Hoops

Again the A-league wins out

Seemed to be a good for their game last nite.
95,000 at the MCG singing was moving.
Made me think that we don't have a club song
Nevertheless, most likely you'd want a 48minute game if we ever did something.

Good Thread - Paul I like your posts but have you ever seen a game in Europe (particularly Greece).
YOU can almost break someones arm and not get called

Did you even read the reports on the 'haircut' the V8 Supercars just took on their broadcast deal. They are in very real trouble with spiralling costs and big sponsorship losses as well. Your view of sports financing is a little out of date. You also missed the entire point of my post - that was not to compare football to NRL, AFL Cricket (which are all significantly ahead of it commercially, but not in participation terms) - but to compare it to basketball which was the purpose of this thread. My point is both accurate and evidenced - by almost any measure, football is a far larger sport than basketball in Australia, it is growing and its administrators are doing a vastly better job after a successful 're boot'. Any objective view of all the data supports this. Comparisons between the two sports are ridiculous. The ‘daylight’ between the two in commercial and other terms is of an order of magnitude. For the record, you left the ARU out which by all accounts has in the past two years slipped behind football in commercial terms – however it was always s well behind by other measures.

No - they are not. In fact, the ASC picked up on what the AFL were doing with Auskick and they have been forced to come clean. The Optus SSF is a modified 'small sided' form of football for young children - however it is actually game based and there are 'leagues' that play over a period of months - they are vastly different products and the ASC know this.

As to the 1.7M - it is not double counting. It represents all REGISTERED participants across the playing, officiating and volunteering communities. This database is expected to grow to over 2m in the next few years (some States are not implementing it fully yet). The FFA are spending a bomb on it for a reason - it is a huge comparative advantage for this game.

Bottom line is, to compare football and basketball for scale and scope is a fool’s errand. (1) because the numbers are vastly different and (2) because it does nothing to help basketball honestly face up to its challenges.

I, as a very casual fan of basketball don't pretend to know all that ails it - however I do think that the SEABL competition is a signpost to the future. I wish basketball luck - as an international sport I want to see Australia succeed in sports that actually matter. Basketball is one of them.

This is the ABS/ASC figures + the FFA database of registered officials, volunteers etc. Thats why I used the term participation. The FFA also administers Futsal/SSF and charges for the pleasure. I don't make these figures up. Even Jeff Kennett was in the press today conceeding (8 years too late) that football participation had passed AFL and that includes their dodgy 'Auskick' numbers which are nothing other than clinics. The total, registered football participation figure is 1.7M and that is a hell of an official figure for basketballt to compete with.

Absolutely.

For my friend Anonymous:

From the BA 2011 Annual Report:

"In its second year of operations, BA Limited (BA) recorded a surplus of $191,164 for 2010–11. This was an improvement against budget of some 25.3% (2010–11 budgeted surplus $152,522). The surplus was built around revenues of $11.181 million, and expenses of $10.989 million."

Absolute 'chicken feed' compared to Melbourne Victory - and light-years behind the A-League - let alone FFA Ltd as a whole.

Just compare the annual media rights income of BA in 2011 of $1,36m to the annual $40m of the FFA? The media income for the FFA for these two recent friendlies’ alone (outside of the media rights deal) will be double the NBL income for 2011 and is going to A-League clubs. On top of this, the new media rights deal delivers to EVERY A-League club an EXTRA amount roughly equivalent to BA's total media rights income in 2011.

I have long argued comparisons between these two sports in both participation, exposure and commercial terms are a fantasy designed to provide hope to basketball fans. Basketball is a great sport - but the A-League and football generally are playing on another level all together and the gap is about to get bigger – faster.

Basketball needs to get back to basics and fast.

Anonymous,

- Correct

- 1.7m figure is publiched by FFA and corroberated by ASC/ABS data.

- At over $20m PA, the Melbourne Victory FC dwarf the NBL clubs combined. And to think they still post a proffit.

- Basketball arrived just yesterday by comparison with football.

- New TV deal (and expanded sponsorship rights) has all but eliminated these losses except for Sydney FC who has a billionaire owner who doesnt seem to care what they spend (which is a mystery to me).

- Football WAS poorly run. Basketball still is.

"Basketball deserves to be ahead of soccer in this country and you've got fans screaming for some urgency"

- Football is by some distance the largest sport on the planet.

- Football in Australia has 1.7m active, registered participants and is now the number one participation sport in every State/Territory apart from Victoria (and is still growing).

- Melbourne Victory FC alone have a turnover larger than the entire NBL (and probably BA as well).

- Football has been played in Australia for at least 130 years (documented) - probably longer.

- Football had the courage to shut down, restructure and 're-boot' from a clean sheet.

Tell me again how basketball "deserves" better than football?

I was actually at the game in 2000 and it was the best memory of my life pretty much to date.

I understand your point about Man U and Liverpool I truly do HO
but wouldn't Irving want to spread his brand being a young budding star
You'd think bogut would do anything he can to increase the profile of basketball in Australia

And how big would it be for Luol deng to play in a game like this especially when I believe he is here for a Sudanese basketball camp or something like that. He could give 200 free tickets to kids from those camp to the game THAT would be huge for Sudanese kids.

And I know for a fact in WA there are a plenty of very talented young Sudanese boys coming through the ranks.

And in answer to your question HO...

If you look at our national team and the talent we have coming through... Or national team is going to be one of the strongest in the world in 3-4 years time and our national league will be almost non existant if it continues down this path...

Compared to the socceroos.... We have a huge amount of kids playing good college ball and plenty of guys in top European teams... The potential for our national team should be matched by our national league... Which it isn't. The a league is.

And it still takes good football management to make these games with Man U and Liverpool happen.. Otherwise they would always be playing here...


Sebastian as you've already been corrected... Bogut has never missed for insurance... So that's a poor excuse. If you can get 12000 people to the game that would go a long way to help paying insurance anyways I would imagine

And I'm sure there is enough imports around from nbl teams and local leagues that could and would play in a game like this j

Anyway it's just an idea but something like this surely could have been arranged

Olympics, World Champs, same shit different bucket.

Bogut cant play for Australia at the Olympics due to insurance, how is he going to get insurance for this game? It's not negativity its called being a realist.

The other fact is most of the Australian Imports you want to play in this game .............ARENT EVEN IN THE COUNTRY.

Boom ^ the automatic negativity like that is the same reason nothing is happening. Reach out to people with money an event like that would only do them wonders and basketball wonders in Australia...

And who is going to pay that insurance bill???

Lakers get a tight Game One 89-85, with Kobe delivering the game-winning dagger late in the 4th after a poor first half.

Spurs did everything but win today - are they encouraged or discouraged by this result?

NBA now 3 wins away in both conferences from their dream finals match-up.