Isaac
Years ago

Interim BA/NBL board appointed

The boards of Basketball Australia (BA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) today announced they have unanimously supported a series of key resolutions to accelerate the reform of the sport. This included the formation of an Interim Board that has been given the relevant power and decision-making authorities of both BA and the NBL, as well as the removal of a series of legal impediments to the reform process.

The Interim Board is John Maddock (Chairman of BA), Seamus McPeake (Owner of Melbourne Tigers), Mark Peters (the Chief Executive of the Australian Sports Commission), Diane Sias (Group Executive, Business & Technology Solutions & Services at Westpac) and David Thodey (Group Managing Director of Telstra Enterprise and Government).

Two additional independent directors will be added to the Interim Board prior to the formation of a new unified entity which is expected to be constituted with a permanent board by August 2008. This permanent board will consist mainly of independent directors. Mark Peters will step down at this time and be replaced by an alternative independent director on the permanent board.

The Interim Board will meet in the next 14 days where it will appoint one of the independent directors as its Chairman and receive an interim update from DSEG on the reform direction.

The key resolutions followed a group of initial recommendations, notably the establishment of the Interim Board, made by Dynamic Sports and Entertainment Group (DSEG) which is well advanced with the Commercial Reform Strategy for Australian basketball. DSEG was engaged in February to deliver a sustainable long-term business plan for basketball. It is also leading the current NBL media negotiations with Fox Sports. It is being supported by MI Associates, one of the world's leading professional services groups to the sports industry.

"The recent decisions clearly show the commitment of our sport to reform," said the Chairman of Basketball Australia and member of the new Board, John Maddock.

"There is still a lot of work to be done but with the Interim Board in place and the calibre of our newly appointed independent directors, I am sure we are going to get the required outcome."

Maddock's sentiments were supported by Seamus McPeake, the NBL appointee to the new Board.

"The NBL Owners are ready for change and the decisions that we have recently made give us the best possible chance to achieve immediate success from our reform," McPeake said.

The DSEG report will be finalised by the end of June and will be form part of a significant six month window for Australian basketball. The Boomers and Opals are advanced in their preparations for the Olympic Games with both teams set to play a number of lead up games prior to August climax in Beijing.
Is it a bit dirty to have the Tigers top dog on the board when you would pretty much bet the house they bust the cap rules?

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Kent Brockman  
Years ago

I know where you are coming from Isaac but who else would you have on their?

Cowan would be the only one up to the task IMO

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thefansman  
Years ago

I also think that McPeake has done very little for the sport of basketball in Australia. He has a successful team and yet nobody knows about it unless they follow bball.

The last grand final series was fantastic yet there was no promotion, no advertisements, nothing. I live in Melbourne and Dragons are advertised everywhere, yet its like tigers dont even exist, and they're the successful club. I just think putting McPeake on a board making decisions designed to bring bball back to being popular is a crazy move.

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thefansman  
Years ago

He's all about cost cutting and not promotion.

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Isaac  
Years ago

thefansman, I agree.

What about Paul Maley - often noted to be the smart business type and knows the sport?

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Panther  
Years ago

What about Cowen, is a marketing guru???

Reply #182130 | Report this post


HO  
Years ago

Isaac, you really should change the title mate, its not an Interim "NBL" Board - and enough people on here think that the NBL is basketball in Australia as it is!

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Isaac  
Years ago

HO, done. Just figured that, for the majority here, its immediate impact on the NBL would be more significant.

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thefansman  
Years ago

Yeah I reckon Paul Maley would be better.

Cowan is the best in the NBL when it comes to promotion and advertising and also seems dedicated to do anything to promote basketball. However, you would really need someone on the board that had in-depth knowledge of what basketball in Australia needs. I would prefer an ex-player probably. Put Cowan in charge of NBL promotion though, would be great in that role.

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HO  
Years ago

you need to understand guys, this is an interim board and therefore it needs to be about governance.....not marketing....not game management etc etc. They will have a limited time frame to put in place the future conditions for governance of the combined BA/NBL entities. They have scope in the future to add independent directors, and then probably they will look for expertise in specialised areas. The permanent Board comes to play in August.

Cannot see Maley getting a gig - he has no corporate profile really.

Reply #182282 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Whoever it is, under whatever name, no doubt it will all continue to be cocked up at every turn.

Reply #182297 | Report this post


Stars  
Years ago

#182297,

At least ur positive champ! We need more of you guys to help out with the situation. Keep rootin' for us all!!

Reply #182350 | Report this post


HO  
Years ago

#182297, perhaps you don't realise just how big what is happening right now is.

The sport is coming under one banner, with all stakeholders agreeing to do just that (not being arm-wrestled into it). The ABA have done it, the WNBL have done it and now the most powerful alternative org, the NBL is doing it.

I've posted here before that BA is a cash poor organisation and I am an open apologist for them - I reckon they do an extraordinary job with the resources they simply do not have.

The NBL on the other hand has squandered its "rich times" and is paying for that now. As with football, basketball will be better with a unified organisation. The ASC is pushing this charge and will prop up some of the new organisation to some degree.

The sport has suffered considerably in the past because it has had two public decision making orgs - the NBL and BA - bringing them together helps with that.

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