im taking about financial success and on court success

You cant really tell as they have signed 1 player. Depends on who they sign and whether the team can click as a unit.

I think they will be fairly average for the first few years. I don't think you can just come into the league and expect immediate results. You have to build up a team culture, have good management, buy the right players, have a great coach. If they do all these things, then they have a chance. I do wonder if they will get the crowds to games they would need to stay in business. Is the NBL going to spend money on marketing them up there?

If they have the money to offer, they will be successful straight away. Most players would prefer to play on the GC to NZ for example. This is a small league, and because of that, the oppourtunity to be successful immediately is easier.

interesting venture, gc failed once before, will be interesting to see how this pans out for the fans sake and for viability they need to play finals within2 years.

Statman would be the perfect one to comment on how the blaze are going seeing he lives in the heart of XXXX country

At this early stage I can say i have been a bit underwhelmed by the new team. I am a tad disappointed with the ticket prices and allocation of seats in the stadium. I was hoping to grab a couple of season tickets in a great location (side of court in first few rows) for up to 600 each. ALL the side seats are corporate with the best season tickets either behind the basket or above concourse - I am awaiting the marketting Dept to ring me back (very helpful so far I must say) to confirm what seats they can offer me
As far as signing players - no probs as this takes time to get the right ones...Im sure a competative team will be put on the floor - and apparently an import PG and PF is the way it will go with local talent making up the other spots. Lots of rumours about who hey will be so we will have to wait and see. (Im sure they will have at least 1 marquee Aust player (Harvey) - If not 2!)
As far as promotion so far it has been hard with new NRL team taking a lot of media but once the team is signed I expect to see a lot more of the club in the media.
As far as ongoing support - If they win the fans will come - I just hope the club isnt banking too much on corporate fans to fill the stadium - Its all well and good to sell heaps of boxes etc etc but if the standard fan (me) feels they cant get a good seat to see the games other options will become more attractive (NRL, AFL etc etc)
Ill post when I hear from the club confirming what seats are going to be allocated to seasons tickets.

now statman scotty mac you happy with that ? to me not a great first signing

My major concern about the following they will get is the fact that the Gold Coast's population is made up mainly of retirees. Are the elderly people in general going to flock to see basketball games?

Thomo - Scotty Mac IMO isnt that bad. New scenery may reinvigorate him and he can do all the little things that a team needs (boards, screens, loose balls etc etc) I cant question the signing - just that it was the first one announced - I would have liked to see a big name player announced as the very first signing.

EC - quite a broad and sweeping statement you have made there - are you backing it up with any actual facts - or is it something that maybe Dusty told you so therefore must be taken as gospel!

FWIW you will find that Adelaide has a larger %age of older people than the GC and the population of the GC is also growing just a bit faster than that of Adelaide - so I wouldnt be worried about only having 'elderly people' to flock to the games!

I'll be going to their home games. I'm not considered elderly just yet!

true statman, scotty might be refreshed at a new club but to me hes a nother trahair has the world of potential but just seems lazy or uninterested at times,

EC thats a pretty dumb statement seeing sa is regarded as the oldest population in aus,

i wouldnt worry about age i would worry about the competition from nrl afl a league to take crowds away definetly not this phantom grey army your talking about

um...are you okay Thommo?

Statman, don't go misinterpreting what I say and then make it appear that its my statement. I said nothing about age discrimination, I just questioned whether the elderly are interested in basketball because a large number of the population is made up of elderly people. No I have not checked any statistics on age of population but my line of employment would give me a good idea of that fact. Who cares how old the basketball fans are, you just need to get them through the door. As for Adelaide's elderly population being greater, the whole of the population in Adelaide is greater, young and old.

im never ok, had a few bottles of red at that stage, i stand by my remarkds though im still not sure mcgregor is a good first signing for a new franchise,

also just backing up statmans facts on the old population i dont understand how gc has and older population then adelaide a quick google search came up with sa being regarded as the oldest population, also i think the gold coast will struggle with other sports taking supporters away.

so 123 are you ok ??

"had a few bottles of red"

Yes that is what i was referring too. A few mistakes in your post which is unlike you that's all.

"so 123 are you ok ??"

No actually, a bit sick.

not good get well soon :)

dont mind me public holidays = free drinking day plus a bit of shit stirring never hurts

EC - WTF are you talking about?

You said in your post that The GC population is made up mostly of retirees - What a load of crap!

You have also said I misinterpreted your statement then quoted it - please explain?

IMO your post said that the GC population was mainly made up of retirees - and then questioned as to whether all these 'elderly' people would go to a game - This is how I inerpretted your post - If this is wrong please explain and make yourself clear!

As for the elderly popuation of Adelaide being greater - and also the entire population of Adelaide being greater - no joke - hence I said %age (yes thats short hand for PERCENTAGE) of population being older!

As for your line of employment telling you that the GC is made up mainly of retirees (as stated in your initial posting) - All I can glean from that statement is that you dont ork at the Aust Bureau of Stats!!!!

Statman, you are a clown. So there's no misunderstanding I will quote you word for word - "so I wouldnt be worried about only having 'elderly people' to flock to the games!". Where in my post does it say that I do not want elderly people at the game. This suggests discrimination to me. I suggested elderly people would not be interested. My suggestion also equated to the fact that the population is not huge and when a large proportion of it is made of people that I suggested would not be interested, it does not leave many who would be interested. Many of the younger people are holiday makers that walk in and out of the place all the time. The permanent population does not leave a huge number that is interested. With Brisbane being less than an hour away, anyone who lives in or around the Gold Coast with a passion for basketball, probably already support the Bullets. You lost all credibility in your remarks to my comment when you brought Dusty into the subject. That was sheer stupidity and most irrelevant.

After all this fighting over the subject, my original post only suggested a concern, nothing else.

I work in a national centre for home loan mortgages, I know where and the type of people who are buying what. I see the shift to warmer climates in the later years. Not facts, just assumptions.

Ahh EC again you go off without thinking - I could dig up numerous posts where you do similar but wont!



I stand by my post in answering your initial statment

"...the fact that the Gold Coast's population is made up mainly of retirees"

My comment then continued saying I wouldnt be worried about ONLY having elderly people turn up at the game due to the FACT that the GC doesnt have as high a %age of eldery people living here as YOU would believe and also that the GC population is growing well above the average rate - you seem to have missed the word ONLY - how you can say this comment is age discrimination is beyond me!

Follwing on your comments about how Brisbane is only an hour away so therefore basketball fans would probably supposrt the bullets clearly shows how little you know about the GC / Brisbane dynamic when it comes to sporting teams....suffice to say you are more than a litle off the mark

As for my posts losing credibility when I meantioned Dusty - Ill cop that on the chin as it was a smart arsed remark that I shouldnt have made - But as for your credibility many would say you lose yours when you hit the "post" button!

Statman, you blew the whole thing right out of proportion. The discrimination comment belongs to you not me. You made it, I didn't. For your information, I have spent a fair bit of time this evening looking at the Aust Bureau of Statistics website and although the census was taken in 2001, it very much confirmed what I suspected. The Gold Coast Population is made up of approximately 50% of people being 50 or older. Where is the discrimination in saying the Gold Coast has an elderly population? Also when giving an opinion, make it your own, I am sure others can speak for themselves. You can continue to reply if you wish but I have had my last words on this matter.

last words one can only hope

IF they do better than the Rollers, it will be a success. Nut yes does depend on who the sign. Should be interesting.

EC - Where in my posts have I said anything about age discrimination?

AS for your claim that

"The Gold Coast Population is made up of approximately 50% of people being 50 or older"

which you seem to have found in census data from 2001 on teh Australian Burea of Stats website - care to post a link to this data? First up I think you will find that they dont do a census or above and below 50 years of age - the closest age bracket cutoff is 55 years. The Following data is cut straight from the 2001 census results..

Age groups:
0-4 years 26,082 6.1%
5-14 years 56,071 13.1%
15-24 years 55,367 13.0%
25-54 years 179,835 42.1%
55-64 years 44,502 10.4%
65 years and over 64,804 15.2%

By my calculations this would mean that your figures are a little off

dont worry statman banks/lenders allways stretch the facts to suit there needs, bit like politicians really you take what they say with a grain of salt in this case a kilo of salt