Hope they get a team

Would be great, government money should be allocated as both Hawks and Roos afl sides seem to have no problem getting it.

Certainly the closest they have ever been to returning to the NBL. Here's hoping.

They have to change their name back to Tassie Devils!

If they do get an NBL team I assume Chargers in SEABL remain. So no change, just a retention of the old name :)

Tasmania are attempting to get an A-League side:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-13/a-league-bid-for-tasmania-alive-and-well/9045834

NBL better hurry up!

Yes, United were planning on playing a game there. Has hosted netball.

Calling them the Devils would be obviously ideal or Tasmania United if they also play in Launceston. I'm guessing that is definately what the A-League team would be called if it was created.

Silverdome I believe is about to undergo massive upgrading.
Intentions are games across the state. Not sure about the N/W as they don't have a huge capacity there for crowds.

Good interview by the Chargers President on ABC radio this morning. Their aim is to be in the NBL in 2 seasons time. Budget of $5mill with a player budget up near $2mill.

Interesting that Melbourne's spend is $10M per year. I wonder how much of that is player salaries?

Has to be Devils.

President David Bartlett has very good discussions with Larry Kestleman.

"He said directly to me, 'you get the commercial model right and there is no reason Tasmania can't have an NBL side’.


http://www.themercury.com.au/sport/basketball/commercial-model-is-crucial-to-tasmanian-nbl-bid-success/news-story/70b0e774c5cbea4ddbb6cd38ed933ab7

Let's hope so, can't understand how tasie government gives money to Hawks and Roos afl, start giving it to tasie basketball and get there own team, not blow inns.

Yes now the soccer and cricket want a slice of that Government pie. Soccer want $6mill for ground improvements!

Afl pours money in to tassie, you've never had to deal much with the afl, there are very good at making it look like it pours in money. Norths don't get that many supporters in either. The Tasmanian government would be better putting money into their own basketball team not ring inns.

Unlikely the current government will be in next season ;)

Why's that Paul? Last I heard China wasn't an option.

Tassie's chances of getting into the NBL are getting closer. (Paywall article)

"THE Hobart Chargers are working on a business plan to take Tasmania back to the big league with the full consent of the NBL.

On Monday a consortium headed by Chargers president David Bartlett met in Melbourne to workshop the plan.

The NBL has made no guarantees but it is no secret it is looking to expand in the near future and has provided information and advice to the Chargers.

"I do get the feeling expansion is on the horizon so therefore time is of the essence and we have to position ourselves well because there will be plenty of others who want to be part of it as well," Bartlett said.

Bartlett said Hydraplay, a drinks bottle company owned by former Hobart Devils basketballer Justin Hickey, was willing to bankroll Tasmania's NBL push.

Aside from the pure finances of the plan, the consortium will also look at:

LOCATION: Should the NBL push be Tasmanian or Hobart?

BRANDING: Should it be the Devils, the Chargers or a completely new brand?

TEAMS: Should it be an NBL and WNBL push or just one team?

“Whatever happens, the Chargers’ success is critical to an NBL outcome and what the branding of what this thing will be I can’t predict at the moment,” Bartlett said.

“When we started our workshop on Monday this is some of the big questions on our long list we need to answer, and that’s certainly one of them.”

He said the Chargers were already making inroads into the NBL’s checklist set by league boss Larry Kestleman.

The three main requirements were a rich backer, stadium and attendances.

“We are looking like we’ve ticked the box in terms of a deep pocketed owner, we are working really hard to get bums on seats,” he said.

“The best things Tasmanians can do if they want an NBL franchise is to buy a ticket to a Chargers game.

“The league are looking to see how many are turning up to SEABL in Tasmania.

“Obviously we are not going to get 4000 to a SEABL game unless we get a final, but we need to be consistently getting 2000 to a SEABL game to show we can get 4000 to an NBL game.

“The stadium is another one of those big questions we need resolved. The DEC is the stadium, no doubt about it, but is the stadium NBL ready?

“I don’t believe it is at the moment.”

Many believe on the back of Australia’s impact on the NBA, Andrew Bogut’s return to the NBL and a push to return the league to free-to-air TV, the NBL is about to boom again."

Has to be Devils.

Yes, has to be Devils.

NO guarantee it will be.

Interesting piece by Brent Costelloe of WINTV on the imminent return of a Tassie team. Its FB and I assume it's public? Video news article. Name and logo to be revealed shortly it says. I have heard it won't be the Devils.
https://www.facebook.com/brentcostelloesport/videos/1796759040631950/

Has to be Devils.

Nicknamed 'Double Up'

Love the last century humour Ad. So pathetic.

Getting back on track the whole of Tassie is now united in supporting the NBL push. For idiots that make the terrible Tassie jokes here is the truth.
http://seabl.com.au/community-support-growing-for-tasmanian-basketball/

‏@brentcostelloe
Happy to report that our state's bid for an @NBL licence is bubbling away very nicely behind the scenes. I'll have fresh details regarding membership, sponsorship, the venue and what the team may or may not be called in @WINNews_Tas sport tonight at 6.20pm. #basketball #NBL

Has to be Devils.

I think @Brentcostelloe is referring to the main venue in the south.
It is a fully backed Tasmania bid. BATas fully supporting this bid and all seabl clubs as well.

We now know it won't be the Devils.

So TAS team will be around the state and new NZ owners are taking up to six games away from Auckland. Not bad, spread the NBL far and wide.

There will be two new teams though? Who is the second after TAS?

AD you are an idiot.
They are prepared to put in $2 -$3mill to renovate the existing DEC where seabl is played.
They have at least 2 people prepared to put in up to $5mill per YEAR to run the club.
Did you actually look at the article?
It is far from a Field of Dreams. The Tas Government is behind the bid.
The AFL is a joke in Tasmania. Soccer has just been bypassed for entry into the NSL.
It's a perfect time for an NBL team to enter the NBL as Tassie's national sports team.
Where does this magical $10mill you guess figure comes from?
Have you actually investigated what the NBL requirements are?
If you had you would know that the Tassie bid has met all those requirements.
Idiot.

The NBL bid for a Tassie licence now includes the bidders to buy the DEC.
So AD you are simply wrong. "Field of Dreams" is where you live clearly.

It's happening.

the way I see it we have 2 options - we make it a 3 team league (Mel, Syd, Per) or we make it accessible to teams like the Hawks & Taipans. If it is the latter then I don't see why Tassie couldn't work too. If we go with option 1 then we just watch the rich teams dominate for a few years while the rest get left behind and then we have no NBL by 2025

How can it not add value?
Will you say the same of a 2nd Melbourne team or a 2nd NZ team?
perhaps you should tell Kestleman he's wrong eh.

A 2nd Sydney team has never been broached afaik.

All indications are two new teams will enter at the same time.

So where will the second team be that enters with TAS?

Reality has no reality, no idea. Sponsores want there product sold in Tasmania as much as Sydney or Melbourne. Full national competition would be great.

Yes, we all know Reality has no idea. More like Fantasy.

Afl, nrl have sides on the Gold Coast. Now that's working well. Not.
They are not examples to follow, Tasmania is ready for its own team in a national competition and with its own financial backing not proped up by government, they have big pocket sponsors.
The afl and nrl prop up half a dozen sides in there comps plus suck money out Tasmanian government.

Tasmanians actually like sport, unlike Gold Coastians

"as its simply not viable or a value add to commercial partners or future prospects."
Probably dumbest quote of the year.

Change your name to Clueless.

The council will decide tonight.

Wow, an NBL team in the professional era owning their own stadium? That would be a first.

Ogden who own the Sydney Kings own their own facility ;). $80,000 to open it for the night!

Glenorchy Council have voted unanimously to sell the DEC. 21 days for public comment and EOI's to be submitted.

Ogden is the most expensive venue in Australia to open. That is one of my points. The other was in reference to someone suggesting that if Tassie owned their own venue they would be the first to do so. That isn't true.
The group trying to by the DEC has access to catering and concerts making it a no brainer for me.
Plus they are expected to pour millions into that precinct, that sits opposite MONA. A perfect synergy.

"Ogden who own the Sydney Kings own their own facility ;). $80,000 to open it for the night!"

Good point. It's a nice trend developing.

^^^^
What an absolute load of dribble.

The DEC is no worse than where hawks, cairns, even 76ers. Sydney also played out state sports centre three seasons ago and that was a dump.
Maybe you should get to Hobart and check the joint out instead of writing shit.

Dazz needs to be banned again.

Wow the DEC was a shithole 21 years ago. Bullshit.

"This latest development only confirms what I have suspected, there is little government money available to build a decent venue, nor even upgrade the shithole that is the DEC. It was a substandard venue when the Devils played there, and apparently has gotten worse."

Hey dickhead. NO ONE has mentioned any government funding EVER. Build a new venue. Why would that be? Yet more bullshit without even understanding what is occurring right now.

Go and read (assuming you can read) about the actual bid. Until you do no point in even commenting here. Where ever you post its crap and more crap.

There are no other media markets that big in Aus left. Worth a try.

Needs to be Devils.

The LK issue certainly is concerning and I agree with you on that. It's only a matter of time before the likes of Cairns and the Hawks fold. Eventually the NBL will too. Salary cap out of control yet again will see to that as will a 4 import rule.

The point about this bid is that there are multiple revenue streams available to the backers if they buy the DEC. Basketball is only one of those streams and if it does fold in 5 years so be it. They are smart businessmen and know exactly what they are doing.
The latest news items todayindicate they will spend up to $90mill in the next number of years on that site.
Not sure where your metrics come from but right now Tasmania is the hottest real estate market in the country with prices still soaring and rents even at least the same as in Melb of Sydney now in some cases. The state is booming and more importantly the whole state is behind this bid.
A $5mill budget is more than some teams are already spending and the aim is not be be an also ran from the start.
In the next month or so the decision to sell the DEC will be made. If this consortium gets the opportunity all well and good. If it doesn't basketball will go further into the backwaters than the facilities are today.
All the hard work the Chargers and other clubs and BTAS have done to gain the resurgence in interest in basketball will be wasted. Those involved in the bid and many others will simply walk.

So many words AD. All of them bs.

For the stupid people. AD / DAZZ.
"THE consortium behind the push to buy the Derwent Entertainment Centre will invest between $80 million and $90 million in a sports and entertainment precinct without any guarantee of a National Basketball League licence.
Consortium spokesman, Hobart Chargers president and former Tasmanian premier David Bartlett, made the commitment on Tuesday after the Glenorchy City Council voted unanimously to offload the DEC.
Mr Bartlett would not disclose the exact amount offered for the DEC by the consortium, backed by Hydraplay, led by Justin Hickey.

The DEC, owned and operated by the council, has become a burden on rate payers, suffering a $1,094,000 loss for 2016-17.
The proposal will include a $3 million to $4 million upgrade of the DEC, a hotel and cafes to create a sports and entertainment precinct and the largest investment in Glenorchy since Mona.

"The NBL licence is a risk, we have to present a case to the NBL, there are no guarantees there," Mr Bartlett said.

“But the consortium is moving forward with this without making it a criteria or condition of doing the transaction with the Glenorchy City Council.

“That transaction we hope will happen in the coming weeks where the transaction to get an NBL franchise licence is six months, 12 months away. “That is just the way the timing is going to work.

“That is a commercial risk, no doubt about it, for the consortium, but it is a commercial risk they are prepared to take.”

Pretty clear eh.

I guess the no value add argument has gone now Reality.

"The consortium is absolutely willing to pay fair value for the asset.."

Why would a council that is broke give away an item that is worth million$.
People just guess and fantasise and their loopy ideas then become the truth here it seems.
Wait a month or there abouts and the true REALITY will be revealed.

The Tassie market is coming from a low base, but the surge has been going for a fair bit longer than six months, and both property and rental prices certainly aren't low anymore.

"Why would a council that is broke give away an item that is worth million$."

Because they are losing millions of $ operating it. They'll ask a price for it, but I doubt they'll get too much for an underperforming venue in a 250K city.

Hahahahaha. yet another person who doesn't understand anything about the bidders or the offer.
The DEC didn't lose millions..... This is where all the facts get skewed. Depreciation was the main component of that. In fact the figure was $1,094,000. Hardly millions.
Time will tell and of course all the naysayers here will all say if they get the bid, oh it's only a matter of time....
Yet they don't have any idea of the actual plan.

Look over the long term, not just last year.

I actually agree with Koberulz.
Go away Dazz.

If anyone has actually read any of the press you would know that the bidders are more than happy to pursue the purchase of the DEC without an NBL team getting in.
They are well backed and have a broad spread of business' many of which will enhance the future expansion of the DEC precinct and the DEC itself.

A 2nd team in what other market other than the one that you are already in?
You really need a Reality check.