Joseph "Joe" F. Newman is the co-founder and current chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Basketball Association.
Personal Life[]
Joe Newman was born on March 25, 1937 and, despite being the CEO of a semi-professional basketball league, has stated that he hadn't played basketball until college, and then neglecting to go pro. Instead, he was hired as CEO of Alliance Broadcasting Group, Inc. He is also CEO of his own company, Joe Newman Advertising, Inc. He is married to Connie Newman, and is the father of six children and grand father of twelve.
Tenure as the CEO of the ABA[]
Joe Newman, along with Richard P. Tinkham Jr. , founded the new American Basketball Association in 1999, and became the league's CEO. His accomplishments include globalizing the ABA by launching the ABA Global initiative and expanding the league from a measly seven teams to an outstanding eighty two teams.
Controversy Strikes[]
Newman not only founded the ABA, but also owned his own franchise, the Indiana Legends. The team would play for two seasons before folding. However, many of the players complained about salary issues that were neglected by Newman, and took the matter to the courts, eventually scoring an eighty thousand dollar settlement.
During his term as CEO, Newman has faced a large amount of controversy over how he handles the operation of the league, mainly due to refusing to allow play of a first round playoff game between the Rochester Razorsharks and the Wilmington Sea Dawgs. During the controversy, the entire ABA Board of Directors, including newly-elected COO Tom Doyle, attempted to overthrow Newman from his position as league CEO. The case was even taken to the courts.
The end result was that Newman kept his position as CEO and fired the entire Board of Directors, including Doyle.
References[]
1. http://thesportsagent.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/the-spotlight-joe-newman-part-2/
2. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Newman_(basketball)
3. http://www.shunpiking.com/ol0405/0405-SR-AW-theabaisfull.htm