World Basketball League (1988)
Tombstone
Born: 1987 – WBL founding franchise
Folded:
First Game: May 19, 1988 (L 132-94 @ Calgary 88’s)
Last Game:
WBL Championships: None
Arena
B.C. Place (10,000)11988 Las Vegas Silver Streaks Program
Opened: 1983
Marketing
Team Colors: Red, Black & White21988 Las Vegas Silver Streaks Program
Ownership
Owner: Don Burns
Attendance
We are looking for a source on final attendance for the 1988 WBL season.
As a partial snapshot, The Vancouver Sun reported that the Nighthawks averaged 1,609 fans at B.C. Place for the first 17 home games of their 27 game home calendar.3Beamish, Mike. “Burns out, WBL saves franchise”. The Sun (Vancouver, BC). July 8, 1988
Background
The Vancouver Nighthawks were a One-Year Wonder in the World Basketball League (1988-1992). The WBL was a summertime basketball league with a peculiar requirement: players had to be shorter than 6′ 5″ tall, as certified by accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand.
Other WBL rule modifications included:
- Four quarters of 10 minutes each
- Zone defenses allowed
- A 30-second shot clock vs. the NBA’s 24-second limit
- The three-point line set an international distance (20′ 6″ vs. the NBA’s 23′ 9″)
- No foul-outs. Instead, after the sixth foul, the team that drew the foul retained possession after taking their foul shots.
The Nighthawks were one of six franchises in the WBL’s debut season of 1988. The other teams were scattered haphazardly across North America: Calgary, Chicago, Fresno (CA), Las Vegas and Youngstown (OH). The ‘Hawks played in the enormous B.C. Place domed football stadium, with a scaled down capacity of 10,500 for basketball. It was still way more than the team needed.
Vancouver finished in last place with an 18-36 record in 1988. Bryan Pollard, a 6′ 3″ forward out of Washington State, was a bright spot. Pollard (17.2 points per game, 7.2 rebounds) earned selection to the All-WBL Team and the WBL All-Defensive Team.
Demise
The Nighthawks were dead on arrival in British Columbia. The team sold fewer than 100 season tickets heading into their season opener. In late June 1988 the team missed it’s payroll and Los Angeles-based owner Don Burns abandoned the floundering team shortly thereafter. The remaining WBL owners pitched in to fund the Nighthawks through to the finish line of the 1988 season.
The Nighthawks folded prior to the WBL’s second season in 1989. The World Basketball League folded in August 1992, midway through the league’s fifth season.
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