Dallas Defenders focus on wins for team, community

By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News 

Erin Patton helped launch the Michael Jordan brand at Nike. He was a key part of the group that
helped get Stephon Marbury's $14.98 shoe off the ground.

Now, he's set his sights on minor league basketball in Dallas.

Patton is the owner and general manager of the Dallas Defenders. The team, one of 10 in the new
Premier Basketball League.

"Providing affordable family entertainment is just one piece," Patton said. "We want to take that a
step further and actually be a provider of support services and information to enhance the overall
quality of life for everyone in the Metroplex.

"Community focus, that is not a tag line, it is not a slogan, it is not an advertisement. Everything
we do is going to begin and end with that. It's in the DNA of the business."

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Minor-league basketball takes a shot at Dallas

Dallas Business Journal - by Dave Moore Staff Writer

Minor-league professional basketball is coming to Dallas.

The team, the Dallas Defenders, will play its first home game on Jan. 20 against the Rockford
Fury at the Dallas Independent School District's Loos Fieldhouse in Addison.

The tip-off will signify the first time minor-league men's basketball has been played in Dallas.

The team is owned by a group led by Erin Patton, who helped build Nike's Jordan brand and
headed up the launch of NBA star Stephon Marbury's Starbury line of $14.98 basketball shoes.

"The underlying philosophy to the league is making the game of professional basketball more
affordable and accessible to fans and families, said Patton, an adjunct professor of sports
business at the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business.

"A 6-year-old kid is going to look at the Dallas Defender player and in that kid's mind, he's
going to connect with that person, and they'll take on a greater meaning to them," Patton
said. "They'll become real heroes."

Patton said a family of four could spend $100 for tickets, a jersey and food at a Defenders
game, compared to nearly $1,000 at an NBA game.

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