Hoops

Hobart Chargers in the NBL in 3 years

lol first time was correct, wookie

lol try again, anon?

thiers*

Because why should locals buy into a team which isn't theres? NBL side will be their own.

Record low crowd of AFL supporters yesterday it seems Roos Vs GWS.(9000) The same issue could be interpreted to basketball.
Yet the Premier of Tassie is pushing to relocate the Suns to Tassie if they fold. Crazy.

Not surprised as they were always marginal, only in existence due to generous state government subsidy and casino support. Also their championship banner is missing.

Cliff Martin!! Still hasn't been paid.

This new franchise would have a banner to hang -- the 1981 Launceston Tigers NBL Championship.

Devenport Warriorrrrrrs! Ah, the NBL of the 80s, when the Devils, Tigers (Launceston) and Warriors all played in the league.

Thoughts are to play NBL games where basketball is strong in Tassie. Hobart, Launceston and Devonport.
There is a lot of money up in the North/ North West and the whole state is already behind the push. The only thing I would think about is the salary cap completion and the long term sustainability.
The Chargers are getting about 1000 people to a game now and that's more than last season already. See how that goes by seasons end, and then that needs to grow each year. There has been mention of 3000 people to a seabl game in 3 years.

2 heads I thought TAS' outline was a va-jay-jay

Hahaha. I originally mentioned the Launceston/Hobart split just so I could mention "2 heads" in a thread about Tasmania

The Tassie 2 headed idea is solid.

I thought the idea of a half-season membership was a good idea. A city like Hobart could struggle on it's own to create enough interest and money to sustain in the NBL nowadays. A whole state is the answer to this. However considering the vast distance between the 2 cities you could not expect Launceston residents to drive a 4 hour round trip just to watch a 2 hour basketball game. So surely the "share" concept could have some merit.

It amuzes me when people simply post on here "stupid idea" instead of suggesting their own "great idea".

I'm pretty sure Freethrows was just having a laugh, pretty obvious you'd sell memberships in accordance with the number of games in each city!

The north-south rivalry won't be all that relevant if the club does the grassroots work needed and markets to kids playing basketball, who then nag their parents to go to a game.

I have just googled the north-south rivalry of Tasmania. It gets extreme when in Tasmania's largest prison northern inmates have to be separated from southern inmates. Amazing. Based on this a shared team won't work haha

You wouldn't offer all home games to members in Hobart as who would drive all the way to Launceston. Pretty obvious that's what was meant. Also half season/seven game packs would be easier to sell as less of a time and money commitment.

Umm they'll buy a half season membership... lol

HiNRG, I'll assume that's an ironic post, because it's completely untenable to have a team split its games between two cities. Who would buy a season membership to a team, when they will see half of the home games or less?

It's a stupid idea.

Love that concept proud! Splitting home games could really revolutionize the way smaller markets operate

Agreed proud. Great shoutout to the old Launceston Casino City.

I'd love a team there from all of Tassie and that point about north and south hating one another and not attending games at others stadium.... that's fine because as far as i can see it, if the team makes finals and they have to choose between Hobart and Launceston then we know what the NBL will do; they'll go with the one that makes the most money so if fans from both cities get out to games in part out of spite so the other may miss out on a finals game or less games the following season then use that...create a rivalry between the fan bases. Heck even have the team wear a different home jersey for each venue which could mean more merchandise monies. (Yes old Devils inspired jersey for Hobart and Launceston city casino inspired jersey for the other)

yes you are right you know nothing.

I didn't say I knew everything or much at all about tassie lol...
But as pointed out, those teams you mentioned aren't based out of Tas and lol at mentioning Hockey. I didn't even know there was a league for hockey anybody paid attention to lol
I'm not even sure what you're arguing actually. Does anybody?

I never said they were local teams. They play far more than token games too. I guess you don't know that either. The $$$'s that the Government put's into those teams is 10's of Millions and basketball needs some of that. The NBL may happen and even if it doesn't both sides of government need to start funding properly the grassroots basketball in Tasmania

Those aussie rules and netball sides are from Melbourne and play a couple of token games in TAS each year. Hardly their own team. Only national side is the state cricket team.

Ricey you really know nothing about Tassie. 2 AFL sides. 1 Netball side. Hockey all at the elite levels.
Basketball in Tassie has been the poor cousin to other codes and that will change shortly. Even the NRL play a game a season.
There has been talk of perhaps 2 NBL games in Tassie next season.
PS don't tell Elton John no one goes there either ;)

Haha I think "once" is the important word there

U'U scored 20 points once! Gotta love the Drake ;-)

Spot on Ricey! And do so before there is an A-League and/or AFL team. Not that they are direct competition but if you can lock in a reasonable amount of supporters it can grow from there. The SEABL shows there is a basketball community there, but the main target audience would be families whether they are basketball fans or not, that is where the money is.

Haha Watto... and are we counting U'U as a good player of late?!

Watto his mother was born there not the player himself.

From my experience, there's not a great deal to do in Hobart and tassie in general. Most events don't go there, and if they do they're terribly promoted locally bar a few concerts here and there.

There's a huge market for any sport that's established in the community to flourish and pull numbers to games. Just needs to be ran properly and it will do great... are Hawthorn still playing games there and involved with the community? If so get them as a partner to help capitalise on attendance and interest

Don't forget to add Drake U'U to that list too

Not saying its impossible, but the odds are heavily stacked against the feasibility of a Tassie NBL team. Cairns is the closest comparison and to a large extent, Tasmania's economy is also tourist driven but would the same model work? Is there a strong demand from the locals for a sporting code they want to emotionally and financially invest in?

Start improving the Chargers profile and fan experience first I'd say, when its buzzing and the talk of the town every week, then it would be time to revisit the idea.

This is a state that has produced some very good players of late:
Chris Goulding, Adam Gibson, Matt Knight, Lukas Walker... to name a few. Capitalize now

AngusH and Anon - I can appreciate there might be a bit of a divide between North and South. But the state combined would have a far better chance at financial success than the 2 individual cities. And for a state with no A-League or AFL representation I think it would be important to move in there now (within next 3 years) before it is too late.

BTAS, BA (cough) and the NBL are all behind the Tassie talk.
For the first time ever all the Tasmanian basketball hierarchy are behind the NBL push, with games to be played across the state.

AngusH people also dont understand the massive divide within Tasmania that is the North and the South.

North hate the South and visa versa. Add to that no one travels. North stay in the North, South stay in the South.

I think people underestimate the distance between Hobart and Launceston.

Throwback Thursday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuv3NCd77_0

Calvin Talford bitches!

And big LOL at the comments where Brett Rainbow's youtube account smack talks about threepeating the dunk contest.

Yeah, I remember Wildcats eventually poaching Stewart with their dollars and Devils' hopes faded. With the current spending by the big clubs history is repeating itself yet again.

Bringing back the Hobart Devils would make Mock a VERY happy camper. Great memories and a great franchise.

Who remembers a young Anthony Stewart lighting it up? GREAT bloke too, loves a chat.

I believe the NBL should be 10-12 teams ideally. Players can join from the D-league and get more money. BRING IT ON!

Hobart & Launceston should get together. Two heads are better than one

No, has to be Devils. WTF @ Tigers (which is the cricket team anyway).

I know there is a rivalry between Launceston and Hobart, but surely being a Tasmanian team would help re: sponsorship. Play at Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart and at Silverdome Arena in Launceston which are over NBL minimum capacity requirements.

Now's the perfect opportunity for them to take the Tassie Tigers name!

Has to be Devils.

If the Bullets are playing out of the smaller Convention Centre surely any Tasmanian team could do similar?

Agree that it should be a Tasmania team more than just Hobart, but I'm not really familiar with the area, would there be as tribal a feeling with their teams as say Melbourne or to a smaller extent, Sydney and Kings/Razorback fans and the failed Spirit experiment?

Speaking of touristy comparisons, not trying to generalise, but there are probably very different appeals to those who would spend their time in Tasmania compared to Far North QLD? The people that I know that live in Tas or have moved there or holiday there are the older variety, but that could be a completely unrelated generalisation (lucky for me though that this is the internet, so those are more than acceptable discussion points)

Cairns is a bit tourist driven too don't forget.

So, Tasmania has a total pop of 520,000 or so, with Hobart being 221,000.

As a comparison:
Canberra: 381,000
Geelong: 191,000
Cairns: 148,000

If Cairns can support a team, it can't be purely population and catchment driven...although the more teams in smaller markets, the higher risk I guess.

There is an online "The Mercury" paywall article with Gaze supporting and Tasmanian team.