International Basketball League (1999-2001)
From Hoopedia
The International Basketball League that operated from 1999 to 2001 merged with the remaining teams of the Continental Basketball Association and the International Basketball Association in 2001. The league retained the name Continental Basketball Association (CBA).
The International Basketball League was founded in early 1998 and made plans to begin play in fall of that year. The first season did not quite meet expectations with attendance, but the league was still largely functional, with the Saint Louis Swarm winning the first championship. The second season was significantly rougher, with the league losing the Baltimore and San Diego franchises and merging with teams from the CBA after that league folded early in 2000. The Swarm won the championship of that league in the second season, and although the league had stated that it would return for a third season, this was not to be the case, and all the teams folded soon after the season ended, although the teams from the former CBA ultimately restarted the CBA the following year. Although the league had some innovations suchs as playing the international three point line and trapezoid lane, and with the intention to offer professional basketball and more reasonable ticket prices, the cost structure of the league was simply too great for the revenue and attendance figures that it received.
