I seriously doubt any figure that low has been discussed let alone approved.
The only thing that would make it continue to drop is the amount of teams still in financial trouble and ones pulling out that would be giving both Fox and One HD cold feet.
I would seriously question that figure but at the present state I wouldn't be surprised if they offered 5c due to the amount of nonsense and speculation goin on.
If both channels hear in the media every day that this club can't pay the guarantee and that club can but won't pay it and some other club says the criteria that they do more is crazy (keeping in mind both channels have the criteria and they like it even before any figures started getting thrown about) then how much confidence would that instill?

I am very disapointed to findout that there will be no NBL next season. What will the players and fans do?

Fair enough anon- thanks for posting the link.
All the public squabbling really hasn't helped anybody maintain the deal that was offered- I believe everybody could've handled it better considering that as it was, it was going to be pedal to the metal and much of it has been wasted on petty disagreements like giving up naming rights, etc.

Interesting reading that Age article - helps me understand the events.
( No Goorjian in Aus, anymore )

Just started to read The Age article linked above, but couldn't get past the first sentence:

"...the league's oldest and most successful club, the Melbourne Tigers..."

WTF?!?! Sorry but this just pisses me off. I know the league is just about dead and the Sixers have been an ongoing disaster for the last 5 years, but it doesn't change the facts: The Tigers are NOT the oldest team in the league - both Adelaide and Wollongong are older. Not only that, but Adelaide and Perth have both won as many championships and Adelaide has played in about as many GF's (6 each I think). In fact, up until about 92/93, the Tigers were perenially one of the worst teams in the league. They still can't average even close to the number of supporters the Sixers get to their games. Even through much of the 90s I can rarely recall the Sixers losing to them at home.

Bit off the core topic I know, but part of the problem the league used to have (before it dropped off the mainstream media's radar altogether) was that half the stuff you read was always wrong! Get it right f*#kwits!

Rant over... pls resume normal programming

I am very disapointed to findout that there will be no NBL next season. What will the players and fans do?

On the Fox deal, it's hard to blame them. $35m was over 5 years and for a league with big city teams rather than smaller regional players, covering all games. I'd guess that $200k is for one year, smaller cities and one game.

Given that almost any amount of that $35m could've been held as "production costs", it's likely it was a reform carrot as much as anything.

Any owner expecting something even close to $35m based on what's happened these last few weeks would be nuts.

Fox would've only made an offer to keep those with Fox just for NBL games on side.

which is more to the point isaac, relauch the leage next year, ensure teams from all capital cities and then you will get the 35 million deal.

This is more of a reason to delay for another season

The longer this takes, the more I'm inclined to think we need to pull the whole thing down.

Before the sport took off in the late 80's. players were part-time at best. All players were connected with grass-rots clubs and those clubs provided direct pathways for players to the NBL. Crowds built because of the promotion and the GAME, not because of the quality of play (the quality of the athletes and their skill level is infinitely superior to when I played).

Some clubs went full-time and the players started to demand and get more money. As the promotion dropped the ball and the clubs increased overheads through moving to larger venues etc, player contracts continued to rise. When the bottom started to fall out of crowds and revenue dropped accordingly, however, there was no contraction of the player contract.

If our consultant (who apparently knows all) says we need to get back to grass-roots to re-build the NBL (and I agree about that part) then starting with SEABL (or another home-spun) league is not a bad way to go. They are probably where the league was 20 years ago - small venues, part-time players, good but not overwhelming product, limited overheads, strong grass-roots links, strong volunteer base.

The problem we have here in Newcastle is that because we were an NBL town for so long and the NBL still exists, our ABA team is seen as siginificantly inferior (by both the average punter and more importantly by potential sponsors).

Dismantle the NBL and establish a grass-roots expanded SEABL. That's where the bulk of the players go, if the better players can go to Europe and make better money then good luck to them - we cannot compete with that. Provide support and marketing centrally for a cohesive brand and bring in a second-tier league and promotion and relegation. Now Newcastle (or any other second-tier club) is simply a step away from the best competition in the land and can aspire (through hard work and on-court results) to compete in the top league as opposed to now needing a wealthy benefactor to even consider competing in the NBL.

The existing NBL clubs have a head-start and will dominate for a few years but all these things are cyclical and will sort themselves out. When Melbourne came into the they were the easy-beats, even with A Gaze. But I played in National U20 final against a VIC team that contained five players who were playing NBL for the Melbourne Tigers at that time. Years later they were he core of the group that won their first title.

I watched an outstanding U20 Men's Final in Townsville this year and commented that if that was the poorest standard of on-court product we were offering in the NBL then we would be OK (none of the players involved was playing in the NBL at that point I don't think).

More money is clearly not the answer - more skill (management) is.

ankles- how are you not working for BA? your idea on this reform is exactly what these guys need to do IMO.

I'm not sure what happened when the league went part time to full time but obviously they weren't ready for this transition.

Ankles - nice post, even if only because it supports the two-tier/pro-rel idea I keep mentioning.

I think the problem is that some key owners pushed for the higher cap and that's why we've got it.

Drb - sorry, didn't see your reply before.

That didn't work this season - no Brisbane or Sydney on the books right now. Why would it necessarily work next season?

And is Fox really the panacea here? Doesn't it take as much as it gives, in some ways? Is it worth sacrificing much to get it?

If the league was to get $7m a year in cash, sure, sell the kids. But the way it's arranged, it would barely translate to anything for the league (AFAIK) and very little (if anything) for the clubs themselves.