Hoops

NBL: It's over; no NBL 09/10

I think Isaac your idea is a great one. The new NBL when and if it comes needs to look more towards the WNBL and local footy such as the QAFL, SAFL and TSL with viewers interest in minds.

Free to air basketball, the womens have been running on ABC for years and most AFL, QAFL, SAFL and TSL is now run on free to air tv.

This will start to get interst back into the sport and the FOX can get TV rights after the league is in a strong enough position to make people pay to watch the games at home.

If the NBL doesn't come back there will be less and less grass roots teams due to everyone going to Football and even Soccer because youngsters have a real chance to make it into the big time.

I think something major needs to be put in place fast because the AFL is taking over Australian sport and with Queensland coming in soon and Tasmania and another Sydney team in the pipeline its not looking good for BA.

Run an Interim league so I have something to watch.
The Breakers are financially able to take a season off but are the other teams in the same situation?
Put bandaids on everything, lie if you have to, just give me basketball to watch and a team to support and one or two players to hate and I'll be happy as a pig in shit.

Get ready for a semi-professional league this year

I don't play anymore , so I would've liked them to play this season under the old criteria, so I could attend the games.
There would be no FOX without Sydney - I would've liked them to have assisted with reforming the Kings, from the Spirit. Then you'd have the Tigers in, and the FOX deal.

Let me pose a question. What would be happening right now if there was no NewNBL and everything was done under the criteria of what has been happening until last season? Would we have an NBL with all existing clubs competing? Would the NBL have a decent contract to Foxtel? What is the major problem surrounding the NewNBL? Is it the $1m guarantee? What's wrong with sticking to what we already know and do until such time that an agreement can be reached to make a change acceptable to everyone? It beats we why it has to come to a l year suspension of the league to sort out these problems. It also beats me why fans would be happy to support a minor league in its absence. If we are used to the quality of the NBL, why would anyone accept anything less?

Ooops, forgot to change my name back for that '36ers Management' post! Count me right behind any realistic league with lower salaries in the short-term. It is what needs to happen!

Isaac, I love your idea posted at the top of this thread. Start small and then build a higher tier league once the support levels are there. With a lower threshold they will surely attract some interest from the bigger SEABL clubs and perhaps a few NBL teams that are borderline with current NBL expenses (ie Sixers, Wollongong, Cairns).

It keeps people who currently rely on the game involved and would likely drive some serious rivalry on and off the floor for teams wanting to seize their chance to become a part of an eventual elite league.

Competition from these types of teams can be used to put pressure on current sluggard NBL teams to lift their game if they eventually want to return to an elite competition.

As it stands, BA had no clout to impose the reforms it wanted to, because owners knew it was their teams or nothing. Power dynamics are everything in negotiations!

Big V sucks this season. They would get hammered