Hoops

New Melbourne Team

Already been in the media, no Geelong team possible without at least a 5,000 seat stadium, so while that's a nice dream, it will remain a dream until they start building something.

South Dragons, just call them Melbourne Dragons if need be and be done with it I reckon.....

It's Geelong sponsored by Geelong Cats of the AFL

It absolutely makes sense, and the NBL would be nuts to not be looking at all options.
The league is barely viable, and a couple of teams are a year-to-year proposition. ONly takes a couple of those to stagger, and the league becomes a joke.

The biggest audience for BBL generally is still Melbourne, the alltime attendance record still belongs to a Melbourne Derby final, and you have the stadiums to cash in on them.
Bottomline is that it is allround the cheapest expansion option available.

The idea of an NBL franchise makes some sense for many Melbourne AFL teams. (Although ironically perhaps less so for Collingwood.)
They already have the gyms, training facilities, management, membership, and sponsorship staff in place (many of whom have extreme peaks in their work-year.)
They are mostly locked in a grim struggle for new members and sponsors in a saturated ultra-competitive market. And the market they are all chasing is youth without existing affiliations. Considering they are all legacy clubs ostensibly based in the city, its not even as though they can rely on geographical location.

Imagine if you could successfully launch a 2nd team in Melbourne, and grow that supporter base to its potential. Converting those people to your AFL cause would be a salivating prospect for some of the struggling clubs.

Also need to appreciate that by and large NBL players can be asked to work a lot harder in community events, and here you have the opportunity to build your brand year-round.

Now yes, from the NBL perspective, I think that say re-birthing the Saints as an AFL offshoot would be limiting, but perhaps there's a happy medium somewhere.

Lets also not forget what I will call the "Freo Fenomenon."
I cheered the Eagles to victory in 92 & 94 sitting next to guys who will now swear to my face that they "didn't follow AFL" until Freo joined. Excluding those permanently ensconced in Cafes, The City of Fremantle has a population of about 28. (There's a far larger population in East Fremantle, but they mostly hate those in the south and support the Eagles.) Yet despite this Fremantle is one of the most financially successful teams in the AFL, with a membership that most Melbourne clubs would murder for.
Point is, that for whatever reason, it may be possible to pull together substantial support for a 2nd Melbourne team.

MELBOURNE THUNDER???

Tasmania and S.E team coming soon.

Collingwood is getting a team.

BTown, expansion is exactly what the league needs right now in my opinion. Theres many reasons for past failed attempts, with bad timing (eg bringing new teams when the league was shit) and too many teams at various stages being among them (13-14 teams is probably too many even during the so called golden years)

Right now the league is looking healthy again and with the league being an 8 team competition for quite a long time now, its time to start expanding or risk becoming stale and boring, which its in danger of doing if no new teams come in. 8 teams is a bit low for a professional league.

Maybe someone can copy the herald sun article on the state basketball centres proposed 250 million dollar upgrade posted last month.

You would easily get 5000-10000 a game in the S.E.

Prefer to see expansion in NZ.

I grew up diehard SE Melb Magic, tentatively got behind Victoria Titans, but lost interest in the NBL until the United rebranding due to my deep hatred for the Tigers and any other team that popped up disappeared as quickly as they came. A second Melbourne team makes no sense given the “United” ethos and I struggle to see the fan base exists to back another team.

Why wouldnt they just play at Hisense?

Never drag down the NBL by adding the WNBL. No way. That is a fast way to lose cash.

Isn't the SBC likely to become the next Waverley Park/VFL Park?

Have you guys not read about the sbc expansion?

250 mill revamp with 8000+ seat arena.
5000+ more seats than the current show court...

Knox cant afford a seabl team.

its definitely not knox

Why even bother playing at Dandenong or sbc? I don’t think either are big enough to sustain an nbl team in Melb. Maybe Margaret court at the very least

Perfect time for kestleman to take over the wnbl and align the teams with there Nbl counterparts. Same setup as a league/w league.
Later on adding a youth/dp league thats sit under the nbl/wnbl so that all these players sitting on the bench can prove themselves in real games.

Bendigo scrapped until Bendigo men's team comes with expansion.
Dandenong gets absorbed into s.e Melbourne team. Some games at Dandenong, some at SBC.

Men's and women's
United
S.E Melbourne
Sydney
Illawarra
Perth
Adelaide
Brisbane
Cairns/Townsville (split into two in the long term)
Auckland

Expansion
Bendigo
Hobart
Perth 2
Wellington
Newcastle
Canberra
Townsville/Cairns

16 team comp.

I think a team representing the south east suburbs of Melb would go very well. Not sure if I’d use the names magic or dragons though. Dragons did seem to have a good fan base though.

The timing was off, that’s all. The A-League wasn’t kicking

I'm pretty sure that theory won't work.

The Richwood Pigers?

Most successful Euro teams do it this way also

Luuuc, all they need is a “faction” of their 100,000 or so members to come each week and they’ll kill it.

There will be multiple AFL teams with NBL teams in the next three years. A few in Melb too.

There will simply not be a second melbourne team. End of

I know they have a large (possibly the largest) AFL supporter base in Victoria, but it still puts them into a "faction" of sorts, where you're basically going to put off fans of 8 of the 9 Melbourne AFL teams from becoming a fan of the basketball team.
I don't know how big a factor it would be. Just putting it out there. Maybe the footy club sees potential for adding current non-AFL basketball fans to their membership.

The only team guaranteed large support is one in the south east of Melbourne.
S.e Melbourne magic south dragons etc.

People will associate Collingwood with football which will turn people away.

Kestleman has plenty of idea mate, he saved a league that was going to become a glorified SEABL if that. Now it’s flying again. List some of the “idea” you have?

Luuuc, Collingwood don’t have a “limited” supporter base. One of the larger supporter bases in the AFL.

It would seem odd to me, since the whole point of blowing up the Tigers brand and changing to United was to move away from being a team with a limited supporter base and a majority of fans for whom the old brand would always be a rival.
I wonder how many Victorian basketball fans aren't footy fans.

This is BS

If they add Collingwood Asa team, it'll show kestleman has no idea.

Could be called the Magpies

Hopefully it's not called the boomers.

Hi Knox, can I ask you?

whats the game times for the nbL ON TV?