RED CLAWS BREAK 1,000 TICKET MARK
FOR SEASON TICKETS SOLD

Team Anticipates Selling Out Every Home Game

“What can we say but thank you to the fans in Maine,” said Red Claws President and General Manager Jon Jennings. “We continue to be awed and humbled by the welcome we have received. We have every intention of fulfilling our fans expectations – on the court and off.”

The team received the final push over the 1000-ticket mark this weekend with the successful Pick-A-Seat event at the Portland Expo. Forty new season ticket holders selected seats, while those with tickets already in hand took the opportunity to check out their seats and take a few shots on the brand new parquet floor. Several fans came close to winning their seats, taking a shot from center court for the opportunity to win a free ticket for the inaugural season. Young fans had a little fun with free popcorn and face painting, courtesy of the Maine Red Claws Dance Team. The dancers also supervised the youngest Red Claws’ fans in a basketball-themed bounce house and spent time with them coloring and dancing while the children’s parents checked out the many changes that have taken place at the Portland Expo.

“We will meet over the next month or so and decide at what point we should cap our season tickets,” Jennings said. “We do expect all 24 of our home games to be sellouts, but we also want to give groups the opportunity to come to games as well. If you had told me when we started that we would only have a few hundred tickets available at the box office window each game, I’m not sure I would have believed it.”

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Saturday, July 18 – Urban Epic Kids Race to Benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Maine: The Maine Red Claws Dance Team, presented by Sun Tan City, will serve as volunteers during the Urban Epic Triathlon this weekend in Portland. The dancers will help kick off the Aqua Run (ages 7-13) and run in the Fun Run (ages 4-6) to make sure that all of the young competitors cross the finish line safely. The team will also make their basketball hoop available to the racers and will have a booth at the Urban Epic Triathlon. Proceeds from the Kids Race will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine.
• Sunday, July 19 – TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway: Members of the Maine Red Claws Dance Team, presented by Sun Tan City, will join the Red Claws staff in manning a booth and greeting race fans at the TD Banknorth 250 this weekend. The race will feature NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace as grand marshal while Steve Wallace and Kenny Wallace will compete in the race.
• Saturday, July 25 – Mascot and PA Announcer Tryouts: The Red Claws will hold tryouts for several in-game positions, including mascot, PA announcer and on-court announcer. Anyone interested in auditioning should contact the Red Claws’ office at 207-210-6655.

***********************************

MAINE RED CLAWS: 2009-10 will mark the inaugural season for the Maine Red Claws who will play their home games at the 3,100-seat Portland Expo Building. The team is the NBA D-league affiliate of the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Bobcats; both teams can assign their first and second year players to Maine. The franchise is

owned and operated by Maine Basketball, LLC, which is principally owned by Bill Ryan Sr., the chairman of TD Banknorth Group, and Bill Ryan Jr., owner and operator of Oxford Plains Speedway. Jon Jennings, a partner in Maine Basketball, LLC and former Boston Celtics assistant coach, serves as the team’s president and general manager.

NBA Development League: The NBA Development League, founded in 2001, is the NBA’s official minor league and featured 16 teams with direct affiliations to NBA teams during the 2008-09 season. This fall, two new NBA D-League teams will begin play in Portland, ME and Springfield, MA – the birthplace of basketball. Eighty-four former NBA Development League players were on 2008-09 NBA end-of-season rosters, amounting to almost 20 percent of NBA players, and the league continues to develop coaches, referees, and front office staff for the NBA and its teams. In fostering the league’s connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote health and wellness, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. The NBA D-League also advances the game of basketball as the research and development arm of the NBA. Throughout the season fans can watch all NBA D-League games on NBA Futurecast, the free live Web-streaming initiative found at nba.com/futurecast.