The 1999-2000 season started
with a restructuring of the Executive Office and relocation to St. Paul,
Minnesota, while the Operations Office remained in Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Canada. To handle the ever-increasing management duties, the IBA expanded
its Executive Committee to five positions: President, Vice-President,
Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer and Executive Director. The league
welcomed Youngstown, Ohio to the IBA family, where the Mansfield Hawks found
a new home for the first ten games before finishing their season in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The Wisconsin Blast also relocated to Rapid
City due to venue difficulties. The Des Moines Dragons concluded a
spectacular season by defeating the Magic City Snowbears 3 games to 1. They
also won their third consecutive Organization of the Year award, after
breaking the record for regular season total attendance (71,104) and average
attendance (3950). They also broke the record for single game attendance by
hosting an astonishing 6,253spectators on January 22, 2000. Dakota
Wizards Head Coach Duane Ticknor clinched his fourth Coach of the Year
award. The Wizards went undefeated at home for the first time ever in IBA
history and also smashed the previous playoff attendance record by averaging
4050 fans per game. Former IBA player Rick Hughes graduated to the NBA,
seeing time with the Dallas Mavericks in the 1999-2000 season.
