1996-97 American Basketball League season

Seasons

Inaugural season

1996-97

1997-98

Teams and Alignment

Conference	Team	Primary Venue	Municipality
Eastern Conference	Atlanta Glory	Forbes Arena	Atlanta
	Columbus Quest	Battelle Hall	Columbus, Ohio
	New England Blizzard	Arena at MassMutual Center	Springfield, Massachusetts
	Richmond Rage	Richmond Coliseum	Richmond, Virginia
Western Conference	Colorado Xplosion	Denver Coliseum	Denver
	Portland Power	Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Portland, Oregon
	San Jose Lasers	Provident Credit Union Event Center	San José, California
	Seattle Reign	Mercer Arena	Seattle

Changes

• League established and aligned into Eastern Conference and Western Conference.
• Atlanta Glory enfranchised in Eastern Conference, playing at Forbes Arena in Atlanta.
• Colorado Xplosion enfranchised in Western Conference, playing at Denver Coliseum in Denver.
• Columbus Quest enfranchised in Eastern Conference, playing at Battelle Hall in Columbus, Ohio.
• New England Blizzard enfranchised in Eastern Conference, playing at Arena at MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
• Portland Power enfranchised in Western Conference, playing at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon.
• Richmond Rage enfranchised in Eastern Conference, playing at Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia.
• San Jose Lasers enfranchised in Western Conference, playing at Provident Credit Union Event Center in San José, California.
• Seattle Reign enfranchised in Western Conference, playing at Mercer Arena in Seattle.

Regular Season Results

Conference	Team	W	L	GB
Eastern Conference	Columbus Quest	31	9
	Richmond Rage	21	19	10
	Atlanta Glory	18	22	13
	New England Blizzard	16	24	15
Western Conference	Colorado Xplosion	25	15
	San Jose Lasers	18	22	7
	Seattle Reign	17	23	8
	Portland Power	14	26	11

Postseason Results

Team (Best-of-Three)		Team (Best-of-Five)		Champions
Columbus Quest	2	Columbus Quest	3	Columbus Quest
San Jose Lasers	0
Colorado Xplosion	0	Richmond Rage	2
Richmond Rage	2

Special Event Venues

Event	Away	Score	Home
ABL All-Star Game	Western Conference	81-65	Eastern Conference

Markets and Venues

Combined Statistical Area	Metropolitan Statistical Area	Metropolitan Division	County / Equivalent	Municipality	Venue	Team / Event	Regular	Postseason	Total
Atlanta--Athens-Clarke County--Sandy Springs, GA-AL Combined Statistical Area	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Division	Fulton County, Georgia	Atlanta	Forbes Arena	Atlanta Glory	15		15
					Georgia State Sports Arena	Atlanta Glory	Five		Five
Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH Combined Statistical Area	Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area		Franklin County, Ohio	Columbus, Ohio	Battelle Hall	Columbus Quest	20	Four	24
Denver-Aurora-Greeley, CO Combined Statistical Area	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area		Denver County, Colorado	Denver	Denver Coliseum	Colorado Xplosion	16	One	17
					McNichols Sports Arena	Colorado Xplosion	Four		Four
New Haven-Hartford-Waterbury, CT Combined Statistical Area	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area		Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut	Hartford, Connecticut	PeoplesBank Arena	New England Blizzard	Eight		Eight
						ABL All-Star Game			One
Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA Combined Statistical Area	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area		Multnomah County, Oregon	Portland, Oregon	Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Portland Power	20		20
Richmond, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area
Sacramento-Roseville, CA Combined Statistical Area	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area		Sacramento County, California	Sacramento, California	ARCO Arena (1988)	Sacramento Monarchs
Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT-ID Combined Statistical Area	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area		Salt Lake County, Utah	Salt Lake City	Delta Center	Utah Starzz
Total