Hoops

BA and the new NBL are a joke!!

I want this league to succeed, but what concerns me most is the fact that the season past, the nbl stated they had no idea how to control the cap....this is the reason why they failed as a competition...the $1M buy in is a bail out, but this should never be used if the cap is controlled..

caps broken, fine them..and hard... then see what the league turns out to be...

maybe this is why seamus is out right now...tigers have long been over and there is an implementation for catching them...

yes, the bottom line is that we want all clubs to be financially viable. It is unreasonable to expect clubs to operate unfinancially and it is unreasonable to expect owners to operate a non profitable business.

With a investment of around $3M, an investor expects a return of 8% (say) as this could be achieved elsewhere. As an investor, why would you invest in something yielding a -20% return. Something has to give. Either costs are too high or prices too low. Something's gotta give.

I am particularly concerned that the salary cap is not policed effectively and as a result adds to potential non-conformances that ripple through the club system.

Initially I was a fan of the $1M guarantee, but the devil seems to be in the detail as is always the case.

Let's take a step back and see what the point of the whole thing was! The aim of having the guarantee in place is to stop rouges from owning NBL teams, setting up a house of cards, and then letting the club collapse under a mountain of debt while they are driving flash cars, shagging beautiful women and drinking pina coladas. I find it difficult to believe that the NBL would have us accept as true the myth that there are previous owners of defunct clubs gallivanting around in gold coast appartments racking up expensive drink tabs. Surely this is not the case? Surely despite this popular misconception, NBL owners are credible ethical businessmen.

Any club in the NBL must be financial viable to survive. That is a given. If you want to own a club, you must accept that you need to put something on the line, either financial assets, or other physical assets. You need an exceptional business plan to attract investors, and yes, you do need certainty that your club is going to be part of the league in the new structure so you can attract sponsors and supporters.

What can the owners do? Well, I think they need to present a viable, auditable business plan to the NBL. What can the NBL do? For one, they can develop a clear plan for the league, but more importantly AUDIT each club to ensure financial viability and to check the salary cap. As a supporter, I demand a guarantee that all clubs are playing on the same level playing field, currently I am less than satisfied.

When you step back into the room of mirrors and ask why clubs have folded, I think you'll find major contributing factors include a lack of a business plan and lack of adherance to the salary cap as to the major problems confronting the clubs. Offering a guarantee of $1M is one way of achieving proof of financial stability, there are many other ways as well.