I can understand that any potential new owners would want to distance themselves from the current ownership structure.

I don't think relocating to another venue would be the way to go moving forward but if it saves the team & promotes a profitable business then I am all for it.

Any ideas who the local identities would be?

As Isaac has stated they are probably the people whose names have been in previous posts.

e.g. Fuss, Shahin, Lewis etc. Possibly Fitz is in the mix as well along with the Distinctive Homes guys.

Good Luck to these guys and good on ya .
If it gets rid of Mal and Groves I will go anywhere to watch the Sixers play .
Why isnt the Govt. giving some support I know it cost them money in the past but surely would not cost them too much to get this over the line and maybe not any money just some muscle somewhere.

Who said the govt isn't giving support, bretts the man? It clearly hasn't been decided yet.

Personally, I would understand their POV if they choose not to, particularly given the glum economic climate - their last bail-out of BASA was already supposed to be the last straw, IIRC.

The State Government will put up a bank guarantee if it is in the community interest. Having an SA team in a National league for a sport that has a massive participation rate like basketball is in the community interest!

The Governmet won't put up a Bank Gtee the way things are at present. Why commit the tax payers to a $1 million Bank Gtee that based on what is being reported to a club that is losing money given the operating costs. All that would achieve is we may get half a season until new investors are needed or the club folds.

I agree the Government does have a vested interest but they will want to see serious changes adopted & a new / profitable business model so SA Basketball does not have to rely on continual government bail outs or generous owners to keep operating.

233177 / 233176 - agree with both. Get the business model right! Use this as an opportunity. Reduce the game night costs, find the diamonds in the rough at Colleges and SEABL/ABL level and build an affordable program.

Develop a funding partnership with BSA and the State Government through rec and sport, along with the private Consortia.

players only get paid what they are worth in the market place, I can go to a job and say I want $1000000 but if all other employers are only offering $100000 I won't get the million

Yea i have thought for a while accross many sports where clubs are losing money that salary caps are too high including the AFL. Eg would clubs like Port, Kangaroos, etc be losing money if they dropped the cap by say 2million dollars, i think its around 8mil so would still be 6mil.
I think they should work out in the nbls instance a average crowd of say 3000 + a average level of sponsorship and how much profit they will make from that and work out the salary cap to ensure the clubs atleast break even.(covering venue hire, staff wages, etc aswell) That way they will pay for themselves and owners are not going to have to continiuously put money in and would be far less likely to sell. Then as the league gets stronger then slowly increase the cap. It would mean that some guys like say a CJ may go the Europe, but i say so be it atleast we will have a strong league for many years, and players currently already look to Europe and many of them who dont have a Euro passport would not last long in Europe as imports IMO, so would end up playing NBL.
I thought it was a bit weird that the newNBL increased the salary cap from last year with so many clubs struggling. I actually like Issacs idea of all clubs putting the amount of the cap into a league bank account at the start of each season, then the league pays the players, no need for bank guarantee and interest earnt can be used by the league, very smart if only BA thought of this and the owners agreed to do it.
Anyway back on topic i hope this consortium gets the team and if Mal wont sell they should go straight to BA for a license to keep a SA team in the NBL, they are willing to move to the Entertainment Centre so Mal/Eddy cant hold the dome as ransom for them to buy the team from them at there asking price if the investors deem it to be too high.

Yes, the players are well paid in comparison to what they bring in terms of crowds/sponsorship and (specifically) the revenue from those. However, it's tough to go out there and compete with a cheaper team when you're going to get smacked by big spending teams.

Spirit crowds were horrible last year, and the Hawks crowds dropped off as they struggled on court. Blaze crowds fell as the season went on also.

Drop what's being paid, and we won't be able to keep Schenscher in Adelaide for one thing.

A big challenge at the 36ers this season is building a new identity post-Maher.

I would love to see the Sixer's play out of the entertainment centre.... Its where they should have played form the start.... Just think, if the sixers had of played out of the "ent cent" after Apolo closed BASA wouldnt have had the massive debt that it incured from the dome and we as a basketball comunity would still have a great facility like Athol Park

Do you really think basketball in Australia can afford an extended period out of the limelight though? If salaries are drastically cut, player quality goes down as alternative opportunities overseas are sought. Ultimately, I see that going the way of the Australian Baseball League - dooming the sport to eternal obscurity.

That was a reply to 233178 - I was trumped by several others in the meantime!

Jonno, they'd still have to buy the 36ers from Eddy and Mal and pay the required price - they just might be able to put some pressure on "Sell at $x and we'll play at the Dome; sell at $2.x and we'll leave the Dome empty."

If they started a new team, they'd be up for the $1m guarantee and $1m or so licence fee which would hardly be worth it.

Sharpshooter - 36ers out of Ent Cent, Lightning out of Wayville or ETSA Park (were either available at the time though?) and leave Athol Park in place - wonder how that would've worked?

Two more articles from Boti today:

36ers left ruing choice of absentee landlord

Ninnis ponders cruel fate

Yea but Schenscher is talking about Europe now anyway, so i dont think thats a issue id rather have a league that exists and is profitable with a few more of the top ABL or returning college guys guys getting slightly bigger roles eg burdon and ng if some of the top players leave than a league that goes bust every few years trying to compete with euro salaries for top players.
Maybe season timing could be slightly altered so say schenscher could play for the 36ers at top nbl money and then go to europe for half to 3 quarters of a season, that would achieve the best of both worlds.
If the leagues cap dropped the whole league would have to drop there spending not just teams like the hawks and spirit last season so the difference between the big spenders eg dragons/tigers to teams like the hawks would be no different and if some sort of auditing was in place of the cap it would be even closer, as surely the league would notice if they dropped the cap in say half and the tigers had the same amount of talent for example, a bit of re jigging of the points cap could also help with this, and they would have to get player values right which would require a lot of adjustments from what i heard on the OT with JR.
And yea i wouldnt want them to get a seperate license, i want the 36ers to survive but if mal and eddy are being that stubborn and not selling or asking more than the nbls fees you would have to consider it wouldnt you as a last resort.

I'm really surprised at Mal's comment (in the ninnis article) to sixers staff that they could be done..... wow!

I don't think the Sixers are done just yet. There is a great deal of support out there in more ways than one.

I don't think the players are overpaid. You have to consider that in sport they can only do it until around 35 years of age. In most other jobs you can work until 65. Why would a player put in all the effort in developing himself to play at the top level when he is only getting very few years out of it.

Watching the 36ers at the AEC would be a bit like watching chess being played out in the middle of AAMI stadium. At least The Dome half full still has some atmosphere.
If the 36ers moved to the AEC ticket prices would DOUBLE - Ticketek charges four times the fees (sometimes even more) than what Venuetix does and the venue rental and costs would skyrocket. You and I would have to cover this in ticket prioce increases!
Any move from the Dome would make it harder, not easier, to be profitable.
Now, if Groves dropped the price to something closer to the actual value of the Dome and 36ers licence - THEN we'd be moving forward...

EC, how is getting paid in excess of $100k for playing basketball for half the year getting paid what you are worth? Before you say it, yes I know not all players earn that much, but as I understand it plenty do (and much more besides).

Just compare that to what many people who work hard all year (and generally bring in a profit I might add) earn in SA. Most people will never see $100k plus for even one year of their working life.

Generally, if you are earning more than $100k, you are an Executive in government, senior manager/ director of a business, own a business, etc. You are going to be doing 55-60 hours per week minimum. Would most players spend even close to that many hours a week training, doing weights and fitness and playing?

If the league can actually turn a profit on the performance of the players, by all means, up their salaries accordingly. But right now, the sport is at rock bottom, and I agree with some of those commenting above that getting a stable league with all teams financially viable should be priority no. 1.

EC, yes, they have a limited time in that career, but they're also given that opportunity by the club owners and the league that brings them together. Owners are not required to keep those salaries high while losing money - they can reduce their offers and leave players to make the choice.

The problem comes when cheaper teams generally lose to those who can afford to keep paying up, and the result is often smaller crowds.

Looks like this "new" consortium is the same one that has been around for ages i.e Gareth Lott.

You can't compare what they earn with the majority of the population. The starting 5 of every team puts them in the top 50 in their field in Australia. Now compare their salaries to the top 50 doctors, lawyers, salespeople, Managers, Accountants, fashion models, whatever field that you are that good at. The fact that their salaries cannot be supported while clubs are losing money is more a reflection on the promotion of the game rather than what the player is worth.

Sorry NVS, wrong. Lott has nothing to do with the 'new' consortium.

EC, good point and something that's easy to overlook.

A few owners can run at a loss and keep playing a $1.2-2m roster. Other owners may have to cut back to survive. Two tiers (6 team top tier, 6 team under-tier) could be considered to provide for both rather than have some teams belting the others.

FOC - do you know who is part of the new consortium then? Why did channel 9 interview Lott?