Here's a link to the story.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/325912/1/.html

Will the Slingers remain after this season?

Will this move help fill the stadium? and maybe also install air conditioning in there?

The ladder position surely can't help?

I may be wrong with what I am saying, but these questions must be answered.

Bringing in Asians, new chairman, new sponsorship...

This should make the Slingers likely to last another season, if not more.

NBL needs to let Singapore have a third import, increase salarycap and making their fixtures Friday/Saturday nights to make the basketball an
'event' in Singapore.

After two years, i am not that confident that Singaporeans will support the team that well though...

A lot of good questions......

When they say they want to fill the stadium then please remember it can hold more than 11,500 people in first class fully airconditioned facilities. This year the average has been around 2,500-3,000 which compares reasonably with other teams in the NBL.The 7 sunday games introduced this season has been a big plus for the Slingers as the timing enables many more expat and local families to attend.

Talking about airconditioning then I assume the reference is to one of the training facilities ( BAS 3 court facility at Geylang ). The general Slingers training does not take place at BAS - but at a fully airconditioned facility in Jurong in the western part of Singapore. The BAS facility is mainly used for weight training ( and I am maybe wrong but I think in those rooms there is aircon ) and then individual training sessions.

The Slingers are already allowed to have a third import as long as the player is from the Asia. However one challenge is that most players of can get substantial more money playing in eg China, Korea and the Philippines . From a business point of view adding a Phillipino player or maybe 2 ( ok this means giving up one of the US imports I know but this also frees up a lot of money) is likely to bring in substantial more people to watch the matches ( there is a big basketball crazy phillipino community in singapore!) than a player from China unless the Chinese player is really outstanding.

Finally a word about whether the Singaporeans will support this team that well or not .....The key words should not be Singaporeans but whether people living in Singapore will support the team and judging from this second season then there certainly seems to be substantial more basketball crazy singaporeans, chinese, american-chinese, indians,greeks, phillipinos , kiwis, canadians, germans,aussies, etc etc coming to watch the game at the Singapore Indoor Stadium . More will come next year.

Not sure why Champ33 would think there is no aircon at the Singapore Stadium. It's the best and most modern stadium in the league.
Do you really think they would build a stadium with airconditioning ? Singapore is one of the most modern and high tech cities in the world.

Agreed.It is an amazing indoor stadium that hosts bands, Disney on Ice etc and the floor that is dismantled and rebuilt ready for every home game is the best in the league I have been told by a number of players, both local and visiting. The Slingers have improved amazingly this season... after all they have the most rookies out of any club and many of their losses have only been by 10 or less. Watch them in 2008 if this mob can stay together.

Um that should have read `without' ac. Doh.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/arti.asp?newsid=23352

More details re Slingers board and direction

Along with Mr Fernandes' appointment, the Slingers also announced the appointment of one of its directors, Mr Chow Yen-Lu as Deputy Chairman. Mr Chow, founder and Managing Director of WholeTree Ventures  a new venture accelerator, and Executive Director of BAF Spectrum  a business angel fund supported by the Singapore government, will assist Mr Fernandes in plotting the future directions of the two-year-old NBL franchise.

With over 25 years' experience in technology and venture capital including leadership positions at multinational companies, start-ups, and venture capital firms, Mr Chow  the man who is personally underwriting the cash prize for the Slingers' ongoing "Million Dollar Shot" promotion  is a successful entrepreneur, an active angel investor and company builder. Mr. Chow serves on the board of many private companies in the region, and advises organizations, government bodies and education institutions on entrepreneurship. He has a reputation of turning things around for troubled companies as well as building teams and organizations from scratch.

The realignment of the Slingers' leadership hierarchy could not have come at a more opportune time, coinciding with the recent naming of Singapore Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC) as the winning bidder to build the new Sports Hub, which will incorporate the Slingers' home ground, the 10,800 plus capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium.

With the SSHC promising to develop the entire Kallang area into a buzz of activities once the new Sports Hub is completed in 2011, one can understand why the Slingers' leadership are so confident of the future success of the team in the terraces, which is currently already averaging around 3,000-odd crowds for each home game.

Said Slingers' Managing Director Mr Bob Turner: "With the marketing know-how and track records of Tony and Yen-Lu, I am sure that we can continue to grow the ever-increasing interest and awareness of the Slingers. Now, with time to plan ahead and prepare for the coming season, we will be able to build a team that is competitive and good enough to give the bigger teams a run for their money."

Asian players should be non-imports NBL wide as of next year. What if 7ft 9 Chinese guy Sun Ming Ming was in the NBL, thatd bring people in just to see him alone. Where did you get the idea that the filo league has more money than the NBL? The Filo league MVP was snapped up by the slingers last year wasn't he? This would indicate the NBl has more moeny.