Hoops

New foxtel deal - from $35m to $200k

The longer this takes, the more I'm inclined to think we need to pull the whole thing down.

Before the sport took off in the late 80's. players were part-time at best. All players were connected with grass-rots clubs and those clubs provided direct pathways for players to the NBL. Crowds built because of the promotion and the GAME, not because of the quality of play (the quality of the athletes and their skill level is infinitely superior to when I played).

Some clubs went full-time and the players started to demand and get more money. As the promotion dropped the ball and the clubs increased overheads through moving to larger venues etc, player contracts continued to rise. When the bottom started to fall out of crowds and revenue dropped accordingly, however, there was no contraction of the player contract.

If our consultant (who apparently knows all) says we need to get back to grass-roots to re-build the NBL (and I agree about that part) then starting with SEABL (or another home-spun) league is not a bad way to go. They are probably where the league was 20 years ago - small venues, part-time players, good but not overwhelming product, limited overheads, strong grass-roots links, strong volunteer base.

The problem we have here in Newcastle is that because we were an NBL town for so long and the NBL still exists, our ABA team is seen as siginificantly inferior (by both the average punter and more importantly by potential sponsors).

Dismantle the NBL and establish a grass-roots expanded SEABL. That's where the bulk of the players go, if the better players can go to Europe and make better money then good luck to them - we cannot compete with that. Provide support and marketing centrally for a cohesive brand and bring in a second-tier league and promotion and relegation. Now Newcastle (or any other second-tier club) is simply a step away from the best competition in the land and can aspire (through hard work and on-court results) to compete in the top league as opposed to now needing a wealthy benefactor to even consider competing in the NBL.

The existing NBL clubs have a head-start and will dominate for a few years but all these things are cyclical and will sort themselves out. When Melbourne came into the they were the easy-beats, even with A Gaze. But I played in National U20 final against a VIC team that contained five players who were playing NBL for the Melbourne Tigers at that time. Years later they were he core of the group that won their first title.

I watched an outstanding U20 Men's Final in Townsville this year and commented that if that was the poorest standard of on-court product we were offering in the NBL then we would be OK (none of the players involved was playing in the NBL at that point I don't think).

More money is clearly not the answer - more skill (management) is.

Just started to read The Age article linked above, but couldn't get past the first sentence:

"...the league's oldest and most successful club, the Melbourne Tigers..."

WTF?!?! Sorry but this just pisses me off. I know the league is just about dead and the Sixers have been an ongoing disaster for the last 5 years, but it doesn't change the facts: The Tigers are NOT the oldest team in the league - both Adelaide and Wollongong are older. Not only that, but Adelaide and Perth have both won as many championships and Adelaide has played in about as many GF's (6 each I think). In fact, up until about 92/93, the Tigers were perenially one of the worst teams in the league. They still can't average even close to the number of supporters the Sixers get to their games. Even through much of the 90s I can rarely recall the Sixers losing to them at home.

Bit off the core topic I know, but part of the problem the league used to have (before it dropped off the mainstream media's radar altogether) was that half the stuff you read was always wrong! Get it right f*#kwits!

Rant over... pls resume normal programming

Interesting reading that Age article - helps me understand the events.
( No Goorjian in Aus, anymore )

I am very disapointed to findout that there will be no NBL next season. What will the players and fans do?