Isaac
Years ago
Stupid hypothetical two-league NBL concept
I'm putting this up as a bit of an off-the-cuff concept for people to pick apart. It's obviously flawed and quite likely completely ridiculous. It's stupid for most reasons, but what the hell.
Here are my starting assumptions:
- player salaries comprise a significant portion of club costs
- players prefer playing games to training
- majority of fans would not be keen to pay more for more games
- majority of clubs are at the mercy of generous ownership/benefactors
- TV deals prefer big-city teams
- more basketball jobs, the better for our players, coaches, etc
- if the league loses a regional team, the fans and its sponsors do not simply transfer to another team; they're more or less lost until a team returns in their locale
- an ideal, concentrated, TV-oriented NBL might prefer big-market teams, but there are still opportunities in regional areas, including from past teams
(For a moment, assume that the ABL leagues around Australia either do not exist or are adjusted to be part of this idiocy.)
What if the NBL was actually two leagues that did not run concurrently but used the same players, most playing for two different teams? Could it provide income/opportunities for players and also leverage regional markets?
Imagine (for simplicity sake to begin) that NBL players are contracted for the same period that they are now. They play more games in place of training. In one league, they play for big market teams in a televised, blockbuster league.
In the remaining period of their contract, they play for a brother-team in a second league. Either areas that have semi-supported an NBL team in the past, or regional areas near the original teams. e.g., Perth's players might have Freo as their second team. In Sydney, it might be Wollongong or Canberra.
One of the two competitions could be potentially played under experimental tweaks to the rules. TV would be optional for the second league.
A club operating in two locations would have some increased costs (ops, transport, venue, etc) but essentially draw from two pools of fans and sponsors while making use of a single set of players.
Now, trying to drag a silly idea towards reality, some potential issues and tweaks:
- clubs/players would need a local presence rather than just fly-in, fly-out; would work in Wollongong and Freo where they could do regular clinics/appearances, but harder elsewhere
- would the perceived second tier fans buy into it?
- promotion and relegation wouldn't work as you could end up with someone playing against their own brother-team
Perhaps instead a system whereby NBL clubs sub-contract players for part of their term to sides in a second league? And some players play only in one league, many in both. e.g., Kings contract Bob Baller for $120k with a deal that he plays also for Canberra or Wollongong. He makes the same amount for the same period of work. Gets to play more games than usual, but trains less.
Why not the SEABL/ABL as the second tier? They aren't selling tickets for $20-30 to 2-5k crowds.