Hoops

Will an NBL team fold in 2013

IMO too many teams and the quality gets watered down to much as the talent is spread around very thinly.

I agree with HO's point that too many regional teams will end up dooming the TV deal to mediocrity as they will not stir enough national interest especially as they'll likely only have 1-2 top teir players and they're likely to be imports with the rest being locals that no one in Sydney or Melbourne care to watch. It's unfortunate but it's a reality.

Hopefully the Kings can make the Finals for the next couple of seasons and Sydney can get behind the NBL and then we may see another franchise emerge giving the NBL more leverage on TV deals and naming rights sponsorship etc.

Doh, unintentional sorry Wildcat fan but Perth is a no brainer for inclusion. Best franchise for sure.

RE NBL Fan: Breakers main fan base is Auckland. People in Auckland buy Memberships and attend the games, sure people from other parts of NZ follow them on social media and television and buy merchandise but so do people in Australia so it is really no different.

The Big problem that we have in Australia is that our 'weathly' investors are Millionaires, not Billionaires.

Considering at best a team is looking at around 1 million per year for the bare essentials to operate a team, the average team would then need another million to be able to field their team at a decent size arena capable of holding enough people to produce a profit on game day.

You would then need at least another 750k-1M in order to produce an appropriate amount of advertising aimed to draw attention to the league, rather than just to the niche market of Basketball fans.

That's a huge chunk of change for any single investor, and even if you put together a group of 4-5 millionaires to invest in a team, they might only be able to afford 800k - 1.5M each at best per year without going bankrupt.

My ideal league would be:

2 teams from Sydney
2 teams from Melbourne
2 teams from NZ
Brisbane
Gold Coast*
Wollongong
Cairns
Townsville
Adelaide

*(only if they can sustain it, would have to be an amazing bid with mega security)

Teams could play weekend double headers (Friday and Sunday games) against both Sydney, Melbourne and the NZ franchises to save on travel costs etc. Get inter City/Country rivalries to go with traditional ones.

JA, the NBL have made it clear that the expansion focus is currently Brisbane and a second Melbourne team. The Wellington Saints have tried unsuccessfully to join the Breakers in the NBL with a very strong bid (they are one of the most successful NZBL clubs and are already run better than some current NBL franchises imo).
I tend to agree with BA stance as with these 2 extra teams in large population centres the Australian TV deal can only improve.

Quote: Paul "There's two years left on the current deal after this season. What happens in those two seasons will have a big bearing on the next deal and the next 10 years of the NBL. Crucial times."


I concur, if the great crowds continue and people continue to watch FTA coverage there is no reason the TV deal will not improve. Add a couple of franchises (Melb & Bris)to the mix and the NBL will be in a great position moving forward.

I fully agree Paul, radical changes risk undoing the positive steps that have recently been made. Keep tweaking and improving a little at a time and soon we will have a great product.
I think if they can keep improving the TV coverage (more live FTA games at better times in Aus) the league will be in a great position.

that is why when I'm at games with my Nephews and ask them "who's the man?" they answer "CJ!!!" without any hesitation lol.

I heard that a kid was at a breakers clinic and was having his Birthday Party at McDonalds the next day and CJ Bruton and his son turned up and hung out for an hour or 2 and made the kids (and his parents) year.

CJ=the man

right now the whole of Atlas place (Breakers hq) is over run with 5 and 6 year old kids getting holiday Coaching from Judd Flavell. When my nephews play mini ball (they live over the north shore near Breakers HQ) quite often one of the Breakers is there to tip the games off. The players are available to sign autographs and have pictures taken after "every" home game.

NZ have big sponsors on decent contracts. The Breakers get mentioned on the Sports news the day before the game, game day and the day afterwards. Cedric Jackson has the cover of Skywatch Magazine (Sky TV's magazine/program guide) this month.
Everyone in NZ wants a piece of the Breakers (especially as they are winning), the winning won't always last but I think they have engaged the community well and will stay relevant if the results drop away.
The club have done a very good job of getting all the things off the court right.

by halving the salary cap I think you will lose a lot of the better players that put the bums on seats and then the guys you can afford won't sign as they will have no shot at college as you have just made them ineligible by paying them peanuts.

Only way anything will improve is if you support your team.

I honestly think this league doesn't need any watering down as we have some very good talent with some very competitive games and small market teams have largely made the switch to a sustainable model.

would love to see something like all the money behind each team get together and get a decent NBA team (Bulls/Knicks/Nets etc) Vs the All NBL 1st and 2cnd Team (or 2 NBA teams going at it with an NBL Finals game maybe as the curtain raiser) at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (or any other big venue in a major centre that you could potentially fill) and all teams share the revenue generated. Put on a premium show with top tier talent and charge a premium price.

how would reducing the salary cap work for the NBL? In case you are not noticing basketballers are leaving to AFL at an alarming rate. By reducing the cap all that happens is the middle to bottom players will get less. Clubs will always play the top guys. If you think the wages of guys on $120,000 would reduce you are kidding yourself. It will be all the guys under $100,000. If players are leaving you won't have to worry about the league because there won't be one.Who's going to want to play basketball for $40,000?We need to think about the consequences for actions. Reducing salary cap may reduce costs. Better to cut costs on fixture and length of season. Quality over quantity.

Need the best imports playing as it's guys like Jackson, Flynn, Ervin who sell tickets and sponsorships,etc.

A good call to play only to 7 deep rather than trying to be 10 deep. especially as we only play 40mins.

Abercrombie, Pledger and Vukona can also play NZBL to supplement their income much like Aussies who play SEABL etc. Drop the Salary Cap and we may lose them to some of the lesser European Leagues which in turn will reduce the quality of the league. Adelaide could never fit all their players under a reduced Cap and I wouldn't be suprised if Gibson and DJ would look towards overseas like Worthington. We may never get another Cedric Jackson or Gary Ervin. The lifestyle of playing in an english speaking league in a warmish climate will only go so far.

The TV deal is slowly getting better and if the games rate well then the contract is worth more and then the league will have $ and can hopefully help support the franchises.

Guys the big difference between basketball in Australia and every other major sport is the individual teams receive not a cent from the league. it is up to the teams to come up with the finances, money to pay players and keep the team afloat. All other major sports receive some sort of funding or get a slice of the pie, for eg. NRL salary cap is funded by the NRL, same goes with the A-league. This is why we are finding some difficulties getting investors for a brisbane team.

I don't think it is all doom and gloom as smaller market teams are all slowly but surely swapping to community ownership and with Cairns turning a profit and the Hawks being competitive on the court one would have to say it has been largely a success.

Melbourne are slowly becoming less of a train wreck and Sydney are looking like they may make the Finals this season which will help put bums in all those seats.

Adelaide are the only team with a question mark over it's head really and most of it is caused by a lack of on court results the last couple of seasons (attendance and support falling away) and the venue ownership issue.

some great posts in this thread guys (compared to some of the garbage threads of the last few weeks imo).

Unfortunately I'd agree with the conclusion that Adelaide are seriously at risk.

Can't see any more folding. NBL has to keep the remaining teams afloat somehow.

8 teams is the minimum for a respectable comp.

i hope not, and i really hope the kings don't, it would be a huge dissapointment for another team to fold, and have a big affect on the league, imagine haveing 7 teams, and if another folded, 6, it would be very bad for a team to fold in the nbl by next season.
i would be heartbroken if the kings folded :(

Pretty good chance I would think. They average about one a year. :)