Isaac
Years ago

WNBL review proposes shorter, Winter season

Basketball Australia today releases the findings of the Australian Sports Commission's (ASC) report into the Optimal Competition Model for the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL). Authored by Suiko Consulting’s Eugenie Buckley, the review was undertaken to secure the financial stability of the competition and its clubs.
Among the report’s key recommendations:

- Basketball Australia’s Strategic Plan 2014-2018 needs to specifically identify the WNBL, its purpose and how it can be used as a platform to drive the attainment of participation, high performance and promotional objectives

- The WNBL should be the pinnacle of the national high performance pathway in Australia

- Basketball Australia and WNBL Clubs undertake a detailed annual review to assess team performance, financial viability, marketing support and compliance with minimum standards and regulations

There are several recommendations, including a move to winter and a shorter season, that have been referred to a Working Party comprising representatives from the WNBL Clubs, the WNBL Commission and its players. The first meeting of the Working Party is set for next week.

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Isaac  
Years ago

Lots more in there. Recommends two teams in each of Melbourne in Sydney, but maybe no team in WA due to past struggles.

Isn't confident of a TV deal, saying online streams are the way to go.

Talks about a $200k salary cap plus a marquee player. Opals players should be signed by the league, and spread amongst the clubs.

Report recommends NZers be classed as imports.

Main recommendation appears to be a 16-game season played from April to July with a three-game finals series. Last season's WNBL season was 22 games.

Roy Ward has more here

Unless the weaker clubs would be paying less, I'm not sure a 16-game season is better. Fewer chances to make money from the players? Or do they lose money hosting games?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Hearing about there being no WA team next year as well, but also hearing that the Wildcats have bought out the Waves so there is every chance they will be re-branded and re-packaged to put a new team in under Marvin's reign.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Wildcats taking over the Waves is a done deal. Hopefully it will be the start of better days for West Coast.

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William  
Years ago

If Seven and Nine didn't want ANZ Championship, then why would they want WNBL? Ten seems best fit alongside FOX Sports. Maybe WNBL could have the start of the season at the conclusion of the A League Grand Final with A League season starting just after WNBL Grand Final.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Interesting report,

If they want people like Phillips, Taylor, etc to play in the WNBL then i wouldnt be moving the league to a time it clashes with the WNBA, as im pretty sure they would chose to play WNBA if they couldnt play in both.

Would be interested to see what research was done to come to the conclusion that the best players would skip the WNBA and play WNBL and Europe/Asia, therefore no issue clashing with the WNBA season, i have no data or research, but i have my doubts, the only way this would be probable is if WNBL+Europe pays better than WNBA, does it?

Then also America is less of a culture shock than Europe, Europe isnt for everyone and clubs dont always act as 'professionally' with payments, etc in Europe so my guess is players would play WNBA and skip the WNBL if they had to chose.

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Nathan of Perth  
Years ago

Wildcats taking over the Waves would surely help on the off-court side of things (as well as access, presumably, to better training and development resources).

The winter season may not help though, removes curtain-raiser opportunities.

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sportsfan  
Years ago

i wouldnt want the season changed it would affect players in WNBA & also how many wnbl players go back and play in the SEABL as well

this live streaming it would have to be better than what the nbl has had for last few seasons that has been poor picture quility

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LC  
Years ago

Also noted this:

There is a 2013/2014 WNBL Marketing Plan and WNBL Media and Communications Plan based around the 'Step into the Spotlight' theme from the previous season. Although these plans are solid, they do not seem to have been implemented. There is no direct responsibility or accountability for the implementation, measurement or success of the marketing plans.

And just ICYMI:

"There is no direct responsibility or accountability for the implementation, measurement or success of the marketing plans."

Wow.

I think a good portion of those recommendations could also just as easily be applied to the NBL.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Given there were no media staff at BA during the WNBL season, this comes as no surprise.

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PlaymakerMo  
Years ago

What's the primary reason for moving the WNBL to a winter season format?

I agree with '206 regarding our WNBA-calibre Opals and imports: we would retain a small fraction of those currently playing in the WNBL.

Good to hear about the Wildcats-Waves takeover. I'm sure if the WNBL team didn't have potential viability the Wildcats wouldn't go ahead with the deal, but nonetheless it's fantastic community support.

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LC  
Years ago

As for the reference to the WNBA and the season to potentially move, the report states that the WNBL is not competing with the WNBA, and hence would expect the players good enough should be playing in that league when at their peak (or words to that effect).

Although admittedly in most of the rest of the report it does make reference a lot to retaining the best Opals players to play in the WNBL wherever possible.

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LC  
Years ago

No surprise on the fact the marketing suffered with no dedicated media person, but the fact nobody was held accountable for it...that to me is a surprise.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Doesnt the move to a winter season take away from the state leagues? The SBL plays through winter so those team with numerous Waves players eg. Willetton/Joondalup would suffer

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Interesting they dont see WNBA and WNBL competing for players then,

I would have thought one of the strengths of the WNBL is that we get some of our good Aussie WNBA players back and playing along with some imports on current WNBA rosters, why ruin that and reduce the quality of the product?

Imagine how happy the NBL would be if they could get Mills, Ingles, Bogut, Baynes etc to play along with some of the imports being on NBA rosters, ie James Ennis plays several seasons of the NBL during the NBA off season, this is infact one reason why some people think the NBL should move to winter and see if we can get some of our top players back from Europe/NBA in the offseason.

Just surprised the WNBA who already has this in place, ie top players ie Penny Taylor and WNBA imports playing WNBL in there off season, would be recommending to go away from that.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

oops meant Just surprised the WNBL ....who already has this in place, ie top players ie Penny Taylor and WNBA imports playing WNBL in there off season, would be recommending to go away from that.

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PlaymakerMo  
Years ago

Given that the WNBA minimum is ~ $38,000 (max $107,000), most players would ideally supplement this income by playing during the off-season. They have short careers and earning potential, after all.

The WNBL and WNBA certainly aren't in direct competition with each other, by virtue of the disparity in player standards. I don't know what Pondexter, Taylor, Griffin etc earn in the WNBL, but I'd imagine that it's a fraction of their WNBA salary. With an overlap in scheduling the WNBL would, however, have to compete for these players.

Are most WNBL teams presently spending $200k+ on salaries and wages? That seems like a lot to me, and I seriously wonder where the the capital injection will come from without a TV deal (which is likely).

On face value I'm just not seeing the logic behind some of the report's findings.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

re:#523223
WNBL review proposes shorter, Winter seasonI don't know what Pondexter, Taylor, Griffin etc earn in the WNBL, but I'd imagine that it's a fraction of their WNBA salary

Cappie - 105K USD WNBA
Taylor - 105K USD WNBA
Griffin - 55 -65K USD WNBA*

Cappie - 70-100K AUD WNBL*
Taylor - 100K + AUD WNBL* (minus late start to the season)
Griffin - 55-70K AUD WNBL* Plus housing costs, etc

* all estimates, although just pointing out that you can't get high level WNBA players to the wnbl by paying them a fraction of the WNBA salary, especially with the money on offer in Europe and China.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

LOL at your salary estimates for Cappie and Penny in the WNBL. They were on three times those figures (thank you Mr Jayco).

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Both WNBL and NBL were played in the winter up until the late 90's

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rumpelstiltskin  
Years ago

shorter season = yes - will reduce costs

winter = hell no ! - will dwindle crowds even more

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Shorter season, sure I guess.

Winter season, no way! Lose players like Griffin/Pondexter etc

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Dunkin' Dan  
Years ago

To be honest, it's the clash with the SEABL and other state leagues that concerns me more about a potential move to winter. That's the conflict that would impact the majority of players in the league.

To me the Europe/WNBA conflict is a bit of a wash. Look across the last decade or so and there have been a lot of Opals and fringe Opals level talent that was not good enough for the WNBA but played in Europe. Names like Hodges, Bishop, O'Hea, Hurst, Tolo, etc. In the 2 years the trend probably favours the WNBA, but prior to that it was in the other direction.
Is the trend of the last 2 years sustainable? The financial situations of Logan, Bendigo & Adelaide might suggest otherwise. Will Dandenong still be able to throw huge sums to attract WNBA-level talent?

I reckon it's pretty hard to make long-term decisions while the state of women's basketball here is in such a state of flux.

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Baller6  
Years ago

"To be honest, it's the clash with the SEABL and other state leagues that concerns me more about a potential move to winter. That's the conflict that would impact the majority of players in the league."

Agreed Dan, this would be one of the main problems I could see coming from this.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

$200,000 between several players and coaching staff is not a lot to go around. How is a female athlete supposed to earn a living from that. Are the men in ZnBL expected to survive on this type of salary base???

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paul  
Years ago

What's that got to do with it?

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Winter vs Summer, there has been many a past topic on this, yes NBL and WNBL were played in winter. The main 2 reason I recall this being changed, was to try and avoid competition for media coverage with the AFL, but mainly was to stop clashes every other year with Olympics and World Championships. A shorter April to July may avoid this and possibly encourage some players to play in WNBL as lead up to these events.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Paul it has a lot to do with it, these women need to earn a living just like their make counterparts, don't be a chauvanist

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koberulz  
Years ago

That doesn't make money magically appear out of thin air.

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Isaac  
Years ago

If the clubs can't find financial stability, the athletes aren't going to make a living solely from the league.

Some NBL teams are in a similar position whereby the earnings of the club aren't enough to consistently justify player salaries. Male vs female isn't the issue, it's a financial reality.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

But allocating just $200,000 per team in today's world is totally unrealistic male or female.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

If these female athletes could ensure clubs generate enough income for them to be paid, sure. But they don't. Love how you call it chauvanistic, I reckon the poster is actually talking about sound financial practise!!

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Anonymous  
Years ago

$200k is a lot for WNBL/women's sport. I'm surprised it's that much.

also re: WNBL moving - If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

/thread

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Anonymous  
Years ago

#523456 exactly they don't generate the income necessary for more pay. Yet people go on about them deserving more? It's the entertainment industry, you get paid how many fans you bring into the building and how many sponsors are attracted. No such thing as "deserve" you only deserve it if the turnover is there to justify the wage just like any other business in the real world.

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