This isn't new information. The same was revealed when Melbourne United were first announced as the new brand. It will make it harder but not impossible for the consortium. Entering a team into SEABL shouldnt see any opposition because SEABL is not a professional league. It's the same Melbourne Tigers club that currently has a team in Big V.
It's at NBL level that United owners still own Tigers brand. So a a year or 2 in SEABL allows time to continue discussions about purchasing the trademark at NBL level.

Putting in a SEABL team would be a good way to test the water to see if there is an appetite to restart an NBL team.

Gaze, etc should pressure United publically to give it up if they aren't using the name.

Or somehow convince them to have a stake in both United and a resurrected Tigers team. Are there NBL rules against ownership of multiple clubs?

Tigers brand wasn't working before so why would it now. They had / have a loyal following but they also probably only appeal to a small section of the basketball community - unfortunately. They are a bit like Pt Adelaide as an AFL club trying to gain support from supporters of rival SANFL clubs.
People wil jump onboard when they are successful.

I don't see how a SEABL team tests anything. Its played in a different season with semi professionals and clubs have a MUCH smaller budget and require a much smaller suport base.

We have seen a number of SEABL stars be unable to even break into NBL teams becasue the stadnard is so different.

"If Slepoy and co don't want to use the brand, why don't they let someone else?"
Because they want a monopoly on NBL in Victoria. The entire point of the change to United was to prevent a second team getting a foothold.


"Tigers brand wasn't working before so why would it now."
Who says it wasn't working before?

A SEABL team doesn't necessarily test the waters of NBL, but it shows steps are being taken to bring the brand back to life. It provides hope to those die hard Tigers fans that their team will return.

Yes it still exists at Big V level right now and always has, but bringing it to SEABL level gives it a more national push. If they do it well and put a solid team on the floor with great marketing, it could very well bring the crowds of the Tigers faithful. Particularly if the Gazes and other Tigers club legends are involved and are marketed as such. It's not a short term plan, it's taking the long view to revive a historical brand at the national level.

"Tigers brand wasn't working before so why would it now."
Who says it wasn't working before?

The amount of people that attended their semi final game in Melbourne for starters.

Tigers brand was making a profit when Seamus had it.If they cant get a SEABL team up for next year i would say that the chances of them coming back are very slim.

From memory the Semi final was on a week night and the tickets were absurd- something like $50 I paid.

A better gauge is the regular season crowds. Last season the Tigers had 10 home games at The Cage and 4 at Hisense.

The 4 Hisense games averaged 6,700, with attendances ranging between 6,000 and 7,500. In comparison, United's first 4 games average 4,600, range 3,400-5,700.

The last 5 games at The Cage sold out. Not bad considering the Cage's poor location for the majority of Melbournians who live East of the city and need to catch 2 trains to get there.

Unlike most of my fellow Tigers fans I have jumped on board And I am now a United member. I said right from the start that I dislike losing the Tigers history but basketball is bigger than the Tigers. However, anyone who thinks things have been a success so far is absolutely just kidding themselves...…it's been a total failure so far.

It may pick up in future, but right now I’m betting Slepoy and Kestlemen wish they could wind the clock back. I don’t see how this United change could have done anything but lost them a load of money.

Correction Semi final was on a Sunday

But still, people had what, a week or whatever to plan for it? And as I said, tickets weren't cheap.

Regular season crowds are a far better comparison, and so far United arent even close to what the Tigers were getting at Hisense. And this is with United practically begging their members to come to games.... by calling them up and giving away $10 promo tickets and offering various other perks with memberships.

"(2) The stupid "B-A-L-L-E-R" chant for the dumb mascot. I can't think of any other professional sports team that chants for it's mascot and not it's team"

Aren't they insisting on calling everyone involved in any way with the club (players, fans, et) "ballers"?

It's a pretty blatant ripoff of South East Melbourne's "M-A, G-I-C, Magic!" I think it even has the same beat leading up to the actual chant. I do remember the beat starting up last night, and I was subconsciously expecting the Magic chant to start up. It was a bit jarring when it didn't.

Whilst playing in stadiums with double and triple the capacity.

The Tigers have two brands - Seamus McPeake separated the brand from the Junior club when he re-branded the Tigers a few years back, he was even going to start a rival Junior club call the "Cubs".

There was a despite between McPeake and David Watson that argued that McPeake didn't own the Tigers brand and it was in fact the Junior club the owned the brand. If you notice the Junior and BigV teams use the old logo.

This is why the club can get away with entering a SEABL team, but they won't own a NBL Licence yet, this is owned by United. This would be a true test of this though

Time will tell.......

I keep asking why is there talk of a Tigers team in the seabl. If you knew the rules that need to apply for both mens and womens side and its way too late afaik to do so.

Anonymous, The Cage is hard to get to for anyone in the Eastern suburbs- public transport was difficult, parking was limited, and people didnt want to walk up and buy tickets in case it sold out.

4 games in a row at Hisense to close the season- EVERY game over 6k. 4 games into the new season, not ONE game at 6k. And 2 games under 4k. Very, very disappointing no matter how you wanna slice it and dice it. Figures are figures. No point dressing it up.

The Cage was actually pretty easy to get to, but the perception was it was difficult and that was enough.

I guess United intentionally interchange the words season ticket holders and members intentionally to make it like they have large numbers.

In what respect do Slepoy and Kesterman own the Tigers name? Of course they own an NBL club license, but they have elected give up the Tigers name within the NBL. If the Tigers name is owned outright outside of the NBL, surely they would have the rights to the junior club name too. So is this proclaimed ownership of the Tigers name an NBL-specific ownership, in which case, can the NBL administration relinquish their rights to own the name given S&K have adopted a new name?