Border Cats future at stake

The Thunder Bay Border Cats have scheduled a news conference for Tuesday to discuss the future of the franchise.

In an email sent Friday afternoon to local media, Cats assistant general manager Bryan Graham gave little indication what the announcement might be, only to say the meeting will be held at the team’s Port Arthur Stadium office.

The Cats drew just 21,510 fans in 2010, second last in the Northwoods League. They only averaged 651 fans a night in their eighth season.

Team owner Brad Jorgenson said earlier this summer that he needed between 800 and 1,000 to survive. However, he did start selling season tickets for 2011 immediately following the franchise's final game of the 2010 season and said if there was a way to keep the team alive, he'd do it.

The announcement sounded ominous, though.

“No advance interviews from members of the Border Cats staff or from the Northwoods League front office will be granted,” Graham wrote in the announcement.

The Cats won championships in 2005 and 2008, but attendance has steadily dropped in recent years. The team drew 668 fans a night in 2009.

They averaged 1,254 fans in 2006.