If the rumuor of each club needing 3mill up front to be part of the new league is true i can not see anyone stepping up with a cheque of that size especially in this economic climate.


A League hit the federal government up for 30mill to start off with. NBL needs to think bigger than going to the owners and expecting them to fund everything.

If the $3M is correct then what will they get for their money or is this just a cash grab by BA and the NBL. As has previously been stated, the 36ers licence is probably worth ZIP if you have to buy it from Mal and then fork out another $3M for the new league and your not even guaranteed that you can call it the Adelaide 36ers. Only a 'bone head' would buy the team under these circumstances. IMO the current owners won't come to the party and a new 'rebel league' might appear. Wonder if all the owners actually 'own' the team names/logos etc.

My half tongue-in-cheek solution is to approach NBA players themselves and get them to buy NewBL teams/licences. The pitch: how would you like to play real-life fantasy, with players you literally own?

You pander to their egos and competitiveness: you could have Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest in the Rockets locker room looking at boxscores on the internet, paying each other out ('my Brisbane Bullets beat your Adelaide 36ers') or scheming ('Player X isn't getting it done - wanna trade?')

When owners on opposing teams play each other, they can use their NewBL statuses as trashtalking material:

Dwight Howard (skying for rebound over Carlos Boozer): You're rebounding worse than your Gold Coast Blaze, y'all.

Carlos Boozer: Yo - don't you be dissin' my Blaze. Your Wildcats ain't exactly wild either, my man.

NewBL benefits by being associated with NBA; a condition of ownership is that you must make at least one visit per year to check on your teams. I like the sound of a TV news item which begins 'NBA superstar Lebron James jetted into town today to check on his NewBL team, the Adelaide Parklands'.

This is bloody ridiculous......they've done no marketing of this season at all. All the news has been about the New League next year. They're going to alienate owners, destroy the traditions and identities of individual clubs, they promise nothing as far as return on investment or whether they can achieve their goals of a successful league with strong sponsorship and TV coverage. AND they expect owners to pony up 3mill for the privelege.

I mentioned "Deckchairs on the Titanic" when this started and I got howled down. I still stand by it. All of the potential changes are purely cosmetic and although they talk big, they've shown nothing that will justify a 3mill price tag on a licence.

I could have come up with this review. The only accurate thing is the goals and we all knew what those should be for the last 10-15 years. After that it says nothing about achieving them....well nothing that they can actually DO anyway.

Anon12, I don't like the focus on BA and the Boomers much either.

Frank Lowy would have had something to do with the fact that the A league got 30 million, of course the PM is gonna want to be on good terms with the richest man in Australia. The thing that shits me is that the 30 million dollars was justified because it will help in Australia's ties with Asia and encourage trade, well if the NewBL set up 4 teams in Asia and opened import restrictions to include asian pasport holders then this would do a better job than the A-league is currently doing which so far has just 2 teams a year playing a few games against asian teams, and maybe 5-6 asian players on A league rosters.

Not only would the government be forced to cough up cash based on the basketball potential of asia but it'd be a good promotions/basketball decision too.

Absolute Gold BoHamburger! I'm in on that!

Rogue owners?
Isn't that partly what got us into all this mess to begin with?
Suggesting a break away league from the proposed (overdue) changes that cannot be policed properly is like asking a pedophile to watch your kids and expecting nothing to go wrong.
Bullets people trying to re-enter are going to be justifiably pissed after the time money and energy they are outlaying.
The main owners that are whinging are ones that aren't ready or willing to play fair and give up their 'good thing.'
Nuff said.

Amen DICKO. I reckon all these Yankee CEO's aren't in touch with sport in Oz. If we're going to splash out big bucks, let's spend it on an Australian with a proven track record in business & sports management( Wayne Jackson would be 1st on my list)

That was Rachael Sporn on radio just then. She is now on BA board.... that's more on Opals.

The Government won't fund the NBL
It funds Basketball Australia

How many of those players in a break away league do you think would represent Australia or ever get an international FIBA clearance?

It's the 9th Nov. I think, the big meeting, to decide on whether the revamp is accepted. The existing ten teams and any others, will submit for their licence, if they agree to go ahead with the proposed changes.

Assuming they don't postpone again.
Submissions are due ìn Dec.

The A-League got 30 million dollars because of how well the Socceroos were doing at the time, therefore soccer was ready to boom here in Australia.

The NBL will only get money from the gov if the Boomers do well, except that we bombed out at the olympics again. Bloody goorj!

i think you are a little off Jordan. They got that money because Lowey convinced the government how much business and good working relationships would come from cross polinating the A League into Asia.

Basketball is bigger in Asia than soccer so it stands to reason that they should use the same logic to get funding from the gov.

Camel 31 under the new proposal the NBL and BA are one unit so therefore would get some government funding althought from the sounds of it the NBL owners will be asked to offset all international costs from juniors right through to seniors which i just dont get.

Oops - sorry, forgot I was already signed in.

Jordan - perspective is interesting - the Boomers bombed out (finishing 7th) which is widely regarded as disappointing while the Opals were shattered by having their worst game of the week in the final and ONLY finishing with a silver medal. And we are still ranked #2 in the world as far as overall rankings go.

Can you imagine how out of control the soccer crowd would be if they were in a similar lowly position in the world. The W-league (part of the Gov't $30m funding) was based partly on the exceptional performance of the Matildas in QUALIFYING and then progressing into the second round of the World Cup! Soccer has sold itself as THE ONLY WORLD GAME incredibly well.

I can understand the reservations of potential owners but remain convinced of the need for an integrated organisation. The existing NBL is a failed model (not sustainable without external funding) and is dragging the name of the sport (which is otherwise in reasonable health) down with it because it is the flagship in this country.

The reality may not be palatable for players at the moment but the NBL thrived when the structure was more integrated, when players were not full-time and the spectators still came - it was sold!! Bring back the sell and the players still go full-time but maybe paying players over the odds is not on any more.

The sport needs a National League which sells the sport, whatever form that may be. The sport (BA) is funded by the government through the Sports Commission based on Olympic and World Championship performance, not the strength of its National League. Increasingly those players will be overseas-based (already true with the Opals, heading that way with the Boomers) and not participating in the NBL - Boomers 2012 starters potentially Mills (should be NBA), Bogut (NBA), Jawai (NBA), Newley (Europe) and Ingles (potentially overseas by then). This is simply our place in the world.

So BA's role in developing players and performing internationally can't be overstated - its what drives the sport's funding. Again, may be unpalatable to the 'weekend warrior' but the way it works.

Perhaps unpalatable to the weekend warrior, but maybe also to potential owners putting up the money for all of this?

The NBL has been struggling recently and I doubt the NBL-BA relationship has been as good as they hope it could be, yet we seem to be producing excellent talent regardless.

The vote most probably won't get up becuase the new Intrim Board is dreaming.

1/ I think we are in a technical recession or about to fall into one. $$ will just evaporate.

2/ The proposal, rumoured, is only based on less than 50% of the recommendations from the review report?
Can anyone confirm this?

3/ How many Victorians are on the interim board?
Not healthy. what other states will vote yes for this, given that???

4/ Gov't sponsor all codes of Footbal etc for very big $ and they are professional leagues, so why the cringe from BA/NBL that they won't do it for the new BA/NBL entity.

5/ Come up with a plan where the $ are going to come from for the "new and existing NBL teams" for them to fund $ to the NewBA Co to make it work.

6/ The current season bar the Blaze is one of the most competitive seasons ever in the NBL in my view.
totally enjoying it.

7/ NBL haD/has a $ treasure trove in its assets, where is that or has NEWCO taken it over? The NBL is not spending it?

09/11/09 seems awfully close - maybe NewBA Co wants the "no" vote???? Put in ridiculous entry criteria that can't be acceptable to many of the existing clubs (ARl/NRL/Super league comes to mind)and then what take 2 years of? So more consultants and admin can be paid.

KC-gone ... a couple of answers...

2/ - i think you will find that across the whole review all the rec's are to be impemented provided newBA and newbl get up.

3/ - one, Andrew Gaze

4/ - gov't does not heavily fund AFL - perhaps only 15% of what basketball gets now, because AFL is not in olympcs, has no world champs etc. Gov't gives not much more to RL. Union do ok, soccer fantastic. Best funded sport (from memory) in AUS is rowing...

7/ - the current NBL is next to broke, new licenses fees (breakers, blaze etc) have been used to fund operating expenses for the past couple of years.

there is no way have invested so much time/own money/government money into this that anyone wants a "no" vote....would be incredibly embarassing in face of the ASC.

I hadn't heard $3M. That would be way too much.
Heard it was about $1M.
Eight teams were rumored, but Harmison said, on Saturday nite, that they won't be cutting back numbers just for the sake of it.
'Ten plus others if they meet criteria'

10 teams?
Take that Worthington!

Thanks HO
Would love to know from anyone in the know what the other sports get from Gov't. I'm sure Basketball is not in the top 5? I'm sure AFl/RL/ARL/NRL etc etc get heaps of $$ from the government(not for olympics )

I think the NBL needs to be revamped, Newco BA/NBL should be formed but under terms that make it financially stable and still have support from the existing supporter base..

Not just hopping you can get 8 rich uncles to fund losses just like the new revamped A league are covering.(new disconected teams Duh!, 30 years of History should not be thrown away so easily.

If I win the $20 million on offer in the Lotto I'll buy the league and get some Professionals to run it(take that as not from BA/NBL).

KC-gone, Basketball would be in the upper echelon of ASC funded sports.

Higher than us would be rowing, athletics, swimming, cycling and certainly football. But BA would be getting not that much less than the say athletics and swimming for example.

But funding is misleading.....ASC tell sports what the funding is for. So BA get say 4 million p.a., but MUST spend 3.4 of that on elite teams for example. That is pretty quickly eaten up with the travel and playing costs of our national program. Coaching costs alone probably knock that 3.4 million down to 3 million.

People in the general sports community have the misguided view that this money should be used for "grass roots" or "development" but cold hard facts are that it cannot be ...or the funding would be forfeit.

My guess is that if Basketball gets 4 million from ASC, then AFL would be lucky to get more than 1 million. Only Football (soccer) would top BA's amount.

BTW, Netball would get substantially less than Basketball....no olympics, no worthwhile world champs etc.

kent brockman:
"i think you are a little off Jordan. They got that money because Lowey convinced the government how much business and good working relationships would come from cross polinating the A League into Asia."
Sweet, the "Bee-league" drones got it done. ; )

Ho Re the Interim Board

This is what BA says

The Interim Board is

John Maddock (Chairman of BA),

Mark Peters (the Chief Executive of the Australian Sports Commission),

Diane Sias (Group Executive, Business & Technology Solutions & Services at Westpac)

David Thodey (Group Managing Director of Telstra Enterprise and Government).

Scott Derwnet has been Added

Andrew GAze has been Added

Seamus McPeake (Owner of Melbourne Tigers),


How many of them have been linked with VIC? or BA

kc-forgot about Seamus and I did not think that Maddock was on the interim board.

from memory thodey is sydney based and Sias SA? (maybe WA?)

Maddock in the 90's was president of basketball vic....Seamus and Drew we know.

Peters is a Queenslander, Derwin from NSW or Qld.

But I am actually not sure what your point is. I have seen nothing in the report findings or recommendations that advantages Vic in anyway. In terms of the politics, neither Drew or Seamus would be perceived by other states to have a pro "Basketball Victoria" view - Seamus is all about tigers/nbl and Drew is all about...well... Drew!

If, as I suspect, both Derwin and Thoday are from Queensland, I don't think that will affect the voting either. Traditionally at BA council all the states vote one way except NSW which votes the other!

3mills too much money paid for what? and I agree with you guys saying there's no marketing for this season which is ridiculous as hell...

I just can't see any form of serious work in NBL; I'm personally involved with some of NBL player's preparation but the league's lack of effort really taken me away from really even care about the results anymore...Very disappointed as I said to one of the NBL promotional guys earlier this year "there are enough talent you guys just need to pick your game up and do some work!"

LA Boy wrote:

as I said to one of the NBL promotional guys earlier this year