Hoops

NBL team being formed in Newcastle

The talent can come back to the league; the biggest part behind any of this is the money making. That has to come by getting support in the capital cities where big business is.

Beyond getting team coverage in every major centre, you then need a marketing campaign to get the viewers back. I would suspect that you would need to get a good 500k people watching the major games (such as finals) to trigger additional business interest to invest in the league.

Get the right businesses on board, couple that with marketing the faces of the league; somewhere down the line, players may be able to supplement their payslip with sponsor marketing or commercial advertising etc.

Either way, it will take at least 10 years to even get to that point, provided everything goes as planned. Unfortunately the current TV coverage (While there) doesn't help.

Brisbane is a must as part of the whole plan; should melbourne maintain a standard and make the finals this year, then I'm sure the fan-factor may spike and produce business interest in a 2nd team sooner than expected.

I'm also a fan of looking towards getting a 2nd NZ team, like the Wellington Saints (or whatever they're called) in the league. I think it would be an equal boost, or greater boost than having the Falcons back.

I'm not saying NZ has all the talent, far from it. Australia demonstrated that in the last series lol.
I am saying that there are players in NZ that can play at NBL level and contribute. Add them to the list of Australians overseas and that missed out on spots this season and poach a marquee player plus 2 reasonable imports and you might find they are a competitive team.

I just think yes get Brisbane in as soon as possible. Then make sure the league is solid before a 2nd melbourne team and then look elsewhere after that. Maybe it's time to look at the Christchurch (from memory) bid in 4 or 5 years and split up all that "great tall-black talent" :) mystro speaks of.

The Wellington Saints have expressed interest but NBL is more concerned with Brisbane/2cnd Melbourne team at the moment which makes commercial sense.
The Tallblacks players have proven that they can play successfully on the international stage and at NBL level and demand no where near as much money as top Australian Boomers (bar KP).

Nathan Tinkler's group have publicly stated that they're not looking for entry until 2013/14, because they ran out of time and human resources to get a bid ready for next season, given that they've just finished a lengthy and difficult takeover of the local rugby league team. Also I don't think they've officially settled on Falcons as the team name, so I don't understand why these letters would be going out on Falcons letterhead instead of Hunter Sports Group.

Which is the third team that failed in Newcastle? We've had the Falcons and Pirates, and I would argue that the market wasn't really to blame for the loss of the latter.

Major centres should always be the priority but if some rich cat wants to piss money on Basketball I say good on him and the NBL should help him spend it.

BA did say that Brisbane was the priority , then a second Melbourne team. Although Tinkler has got them very interested.

( As for Halliwell - my friend Serena , says she's got some other kinda lover and has gone next door to see him train , at the Arena.)

Jonno Re: 3 Imports

the way the NBL has been spitting them out I don't believe that will work. Most teams struggle to find 2 decent Imports let alone 3. We cannot compete with Europes wages for quality Imports so hence the hit and miss over the last few years.

I would like to see atleast 1 or 2 more teams added in the near future, as Isaac said teams are 10 deep, could easily return to 8 deep rosters with young guys given a go, their are plenty of guys around SEABL, ABL, NZBL who could atleast be solid bench players so i think there is enough depth there, if it got a real concern i guess the nbl could allow all teams to have 3 imports to keep the game standard at a high level if we dont have enough good Aussies

I think we need to get strong teams in as many cities as sustainable so would be happy for 12 teams to happen eventually aslong as they have the right ownership/sponsorship/fan support, even if it means spreading the aussie talent thinner ie guys like Wagstaff could go and start and play more minutes for another team, and adding another import if we are concerned about the quality of the games.

Anon: NZ have Tallblacks sitting on the bench they are that deep (Pledger, BJ Anthony and Bouchers a former Tallblack). Even their development players have played for NZ. I'm sure in the future some of these guys are going to want to start somewhere if they can't for the Breakers

exactly Isaac, you could even possibly lure back some Aussies from Europe with a sizable chunk of the salary cap plus there are all the young Aussies in college in the States that will be looking for jobs.

Anon: Townsville are struggling to replace injured personnel with any quality talent and you want to bring in 3 more teams to cap it at 12!!!

Over the next few years yes (Brisbane, Newcastle and a 2cnd Melbourne team would be great for the league) and how much $ are Townsville throwing around @ quality talent and who was the last young player they developed into an NBL player?

New Zealands development program has over the last few years filled most holes in the Breakers roster with good quality local players that aren't demanding huge wages and then they jump on guys like Corletto when they pop up. If other teams actually did the same they wouldn't need to buy in guys from other clubs by offering more $.

The talent pool is big enough to field another couple of competitive teams so I say go Newcastle!
I agree that the amount of teams should be capped at 12 and if a City wants a team after that they will have to wait till a franchise wants to relocate or folds and bid to buy the license.

Tinkler is making a statement with his wealth isn't he. He's got the most successful rugby league coach of the modern era (Wayne Bennett) to join the Knights and now he is looking to bring Newcastle back into the NBL (good, IMO the league should look at area's without a team instead of a second team in Sydney or Melbourne).

And I think Isaac is right, a team in Newcastle won't take fans from other area's. And besides, people are free to support who they want. I mean, I was born, bred and still live in Adelaide but I don't support the Crows or Power just because they are from here, and when we had a team in the NRL (Adelaide Rams) it didn't stop me supporting the Manly Sea Eagles (2011 NRL Premiers don't you know hehehe).

As for Halliwell? Not a good opener but did anyone wearing a 36ers uniform really have a good game on Saturday night? Hopefully with Diamon Simpson joining the 36ers, Halliwell can go back to the bench and leave DJ to play 35+ minutes at centre and be the focal point of the offence (at least until Balls suits up again).

You know, I think I'd rather watch former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell play than Big Wade :P hehehe

Gday Mick, as far as the team going ahead I cannot be certain. But the letters are definately genuine. A young aussie from Gosford NSW who has just taken up a Division 2 college scholarship received one on Friday. It is on the Falcons letterhead, it congratulates him and thanks him for his junior reprsentation and wishes him the best of luck in the US. It closes by saying that the plans for an NBL team are in the final stages and that he is one of several locally born players that will be contacted and offered the opportunity to complete for a place on the roster should the NBL team get the green light.
I can't put any more details without the players permission.

Hey Boti, do you just make up most of the crap you write...(Supid question really, after all you do work for the advertiser)!!

in yesterdays article you said that the lightning were not considering kristen rasmussen for next year, her and jamie left the country on tuesday morning, after being told monday night that she was a wanted by the lightning for next season.

she just signed a 3 year deal to play for the coneticut sun http://www.wnba.com/sun/news/sunsignfreeagent22107.html
and the sun beat 3 other serious contenders for her signature...why the hell wouldnt we want her back..?

but boti...dont ever let the truth get in the way of a good story!